America." Friday's session at rhe National Portrait 

 Gallery included Wendy Wick Reaves, "The Celebrity 

 Caricature Vogue"; Thomas P. Bruhn, "The Life and 

 Times of Al Frueh"; Bruce Kellner, "Ralph Barton: 

 Affectionate Insults"; and Edward Sorel, "Anything 

 Goes: Caricature after i960." 



May 15-16 



■ Special Event The Office of Membership and Devel- 

 opment welcomed the James Smithson Society to 

 Washington. The Society, the highest circle of Con- 

 tributing Membership, gave its Founder Medal to 

 Shirley Sichel for her generous support of the National 

 Zoo and the work of the Conservation and Research Cen- 

 ter. Sir Christopher Meyer, KCMG, British Ambassador 

 in Washington, and Lady Meyer attended the dinner 

 and were made honorary Smithson Society members. 



May 19-22 



■ International 'Workshop The "Preservation of Santos" 

 was a three-day conference sponsored by the Smithson- 

 ian Center for Materials Research and Education held at 

 the Universidad del Sagrado Corazon, San Juan, Puerto 

 Rico, for an esrimated 123 attendees. It included a sur- 

 vey of the history of polychrome Hispanic religious 

 artifacts, their materials, techniques of fabrication and 

 decoration, and preservation and restoration. Following 

 the three-day workshop, which included intensive 

 lecture and laboratory sessions, a unique one-day free 

 gathering was convened at the Museo de Arte de Ponce, 

 Ponce, Puerto Rico, for practicing santo makers to 

 engage the presenters in thoughtful discussions of 

 history, materials, and techniques. 



May 20 



■ Board 'Established The Smithsonian Institution 

 Libraries established a Board, following approval by the 

 Board of Regents. The Libraries' Board, which held its 

 inaugural meeting with the initial seven members, 

 will provide leadership during the Institution's capital 

 campaign and help to develop new constituencies and 

 generate support for the Libraries' services and 

 programs nationwide. 



May 28 



■ Outreach Director Richard J. Wattenmaker pre- 

 sented a talk on the role of the Archives of American 



Art in scholarly research as a part of the Second Biennial 

 Smithsonian-Westminster Symposium, "Public Institu- 

 tions: Access and Cultural Identity," organized conjointly 

 by the University of Westminster London and the 

 Smithsonian Instirution. 



May 28 



■ Professional Presentation The Coordinator of the 

 Smithsonian Accessibility Program lectured on acces- 

 sible exhibition design to members of the society for 

 Environmental Graphic Design. 



Summer 



■ Installation The National Museum of American Art 

 premiered David Hockney's 24-foot painting of the 

 Grand Canyon, titled "A Bigger Grand Canyon." The 

 work, composed of 60 small canvases mounted as one 

 continuous image, presents a sweeping, colorful view of 

 one of America's most extraordinary topographical 

 wonders. 



Summer 



■ Construction Construction of the NMAI Cultural 

 Resources Center continued during 1998. With the 

 completion of the concrete work and the installation of 

 the dramatic, nautilus-shaped roof, the profile of the 

 building became visible during the summer of 1998. 



Summer 



■ Training Program Thirty undergraduate students 

 from 18 states and 6 foreign countries took part in the 

 Research Training Program of the National Museum of 

 Natural History. The program, supported by the Na- 

 tional Science Foundation, the Smithsonian Women's 

 Committee, and the director's discretionary fund, brings 

 science students to Washington to do original research 

 projects under the direction of museum scientists. 



June 



■ Award Scott Weidensaul's article "The Belled 

 Viper" {Smithsonian, December 1997) won first prize in 

 the Conservation/Environment Contest and the President's 

 Choice award ("best of the best" for all winning 

 magazine entries) in a competition sponsored by the 

 Outdoor Writers Association of America, Inc. 



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