For the fifth year, the National Design Museum offered its an- 

 nual summer series of free lectures and concerts in the Arthur 

 Ross Terrace and Garden. This year's series, "Crosscurrents: Na- 

 tive American Design," explored the intersections between the 

 objects of design and cultural meaning in the Native American 

 world. The garden also was the site of "Design Express: A Kalei- 

 doscope of Family Fun," the Museum's second family day. The 

 event included live music and craft workshops for children. 



During 1994, work progressed on the Museum's major capi- 

 tal renovation and accessibility project. The architectural firm 

 of James Stewart Polshek and Partners was hired in 1992 to de- 

 velop a plan to integrate the separate components of Cooper- 

 Hewitt, National Design Museum, (the Carnegie Mansion, 

 the Miller and Fox Houses), into a unified, accessible com- 

 plex. During the past year, the Miller and Fox townhouses 

 were emptied of collections and staff offices. New offices and 

 collection storage rooms were created from exhibition gallery 

 space in the Carnegie Mansion. The collections move was com- 

 pleted without incident and ahead of schedule. The construc- 

 tion tentatively is scheduled to will begin in late 1995. 



In addition to achieving many noteworthy goals in 1994, 

 the Museum continued work on several important long-term 

 projects. In the fall of 1998, the Museum will present The 

 North American City an exhibition organized to celebrate the 

 centennial of the National Design Museum. The exhibition 

 will demonstrate that cities are positive, productive cultural 

 forces, essential to democracy and civilization. It will specific- 

 ally explore the relationship between the tangible, physical 

 form of the city — its design — and the social, economic, and 

 political factors that collectively comprise the character of the 

 ciry. The exhibition will focus on ten to fifteen different 

 North American cities and will highlight the defining charac- 

 teristics of each metropolitan type. The Museum is also in the 

 initial planning stages of creating a National Design Awards 

 program. These awards will give the Museum the opportunity 

 to highlight the best work of the design world and reward de- 

 signers and companies for their creativity and problem solv- 

 ing. Finally, the Museum will continue the expansion and 

 development of its Board of Trustees. This advisory group 

 will help support and guide the Museum into the future. 



Design and its impact on individuals, societies, and the 

 planet are critical issues for the '90s and the future. The Na- 

 tional Design Museum is in a unique position to help the pub- 

 lic gain a better understanding of design and learn to use 

 design to create a better world. 



Freer Gallery of Art 



Mi/o C. Beach, Director 



The Freer Gallery of Art, known around the world for its out- 

 standing collections of Asian art dating from Neolithic times 

 to the early 20th century and for its important holdings of 



works by James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), opened to the 

 public in 1919 as the first art museum of the Smithsonian. 

 Gifts and purchases have expanded the number and character 

 of the original collection, which was deeded to the United 

 States by Charles Lang Freer of Detroit in 1906. While only a 

 small portion of the gallery's holdings can be displayed at any 

 one time, regular exhibition changes present the collections in 

 all their richness. This year, the staff worked to establish and 

 adjust operational procedures and budgeting in consideration 

 of its responsibilities for two fully operational galleries, the 

 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the Freer Gallery of Art. 



His Majesty Emperor Akihito and Her Majesty Empress 

 Michiko of Japan visited the Freer Gallery on June 12. It was 

 the first time in the gallery's history that a reigning Japanese 

 emperor had visited. 



The royal couple toured the Freer with Director Milo Beach 

 and viewed selections from the gallery's world-famous collec- 

 tion of Japanese art, including paintings recently conserved 

 and re-mounted in Japan as part of a multimillion-dollar 

 effort to preserve important Japanese art in cultural institu- 

 tions worldwide. The project, now in its third year, is spon- 

 sored by the Japanese government and private organizations 

 in Japan. 



Begun by Professor Ikuo Hirayama, president of Tokyo Na- 

 tional University of Fine Arts and Music and senior director 

 of the Art Research Foundation, the project is supported by 

 in-kind gifts and funding from the Art Research Foundation; 

 Tokyo National Research Institute for Cultural Properties, a 

 department of Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs; Tokyo 

 National University of Fine Arts and Music; and six distin- 

 guished private conservation studios, which are donating 

 labor and supplies. 



The effort originally involved 25 Japanese paintings in the 

 Freer collection dating from the 12th through the 19th cen- 

 tury. Treatment of 23 paintings has been completed, ad the 

 agreement has been expanded to include additional works. 



The emperor and empress also visited the Freer's East Asian 

 painting conservation studio, where gallery specialists trained 

 in Asia combine high technology with centuries-old methods 

 to repair and mount scrolls, screens, and album leaves. The 

 studio, which was established in 1924, is one of only three 

 such facilities in the United States. 



The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Auditorium of the Freer 

 Gallery became the Washington, DC, venue for Musicians 

 from Marlboro, who presented three free public concerts this 

 year. The series commemorates a long association berween the 

 Marlboro musicians and the Meyer family and is given in 

 memory of the Meyers' son, Dr. Eugene Meyer III, and his 

 wife, Mary Adelaide Bradley Meyer. The concerts are gener- 

 ously supported by the Island Fund in The New York Com- 

 munity Trust and Elizabeth E. Meyer. Its appearances at the 

 Freer were the Marlboro musicians only Washington, D.C., 

 performances and offered exceptional opportunities for the 

 public to enjoy free concerts by these internationally recog- 

 nized artists. Prime Minister Narasimha Rao of India was hon- 



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