Reports of Programs and Services 



73 



In summation, the Office of Equal Employment and Minor- 

 it)- Affairs' mission was achieved during FY 2000 through 

 vigorous emphasis on managerial excellence by the following 

 means: effective Strategic Planning of goals and objectives; 

 compliance and monitoring of EEO/Diversity and Small Busi- 

 ness laws/regulations; aggressive efforts to encourage the use of 

 small, minority, and women-owned businesses, and through 

 publication of teports and a news-lettet that address Smithson- 

 ian accomplishments in the ever-changing and challenging 

 arena that is Equal Employment Opportunity today. 



Office of Exhibits Central 



Michael Headley, Director 



The Office of Exhibits Central (OEC) provides high-quality 

 exhibition and production services to nearly every museum, 

 research institute, and office at the Smithsonian. As Secretary 

 Lawrence Small noted in the June 2000 issue of Smithsonian 

 magazine: 



In partnership with curators and museum directors, 

 they [OEC] transform ideas into exhibit plans. They 

 build the first small models of the exhibit; they make 

 the stands and the display cases; the mannequins and 

 the dioramas; they edit the wotds and make the labels 

 that allow the exhibit to be understood; and rhey often 

 rig the lighting that lets it be seen. They work their 

 magic on wood, metal, plastic, glass, paper, clay, cloth, 

 and just about any other marerial that suits the purpose. 



Assisting staff in the execution of these responsibilities is 

 OEC's Administtative Unit, which offers management over- 

 sight and administrative and computer support. 



Consultation 



OEC's consultation services help clients shape and define the 

 content, format, and feasibility of proposed exhibitions and 

 projects while they are still in the conceptual stage. Repre- 

 sentative consultation projects include an interactive map for 

 the Visitor Information and Associates' Reception Center 

 (VIARC); an earth globe for the National Museum of Nat- 

 ural History (NMNH); "Underwatet Web: Cabling the 

 Seas" and "Voyages" for the Smithsonian Institution Li- 

 braries (SIL); "Jazz en Clave" for the Smithsonian Institution 

 Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES); "Plains Shirts" and 

 "American Indian Code Talkers" for the National Museum 

 of the American Indian (NMAI); a book on Horatio Gree- 

 nough for a curaror of painting and sculpture at the National 

 Museum of American History (NMAH); and "Digging In: 

 Bisbee's Mineral Heritage" for Arizona's Bisbee Mining and 

 Historical Museum, a Smithsonian Affiliate. 



Design, Editing, and Graphics 



OEC staff members provided design, editing, and/or graph- 

 ics services for the following exhibitions: "Piano 300" for 



NMAH and International Gallery; "Looking Both Ways: 

 Heritage and Identity for the Alutiiq People" for NMNH's 

 Arctic Studies Center; "Looping the Loop: Posters of Early 

 Flight," "Miniature Wings: Model Aircraft from the Na- 

 tional Air and Space Museum," "Exploring Garden 

 Transformations, 1900-2000," "These Rare Lands," "Heart 

 and Hands," and "Small Wonder" for SITES; "Who Srole rhe 

 Teepee" for NMAI; "Make the Dirt Fly: Building the 

 Panama Canal" for SIL; "Artisrry of Orchids" for the Horti- 

 culture Services Division (HSD); and "Getting the Picture: 

 The Art of the Illustrated Letter" for the Archives of Ameri- 

 can Art. Among its other assignments, the Unit provided 

 NMAH with editing services for a Web site and book about 

 the Star-Spangled Banner, produced an exhibit display 

 panel for the Garden Club of America meeting in Cleveland 

 for HSD, refurbished the "Produce for Victory" exhibition 

 for SITES, and wrote the text for an NMNH exhibit case 

 promoting a new 3-D IMAX movie about the Galapagos 

 Islands. 



Modelmaking 



The elephant diorama at the renovated Natural Hisrory Ro- 

 tunda occupied much of the Modelmaking Unit's time over 

 the past two years. Thanks to OEC, the habitat is remark- 

 able for its realism, from individual butterflies to the dusty 

 contouted surface that evokes the African savanna. Another 

 high-profile project was the design and construction of 

 six interactive models of the actions (striking mechanisms) 

 of instruments critical to the development of the modern 

 piano for "Piano 300." Sraff also created two Viking man- 

 nequins and one Thule Inuit mannequin for "Vikings: The 

 North Atlantic Saga" at NMNH and made copies of skele- 

 ton panda paws, also for NMAH. Work continued on the 

 creation of full-size models of animals from the Cambrian 

 Period for "Burgess Shale: Evolution's Big Bang," a SITES 

 exhibition. 



Fabrication 



The Fabrication Unit's talented craftspeople collaborated 

 with their OEC and SI colleagues on a number of exhibitions 

 for SITES, NMNH, NMAI, and the Center for African 

 American History and Culture. Their work involved consul- 

 tation, case, vitrine, and crate construction, and exhibit 

 installation and deinstallation. The Unit was also active in 

 the elephant diorama, fabricating the entire diorama frame- 

 work, a concealed access door for an audiovisual unit, and 

 three interactive, interpretive cases. For "Vikings: The North 

 Atlantic Saga," the Unit developed case details and performed 

 value engineering for 12 wall-hung cases that incorporated 

 faux boat planking, passive climate control measures, and a 

 high level of security. For "On Time" at NMAH, OEC trans- 

 lated the artist's two-dimensional rendering and verbal 

 suggestions into an eight-foot-high kinetic sculpture that 

 incorporates a variety of materials and finishes as well as 

 electtical and mechanical devices that allow for synchronized 

 and continuous movement. 



