above and three ochers generated by the permanent collec- 

 tion — including the popular "Moving through the Sculpture 

 Garden" dance workshop in June — enthralled more than 160 

 children and their parents during the year. Meanwhile, more 

 than 22,000 people attended free film programs from late Sep- 

 tember 1995 through May 1996 featuring cutting-edge inter- 

 national independent cinema, documentaries on contem- 

 porary artists, and family-oriented animation. Among the 

 highlights were screenings of new works: Krzysztof ' Kieslowski: 

 I'm So-So. a documentary on the acclaimed Polish director; 

 Guimba (The Tyrant), a dramatic feature from Mali; and 

 Reclaiming the Body: Feminist Art in America. 



On other fronts, the 20th Century Consort concluded 16 

 years as the Hirshhorn s resident ensemble and resettled at the 

 Freer Gallery of Art. Curators juried shows, served on panels, 

 lectured, visited galleries and studios, and generally kept cur- 

 rent through periodicals, catalogs, monographs, and inter- 

 changes with artists and fellow curators. 



National Air and Space Museum 



Donald D. Engen. Director 



The National Air and Space Museum celebrated two impor- 

 tant anniversaries in 1996, the Smithsonian's 150th and the 

 20th anniversary of the July I, 1976, public opening of the Na- 

 tional Air and Space Museum. 



In August, the Museum premiered its eighth IMAX film, 

 Cosmic Voyage. The film, sponsored by the Motorola Founda- 

 tion and offered in celebration of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion's 150 anniversary, is the first wide-screen film to explore 

 the entire universe of space and time. 



The museum's 20th anniversary exhibition, "How Things 

 Fly," opened in September. "How Things Fly" contains several 

 dozen hands-ons exhibits that demonstrate the physical prin- 

 ciples that underlie air and space flight. Staffing the gallery is 

 a crew of "Explainers," young adults from 26 Washington, 

 D.C., area schools who are on hand to answer questions and 

 give presentations. "How Things Fly" is sponsored by the 

 Boeing Company and the National Aeronautics and Space Ad- 

 ministration. The "Explainers" program is sponsored by the 

 Cessna Aircraft Company. 



The museum provided substantial support for the 

 "America's Smithsonian" 150th Anniversary traveling exhibi- 

 tion. Included in this exhibition from the museum's collec- 

 tion were the Wright EX Vin Fiz aircraft, Apollo and 

 Mercury spacecraft, an Apollo spacesuit, a lunar roving 

 vehicle with tools, and several smaller items. 



Dulles Center 



With Congressional approval, a design contract has been let 

 for the Dulles Center. In July, the museum unveiled the con- 

 cept model for the facility, scheduled to open in the year 2001. 



Exhibits 



In June the XP-59A, America's first jet aircraft, was hung in 

 the "Milestones of Flight" gallery across from Chuck Yeager's 

 Bell X-i. The XP-59 formerly resided in the Museum's 

 "Flight Testing" gallery, which was dismantled to make way 

 for "How Things Fly." Also returned to view is aerobatic 

 champion Patty Wagstaffs Extra 260 aircraft, which was 

 reinstalled in the "Pioneers of Flight" gallery. 



A small temporary exhibit, "Viewing the Violent Universe: 

 the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory," opened in February 

 in "Milestones of Flight." The exhibit introduces visitors to 

 gamma ray astronomy and the Earth-orbiting telescope that 

 serves as our eyes for viewing the gamma ray universe. The 

 Compton Gamma Ray Observatory was the second in NASA's 

 major space science missions for the 1980s, with the Hubble 

 Space Telescope being the first. Also completed this year, in 

 time for the premiere of the museum's newest IMAX film, 

 Cosmic Voyage, was the redesign of the Langley Theater Lobby 

 area. 



Major updates to the "Exploring the Planets" gallery, coor- 

 dinated by Priscilla Strain, are being made. The new "What's 

 New" unit highlights the active Galileo Mission to Jupiter. 

 The display allows for quick updates as new images and data 

 become available. 



The museum's Archives and SI Branch Library staff curated 

 an exhibit, "Latin American Aviation," for the SIL Library 

 Hall, NMNH. 



In the works for the coming year are three major projects. 

 In November a number of exhibits will open around the 

 museum commemorating the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Air 

 Force, including a Korean War era F-86A Sabre jet fighter, a 

 collection of models of Air Force aircraft, and various works of 

 art from the Air Force collection. In April of next year, "Space 

 Race" will open in an upgraded "Space Hall." Among the ob- 

 jects to be displayed are a high fidelity, full-scale mock-up of 

 the Hubble Space Telescope (based on a test vehicle used for 

 various purposes in the construction of the actual Hubble 

 Space Telescope), a Tomahawk cruise missile, and a camera 

 identical to those used in the first U.S. reconnaissance satel- 

 lites. There will also be a number of unique Soviet space ar- 

 tifacts on display. "Women and Flight," a photographic 

 SITES exhibit focusing on women who participate in aviation 

 for business or pleasure, will open in the summer. In October, 

 the museum will open its second major popular culture ex- 

 hibition, "Star Wars: The Magic of Myth." 



Collections 



From January to May, restoration work was performed on one 

 of the museum's three gigantic Saturn V rockets. This rocket 

 is on loan to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and is 363 

 feet long and 33 feet in diameter. The total cost of the restora- 

 tion was Si. 7 million and was made possible by funds from 

 surcharges on tours at the Kennedy Space Center. The 



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