posers, lyricists, impresarios, choreographers, designers, and 

 directors who collectively reinvented American culture 

 through this most extravagant of twentieth-century art 

 forms. This much-anticipated book, published by 

 Smithsonian Institution Press, is a Book of the Month 

 Club selection. 



Cecilia Beaux and the Art of Portraiture by Tara L. Tappert 

 was published in October 1995. This fully illustrated 

 catalogue shows the sumptuous work of Gilded Age 

 portraitist Cecilia Beaux, whose bravura brushwork and lush 

 color place her in the front rank of American painters. 



Ellen Miles was given The Ewell L. Newman Book Award 

 by the American Historical Print Collectors Society for her 

 publication, Satnt-Memin and the Neoclassical Profile Portrait in 

 America (Smithsonian Press, 1994). 



Education 



"MEN of COLOR! To Arms! To Arms!" a reenactment of an 

 1863 "Mass Meeting to promote Recruiting Colored Troops 

 for Three Years of the War," was presented during the exhibi- 

 tion "Majestic in His Wrath: The Life of Frederick Douglass." 

 Al Freeman as Frederick Douglass joined "Other Distin- 

 guished Speakers" and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment to 

 reproduce this 19th century event. 



The Portrait Gallery's celebration of the Smithsonian Insti- 

 tution's 150th Anniversary included thirty performances of 

 George Catlin: A Man Called Medicine Paint in conjunction 

 with "1846: Portrait of the Nation." This one-man inter- 

 active play chronicling Native American life in the mid- 

 nineteenth century was performed by young actor and 

 playwright, Christopher Janson. 



For the Smithsonian's 150th Anniversary Birthday Party on 

 the Mall, the Portrait Gallery offered a participatory exhibi- 

 tion that asked visitors "Whose portrait do you think should 

 be included in the National Portrait Gallery'" Visitors also 

 were entertained and enlightened by lectures, performances, 

 and an original video. 



The Education Department presented numerous 

 programs in conjunction with the exhibition "Louis 

 Armstrong: A Cultural Legacy." During Jazz Day families, 

 students, teachers, and |azz enthusiasts of all ages explored 

 the music and life of Louis Armstrong. A jazz concert with 

 Byron Stripling and the Al Maitlin Questet performed the 

 jazz music of America including "Memories of Satchmo," 

 while workshops recreated Afro-Cuban rhythms and ex- 

 plored the voice with scatsinging, and the topic of a panel 

 discussion was "Jazz as a Symbol of American Freedom." 

 Tours of the exhibition were given to several hundred 

 people, and a packet — including slides, audio-tape and 

 teaching materials — was given to teachers. "Retro-Louis," 

 a series of six courtyard concerts fearuring the music of 

 Louis Armstrong was also presented in coniunction with 

 the exhibition, supported by a grant from Infiniti Division 

 of Nissan Motor Corporation U.S.A. 



Development 



The major efforts of the Development Office have been 

 toward planning for a benefactors group and for the creation 

 of The National Portrait Gallery Center for Biographical 

 Film, a new, on-site media center dedicated to enlivening the 

 study of the great personalities of American history. The Cen- 

 ter will expand the concept of portraiture and ensure its 

 relevance in the 21st century by bringing film into the NPG 

 and linking this information with digitized images of the per- 

 manent collection. Currently in development is a database of 

 all biographic films held in archives throughout the country. 

 Advanced computer technology will offer information on lives 

 of America's leading statesmen, performers, artists, writers, 

 scientists and sports figures. From the casual visitor to the serious 

 scholar, image and film will be instantly at the visitor's finger- 

 tips. Utilizing the kinetic capabilities of film and video, the 

 Biographical Film Center, will make history and biography come 

 alive for the next generation. Additional funding is currently 

 sought to underwrite the next stages of the program. 



Special Projects 



Conversations with poet Gwendolyn Brooks and graphic artist 

 Al Hirschfeld were the latest in the National Portrait 

 Gallery's series of "Living Self-Portraits" conducted by Marc 

 Pachter, special counselor to the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution, and former assistant director for history and 

 public programs at the Gallery. Since 1978, twenty such con- 

 versations have been produced by the Gallery and recorded on 

 film and videotape. These "Living Self-Portraits," along with 

 other video portraits produced for special exhibitions and 

 programs, will become the core of the museum's Center for 

 Biographical Film. 



National Zoological Park 



Michael H. Robinson. Director 



During this 150th anniversary year of the Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion, the National Zoological Park continued its metamor- 

 phosis into a Biological Park, which endeavors to present the 

 complexity, diversity, and interconnectedness of life on earth. 

 Reflecting the BioPark mission, two significant new exhibits. 

 Think Tank and Pollinarium, were opened in fiscal year 1996. 

 The Zoo continues to maintain the Conservation and Research 

 Center on 3,150 acres in Front Royal, Virginia, as a major 

 animal breeding, conservation, and research center. In addi- 

 tion, the Smithsonian Migratory Bird Center became part of 

 the Zoo's biological programs division. 



Think Tank, the only zoo or museum exhibit in the nation 

 that focuses on the topic of thinking in animals, was opened 



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