In collaboration with SITES, OEC developed a UPS stand- 

 ard shipping crate to make OEC-designed small-format ex- 

 hibition structures even more viable for SITES' clients. 



1996 SITES projects included Prairie Schoolhouse, ArTrain. 

 Whispered Silences, Voyages and Visions, Earth 2U. the SITES 

 booth at the American Association of Museums Annual Con- 

 ference, Mysterious Manatees, Vanishing Amphibians, and An 

 Ocean Apart. 



Range of Clients 



Some of the clients who were served by OEC in 1996 include 

 the Office of Horticulture {Posy Holders exhibition in the Arts 

 and Industries Building), Postal Museum (Jeanette Cantrell 

 Rudy Federal Duck Stamp Gallery), VIARC (folding screen), 

 Center for Arctic Studies (a Russian version of the smaller 

 English version of SITES' Crossroads of Continents exhibition, 

 all of which OEC created), the Natural History Museum 

 {Ocean Planet. [NMNH in conjunction with SITES] Mysterious 

 Manatees ). Center for African American History and Culture 

 {Visual Journal and several installations), International Gallery 

 {Picturing Natural History. Voyages and Visions, and others), the 

 Office of the Provost (an exhibit case at the Baltimore- 

 Washington International Airport), and STRI {Where Land 

 Meets Sea). 



OEC has enioyed an especially close relationship with the 

 International Gallery over the years. As the International 

 Gallery's exhibit support team, OEC has developed a keen 

 awareness of the challenges and opportunities of that exhibit 

 space. The office has assisted the Gallery in strategizing how 

 to maximize its space for aesthetic, didactic, and program- 

 matic purposes. 



In FY 96 OEC renewed its relationship with the Anacostia 

 Museum and began service to the newly created Center for 

 African American History and Culture. 



Miscellaneous Services 



In 1996 OEC provided service to the SI through more than 

 100 projects as varied as the broad range of skills of its staff. 

 OEC's contributions are not always as readily apparent as 

 Voyages and Visions. Stories of the People. Smithson s Gift, and 

 other of the office's high-profile exhibits. Some of the office's 

 efforts are behind the scenes yet critical to various aspects of 

 the Institution's mandate. 



Among the exhibit services the office provided were exhibi- 

 tion lighting (Ocean Apart for SITES, as well as Voyages and 

 Visions. Artists at Work: A Celebration of Staff Creativity. Strong 

 Hearts, and other projects for the International Gallery), 

 fabrication of plexiglass vitrines (Hirshhorn Museum and the 

 We. the People exhibition at the American History Museum), 

 and illustrations (Where Land Meets Sea exhibition for STRI 

 and illustrations for the Zoo). 



OEC also designed and produced signage for a number of 

 clients and venues, including the Arts and Industries Build- 



ing, the Office of the Secretary, the Office of Horticulture's 

 Discover Orchids exhibit, and the Center for Museum Studies. 

 OEC exhibits specialists created props for the SI Women's 

 Committee's annual holiday dance and restored murals for the 

 South America Hall at the Natural History Museum. 



In 1996 OEC performed a number of installations, includ- 

 ing Smithson's Gift (Smithsonian Building), Visual Journal 

 (Arts and Industries Building, for Center for African 

 American History and Culture), Artist License: The Duck Stamp 

 Story (Jeanette Cantrell Rudy Gallery, National Postal 

 Museum) Science and the Artist's Book (Dibner Library, 

 American History Museum, for SI Libraries), Equal Rights and 

 Justice (at the Arts and Industries Building, for Center for 

 African American History and Culture), Ocean Planet (Natural 

 History Museum), Stories of the People (Arts and Industries 

 building, for NMAI), and Smithson to Smithsonian (Dibner 

 Library, American History Museum, for SI Libraries). 



OEC also refurbished a number of exhibit elements and ex- 

 hibits, including components of the traveling Spiders! exhibi- 

 tion fot the Natutal History Museum. 



Computers 



OEC made enormous strides toward the use of computers in 

 the design and production of exhibits at OEC. Under the 

 guidance of an m-house Systems Manager and Automation 

 Committee, OEC made automation its number one recipient 

 of financial resources. OEC more than doubled its available 

 computet hardware in FY96. OEC also began a computer- 

 aided design training program for its Design staff. 



Educational Outreach 



OEC taught a plexiglass seminar as well as several seminars 

 and workshops for the Center for Museum Studies on exhibi- 

 tion development, design, editing, and production. OEC edit- 

 ing staff lectured on exhibit writing and on accessibility 

 issues in exhibit labeling to community groups and to par- 

 ticipants in a Museum Education Roundtable seminar at the 

 National Building Museum. OEC staff also led a Corcoran 

 School of Art tour, a Study Tour and Demonstration for 

 Teenage Mothers (with the Center for Folklife Studies and 

 Cultural Programs), and a number of tours of the OEC facility 

 for visiting museum professionals trom around the country 

 and the world. 



Consultation 



As always, OEC staff served as an Institution-wide resource on 

 a variety of subjects. Several staff provided consultation for 

 STRI's coral reef exhibition. A staff exhibits editor was con- 

 tent advisor/editor for the Smithsonian Guidelines for Accessible 

 Exhibition Design. OEC has maintained a close relationship 

 with a museum development project in Ghana, through the 

 International Center. 



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