tion of oral history interviews of California contemporary ar- 

 tists. Mrs. Yoshiko Mori donated $12,000 to fund a video in- 

 terview with Richard Shaw, a Bay Area potter. Richard Shaw: 

 Love of the Common Object describes the ceramicist's artistic 

 philosophy and goals. 



The Archives' Annual Appeal for FY 1998 raised over 

 $35,000 to support Archives' operations and to fund the 

 Brown Challenge Grant, which will establish the William E. 

 Wolfenden Fund fot Archives' publications. All contributions 

 to the Brown Challenge will be matched on a one-to-one basis 

 by The Brown Foundation, Inc. 



Freer Gallery of Art and 

 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery 



Mtlo C. Beach, Director 



Much of the creative energy of the Galleries' staff, friends, 

 docents, and volunteers was directed this year toward fes- 

 tivities around the 75th anniversary of the Freer Gallery of Art 

 and the conclusion of last year's observance of the Arthur M. 

 Sackler Gallery's first decade. An extraordinary outpouting of 

 art from generous donors; successful curatorial detective work 

 resulting in outstanding purchases; writing and production of 

 many publications; planning and funding of exhibitions and 

 research; and expansion of the Galleries' constituencies 

 through public programs, publicity, and advertising marked 

 the anniversary years as a truly remarkable period of growth. 



The anniversaries also have given the Galleries new oppor- 

 tunities to focus on establishing endowment funds to ensure 

 the future of important initiatives and programs, and to 

 launch major multiyear projects that could not be undertaken 

 without significant private support. 1 am delighted to an- 

 nounce that numerous donors expressed their confidence in 

 the Galleries by contributing funds totaling nearly $10 mil- 

 lion over the last two years. These gifts will support a variery 

 of gallery projects — from major publications, exhibitions, and 

 acquisitions to endowments fot research and education. 



The anniversary celebrations not only honored the Freer 's 

 distinguished past, but also forecast a bright future in tandem 

 with the Sackler Gallery. Together, the two institutions form 

 the national museum of Asian art for the United States, main- 

 taining separate collections and exhibition policies but shar- 

 ing their staff and a single mission. The Freer also is home to 

 a specialized collection of nineteenth- and early-twentieth- 

 century American art, including the wotld's most important 

 holdings of wotk by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1919). 



Symbolic of this auspicious alliance was the presentation of 

 'Twelve Centuries of Japanese Art from the Imperial Collec- 

 tions," an exhibition of painting and calligraphy representing 

 the taste and patronage of Japanese rulers from the ninth cen- 

 tury to the present and held at the Sackler Gallery. Their Im- 



perial Highnesses Pnnce and Princess Takamado were guests of 

 honor for the gala dinner celebrating the exhibition opening. 



The exhibition served as a finale to the Sackler's anniversary 

 year and the inauguration of the Freer 's 75th — a special 

 tribute to the continuing collegiality between the Freer and 

 the Japanese arts community that was forged by the Gallery's 

 founder during his first visit to Japan in 1895. 



"Twelve Centuries" was organized by the Imperial House- 

 hold Agency, the Agency for Cultural Affairs, the Japan Foun- 

 dation, and the Freer and Sackler galleries and was made 

 possible by generous grants from the Henry Luce Foundation 

 and the Blanchette Hooket Rockefellet Fund, with additional 

 support from the Smithsonian's Special Exhibition Fund, the 

 Japan World Exposition Commemorative Fund, and an 

 indemniry from the Federal Council on the Arts and the 

 Humanities. Its illustrated catalogue won awards from the 

 American Association of University Presses, the Art Director's 

 Club of Metropolitan Washington, and the American Associa- 

 tion of Museums. 



Many dedicated individuals menr recognition for the suc- 

 cess of these anniversary events, but one extraordinary volun- 

 teer stands out as deserving our special gratitude. Without 

 the enthusiastic commitment of Cynthia Helms, I suspect the 

 anniversaries would have been far less productive and certainly 

 less memorable. Mrs. Helms served simultaneously as chair- 

 man of the eight-member Anniversaries Committee (with 

 Honorary Chairman Katharine Graham and Vice-Chairman 

 Ann Kinney), planning two years of special events, and the 

 nine-member Gala Opening Committee (with Honorary 

 Chairman Senatot Jay Rockefeller), organizing the dinner for 

 "Twelve Centuries of Japanese Art from the Imperial Collec- 

 tions," and as co-chairman (wirh Ada Linowes) of the seven- 

 member Freer Gallery of Art Anniversary Dinner Committee. 



In all of these roles, Mrs. Helms was indispensable for her 

 creativity, persuasiveness, and plain hard work. Our ability to 

 expand and refine the Galleries' offerings to visitors, scholars, 

 and far-flung members of the public will be enhanced far into 

 the future because of Mrs. Helms 's leadership as a deft and gra- 

 cious constituency builder. 



Incongruous as it may seem, technology is another aspect of 

 the broadening mandate of this and many other museums. As 

 recently as five years ago, I could not have imagined how sig- 

 nificantly computers and the Worldwide Web could advance 

 the business of running a museum. But today, it seems unlike- 

 ly that a museum director exists who does not understand the 

 crucial role technology can play in attracting a wider public 

 and making better use of a gallery's collections. 



And so we are particularly grateful for the support we 

 received this year from the Smithsonian's Office of the 

 Provost, which provided funding for the Sackler and Freer 

 photography department to digitize and store on compact 

 disks some 12,000 color transparencies of an in the Galleries' 

 collections. When the conversion is completed, the images 

 will be accessible electronically for research, education, collec- 

 tions management, and public information. The digitized im- 



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