December 



December ippo-August ippi 



■ Publication The National Portraic Gallery published 

 The Selected Papers of Charles Willson Peale and His Family, 

 Volume y The Belfield Years, 1810-1820, edited by the 

 gallery's Peale Family Papers Office staff, Lillian Miller, 

 Sidney Hart, David Ward, and Rose Emerick. The third 

 volume of this highly acclaimed series, arranged chrono- 

 logically and accompanied by an introductory essay and 

 annotations, illuminates Peale's personality, ideas, art, 

 and activities as well as the art and culture of the 

 United States during the early stages of its development. 



December 



■ Volunteers The Visitor Information and Associates' 

 Reception Center held its annual appreciation event for 

 volunteer information specialists. 



December 



■ Acquisition The National Museum of African Art ac- 

 quired an extraordinary Baga figure of a kneeling 

 woman supporting a drum on her head. The Baga drum 

 went on view as part of the museum's permanent collec- 

 tion in July. 



December 



■ Publication Climate and Moisture Variability in a Tropi- 

 cal Forest: Long Term Records from Barro Colorado Island, 

 Panama, by Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 

 staff member D. M. Windsor, summarized and analyzed 

 one of the longest climate records from any tropical lo- 

 cality. Rainfall in the area has significantly declined 

 over the past 60 years, a finding that may prove to be of 

 much broader geographical significance. 



December 



■ Meeting The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Ex- 

 ternal Affairs cohosted delegations from Soviet Ministry 

 of Culture for discussions with American art figures. 



December ippo-August ippi 



■ Special Project The Office of the Assistant Secretary 

 for External Affairs conducted a review of Smithson- 

 ian media activities and created the Media Review 

 Board. 



■ Quincentenary The Office of the Assistant Secretary 

 for External Affairs and the Office of Quincentenary 

 Programs coordinated the Smithsonian Institution's rela- 

 tionship to the television series "The Buried Mirror: Re- 

 flections on Spain and the New World by Carlos 

 Fuentes." 



December I 



■ Broadcast "The Louis Armstrong Jazz Trumpet Com- 

 petition," hosted by Bill Cosby and coproduced by 

 Radio Smithsonian and Washington, D.C., public radio 

 station WETA-FM, presented two hours of highlights 

 from this distinguished competition, which was held at 

 the Smithsonian. 



December land January 26 



■ Special Events The Office of Development held two 

 donor cultivation events in conjunction with the SITES 

 exhibition "Moscow: Treasures and Traditions." 



December j 



■ High School Project The Education Department at 

 Cooper-Hewitt, National Museum of Design initiated 

 Design Career-Day Programs with "Homes for the 

 Homeless." High school students were given the chance 

 to work with professional designers as they explored so- 

 cial issues and participated in design activities. 



December 6 



■ Awards Smithsonian News Service, a service of the 

 Office of Public Affairs, won first, second, and third 

 place and honorable mention awards in the Blue Pencil 

 competition of the National Association of Government 

 Communicators. A brochure on the Marine Station at 

 Link Port, coproduced by OPA and Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion Press, won first place in the General Brochure cate- 

 gory, and a news release on Smithsonian acquisitions in 

 1989 won honorable mention in the News Release 

 category. 



December 11 



■ Exhibition "Comparisons — An Exercise in Looking," 

 an innovative exhibition pairing objects to hone 

 visitors' appreciation of art, opened at the Hirshhom 



11 



