March 6-July 28 



■ Exhibition The critically acclaimed exhibition 

 "Seydou Keita, Photographer: Portraits from Bamako, 

 Mali," marked the first time the National Museum of 

 African Art has featured the wotk of an African photog- 

 rapher. The exhibition presented 24 of the artist's evoca- 

 tive portraits and attested to his unique vision and 

 artistic sensibilities. 



March 7 



■ Tour The Archives of American Art New England 

 Committee members attended a special viewing of the 

 exhibition "Winslow Homer" at the Museum of Fine 

 Arts, Boston. Archives member Ted Stebbins, exhibit 

 curator, welcomed the group. 



March 8 



■ 'Planetarium Program The New Solar System, a multi- 

 media program that contemplates the grandeur of the 

 forces at work within our solar system, opened in the 

 National Air and Space Museum's Einstein 

 Planetarium. 



March 11—23 



■ Workshop "Mosses and Liverworts as Indicators of 

 Biodiversity in Tropical America," sponsored by the 

 University of Panama and the Smithsonian Tropical 

 Research Institute, and supported by a grant from the 

 European Union, brought togethet 32 representatives 

 from 19 countries to receive training in bryophyte 

 identification. 



March 12 



■ Public Program The Smithsonian Tropical Research 

 Institute's Marine Exhibitions Center was officially in- 

 augurated by Panama's President Ernesto Perez Bal- 

 ladares and First Lady Dora Boyd de Perez Balladares, 

 with the attendance of SI Provost Dennis O'Connor and 

 members of the Fundacion Smithsonian de Panama, the 

 local donor group that supports this project. 



March 13 



■ Exhibition Cooper-Hewitt, National Design 

 Museum opened "The Avant-Garde Letterhead," at the 

 national headquarters of the American Institute of 



Graphic Arts. This exhibition focused on letterhead and 

 business ephemera designed during the avant-garde 

 movement. 



March 14-17 



■ Special Event 126 Smithsonian Associates from 26 

 states who had previously traveled on Smithsonian 

 Study Tours gathered in Washington, D.C., for The 

 Smithsonian Associates' first Travelers Reunion. Activities 

 included a Travel Fair, behind-the-scenes museum 

 tours, and a gala reception at the Canadian Embassy. 



March 18 



■ Relocation Contributing Membership staff of the Of- 

 fice of Membership and Development (OMD) moved 

 from the Quadrangle to Suite 1410, Arts and Industries 

 Building, in office space adjacent to OMD. 



March 21 



■ Exhibition and Programs "Directions: Beverly Sem- 

 mes," an exhibition of this Washington-born, New 

 York— based artist's room-size fabric installation of 

 1994 — titled Kimberly — in the form of a monumental 

 prom dress, opened at the Hirshhorn Museum and 

 Sculpture Garden with a gallery talk by the artist. Later 

 during the show, which closed June 23, organizing 

 curator Olga Viso gave a slide-illustrated lecture fol- 

 lowed by an exhibition tour; a Young at Art family 

 workshop titled "The Legend of the Very Large Dress" 

 inspired an improvisational playlet performed in front 

 of Kimberly. The exhibition was accompanied by a free, 

 illustrated brochure and a 12-minute interpretive video 

 co-produced by the Hirshhorn with the Virginia 

 Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond. 



March 21 



■ Special Event The Smithsonian Associates, Smith- 

 sonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, and 

 Artrain unveiled the grand opening of Art in Celebration. 

 a three-year exhibition demonstrating 20th-century ar- 

 tistic styles based upon the art commissioned by the 

 Resident Associate Program over the last 25 years. Show- 

 cased on the Artrain — a museum in railroad cars — the 

 exhibition visited over 30 small communities in ten 

 states, including Brunswick. Georgia; Chadbourn, 

 North Carolina; and Pinconning, Michigan. 



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