February 17 



Grant: The Women's Committee of the Smithsonian Associates awarded a $20,000 grant to 

 the Visitor Information and Associates' Reception Center to support future production 

 of "The Smithsonian Institution: Airplanes to Zoos," a video to prepare children and 

 families for their visit to the Smithsonian. 



February 17 



Exhibition: "The Catalan Spirit: Gaudi and His Contemporaries" opened at the Cooper- 

 Hewitt Museum. A reception celebrating the opening of the exhibition was held 

 February 23 and attended by opera star Placido Domingo and other internationally known 

 figures. 



February 18 



Lecture Series: The National Air and Space Museum offered the first lecture in its 

 five-part series, "Exploring Space." The series featured well-known space scientists 

 who examined current understanding of the origins, evolution, and structure of the 

 universe. 



February 19 



Expansion: With the opening of "Nancy Graves: A Sculpture Retrospective" and the 

 relocation of its Museum Shop, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden inaugurated 

 its newly expanded Special Exhibition Galleries on the lower level and introduced its 

 orientation theater. Visitors to the theater will view audio-visual programs on 

 special exhibitions and a program, made possible by a grant from the J. Paul Getty 

 Trust, on the permanent collection. 



February 19-20 



Conference: "A Common Agenda for History Museums" was held at the National Museum of 

 American History. Sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, the American Association 

 of Museums, and the American Association for State and Local History, the conference 

 identified many shared concerns and problems of historical organizations and history 

 museums and developed recommendations for organizations with historical collections. 



February 22 



Performance: Internationally acclaimed cabaret singer Michael Feinstein made his 

 Smithsonian debut in a performance organized by the Resident Associate Program. 



February 24 



New Facility: The National Demonstration Laboratory for Interactive Educational 

 Technologies was established. The first U.S. facility to focus entirely on research 

 and demonstration of state-of-the-art interactive video technology, the laboratory is 

 a joint project of the Smithsonian and a consortium of public television stations. 



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