with updated information for "The Long Road Up the 

 Hill: African Americans in Congress," the popular long- 

 running SITES exhibition. 



January 



■ Agreement Ten Japanese paintings from the Freer 

 Gallery of Art collection were sent to Japan for conser- 

 vation under a pioneering agreement with the Art Re- 

 search Foundation, a Tokyo establishment that 

 supports international cultural projects, and the 

 government of Japan. The project was initiated in 

 Japan by Professor Ikuo Hirayama, president of the 

 Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music 

 and senior director of the Art Research Foundation. 

 Additional paintings will be sent for conservation 

 under a continuing agreement. 



January 



■ Publications The Office of Public Affairs began dis- 

 tribution of its two newest brochures, both funded by 

 the Educational Outreach Program. "Exploring African 

 American Heritage at the Smithsonian" is a four-color, 

 12-page visitor brochure distributed to junior high and 

 high school students and churches as well as the general 

 public. "African & African American Resources at the 

 Smithsonian" is a 32-page, two-color brochure that 

 gives detailed information on research, collections, 

 employment, and selected activities to scholars, jour- 

 nalists, students, and others. 



> 



try 



■ Exhibition Installation of "Affirmations: As- 

 semblages by Schroeder Cherry" marked the beginning 

 of an effort by the Anacostia Museum to systematically 

 feature the works of regional artists in the museum's 

 Community Gallery. 



January 



■ Renovation The firm of James Stewart Polshek and 

 Partners was hired by Cooper-Hewitt, National 

 Museum of Design to renovate the two townhouses ad- 

 jacent to the main museum building and develop a 

 plan to integrate the three buildings and the terrace 

 and garden into a unified museum complex. The plan 

 will also enable the museum to comply with the 

 Americans with Disabilities Act. 



January— May 



■ Database The National Museum of African Art's 

 Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives entered its entire 

 collection of 26,500 field slides by renowned Life 

 magazine photographer Eliot Elisofon into a new 

 database that facilitates access to the collection and 

 allows museum staff and archives visitors to conduct 

 research by theme as well as ethnic group. 



January p-10 



■ Public Meeting Approximately IOO people attended 

 consultation meetings held in Riverside and Sacramen- 

 to, California, in the continuing effort by the National 

 Museum of the American Indian to solicit participation 

 from Indians and Alaskan Natives in the design, con- 

 struction, display, and presentation of materials in the 

 new museum. 



January 10 



■ Special Event The Smithsonian Resident Associate 

 Program celebrated the 100th birthday of film great 

 Hal Roach, featuring a dialogue with Roach, film clips, 

 and a festive birthday party enjoyed by a capacity 

 audience. 



January 1$ 



■ Recording Release The American Songbook, the first con- 

 tinuity series from the Smithsonian Collection of 

 Recordings, released Irving Berlin, the first album in a 

 six-part series, to be followed by recordings of the works 

 of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Harold 

 Aden, and Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. 



January 15-18 



■ Symposium Cooper-Hewitt, National Museum of 

 Design sponsored a three-day symposium, "The Edge of 

 the Millennium," which explored the impact the new 

 millennium might have on the design field. 



January 16 



■ International Visitors The Conservation Analytical 

 Laboratory was host to three delegates from the 

 Bunkacho (Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan) in the 

 third annual visit under the an SI— Bunkacho agree- 

 ment. The delegation participated in discussions at the 



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