February 



■ Fund Raising Net unrestricted income from the 

 Smithsonian National Associate Program's 1991 year- 

 end fund-raising appeal to Contributing Members 

 exceeded $250,000. 



February 1 



■ Exhibition "The Levy-Franks Family Colonial 

 Portraits" opened at the National Portrait Gallery. The 

 seven portraits (1725—35) are among the few surviving 

 family groupings from the colonial period; the sitters 

 were leading members of New York's Jewish com- 

 munity. The exhibition also included correspondence 

 and family silver. It was organized by the Museum of 

 Fine Arts, Boston, with participation and support from 

 the American Jewish Historical Society, Waltham, 

 Massachusetts. 



February Jr-2 



■ Performance Beggar's Holiday, a Broadway musical 

 composed by Duke Ellington and lost for decades, 

 received its first two performances in 45 years in a criti- 

 cally acclaimed concert version at the National Museum 

 of American History. Its score was reconstructed by the 

 museum's Division of Museum Programs staff from frag- 

 ments discovered in the vast Duke Ellington Collection 

 held in the NMAH Archives Center. 



February 2 



■ Benefit The Red Sage restaurant in Washington, 

 D.C., held its grand opening as a benefit for the Nation- 

 al Museum of the American Indian; the hosts and 

 guests contributed $12,500. 



February 3 



m New Facility The Smithsonian Board of Regents ap- 

 proved the acquisition of a small house on Colon Island, 

 Bocas del Toro, to serve as a research station for scien- 

 tists at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 

 interested in studying the pristine marine and ter- 

 restrial habitats along the Atlantic coast of Panama. 



February 3—29 



■ Collection Care The Spirit of St. Louis was lowered to 

 the floor of the Milestones of Flight Hall for cleaning 



and inspection by the National Air and Space Museum 

 collections management staff. The work, including re- 

 rigging and ultrasonic testing, was done in full view of 

 the public. 



February 4 



■ Exhibition "Martin Puryear," a retrospective exhibi- 

 tion of 38 works by the influential Washington-born 

 sculptor, opened at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculp- 

 ture Garden with a festive evening reception on Martin 

 Puryear Day (proclaimed by District of Columbia 

 Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly). Puryear returned April I to 

 conduct a workshop for high school students. The 

 exhibition, supported in Washington by theTruland 

 Family Foundation and Truland Systems Corporation, 

 was organized by the Art Institute of Chicago. 



February 7 



■ Concerts The cultural traditions of Korea were the 

 focus of the "Series in Celebration of Korean Performing 

 Arts," featuring three free public concerts by Korean 

 artists. The series was cosponsored by the Arthur M. 

 Sackler Gallery and the U.S.-Korea Foundation of 

 Washington, D.C., and made possible by funding from 

 United Technologies Corporation. 



February p 



■ Special Event The National Museum of American 

 Art hosted a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on its 

 front steps for neighbors and friends of the museum. 



February 15 



■ Festival "Sugar and Spice," a free festival held in con- 

 junction with the "Seeds of Change" exhibition at the 

 National Museum of Natural History, featured 

 demonstrations, food, and music illustrating the impact 

 of the Caribbean sugar industry on Europeans, African 

 slaves, and indigenous Americans. Subsequent festivals 

 featured potatoes and corn. 



February 18 



■ Publication The Smithsonian Book of Books, a history 

 of books and bookmaking, was the lead title and cover 

 subject of the Smithsonian Institution Press fall 1992 

 catalogue. It was also featured at the American Book- 

 sellers Association annual convention in June. 



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