December 1994 schedule
Douglas White
Smithsonian Magazine. I did check address/phone numbers to make
sure that they were OCR'ed correctly, and ran a simple spell
checker... but I apologize for any spelling errors. I'll check this
more carefully and post any corrections. Doug
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Planning a Smithsonian visit?
Receive a special free Associates' Planning Packet.
Write Smithsonian Information, Smithsonian Institution,
Washington, D.C. 20560, or call (202) 357-2700, daily, 9
A.M.- 4 P.M.; for callers with communication
impairments, TTY. (202) 357-1729. Note: Parking near
Smithsonian museums is limited. The convenient Metro-
rail subway system has parking available at some
stations (details in packet).
Begin your visit at the Smithsonian Information Center's
Associates' Reception Desk - it is open 9 A.M. - 4 P.M.
daily - in the Castle. The Court dining room, located
in the National Museum of Natural History, offers buffet
service daily, 11 A.M. - 3 P.M.
Museum hours
Most of the Smithsonian museums are open 10 A.M. - 5:30
P.M. daily, except Christmas Day, December 25. Hours at
the National Zoo are 9 A.M. - 4:30 P.M. daily for
buildings, and 8 A.M. - 6 P.M. daily for grounds.
Holiday events
Traditions of Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and the New
Year will be observed at the National Museum of American
History's annual Holiday Celebration, December 26-31,
Noon-4 P.M. daily. Festivities will include music,
storytelling and special exhibitions.
Special December exhibits, events
National Museum of American Art
Works by Jesse Trevino: New York, Vietnam, San Antonio
(through January 8, 1995) Paintings and drawings by the
San Antonio, Texas, realist. See Highlights Continued,
page 32.
Free Within Ourselves: African-American Art from the
Museum's Collection (through February 26, 1995)
Paintings, sculpture, folk art, works on paper, and pho-
tographs by nearly 100 artists, including Jacob Lawrence
and James VanDerZee.
Man on Fire: Luis Jimenez (through January 2, 1995)
Fiberglass sculptures and related graphic works by the
contemporary Mexican-American artist.
Renwick Gallery
Contemporary Crafts and The Saxe Collection (through
February 5, 1995) Exhibition showcases the studio craft
collection of George and Dorothy Saxe of Menlo Park,
California.
Allan West Meets East: Four Folding Screens (through
February 5, 1995) Large-scale works by the American
artist living in Japan draw on traditional Japanese
landscapes, American Color Field painting and the work
of Sam Gilliam.
National Portrait Gallery
Federal Profiles: Saint-Memin in America, 1793-1814
(December 2 - May 29, 1995) Portraits by the French
artist include likenesses of Thomas Jefferson, Mother
Elizabeth Ann Seton and others.
Points of View: Single Subject/Multiple Artists (through
February 20, 1995) Portraits of 16 sitters by more than
50 artists, from Alexander Calder to Andy Warhol,
feature subjects from Paul Robeson to Albert Einstein.
Recent Acquisitions (December 9 - May 29, 1995) Artworks
include photographs of Lucille Ball and Orson Welles by
Harry Wannecke, caricatures by Alfred Frueh.
National Air and Space Museum
Aerial Inspirations: Silk Batiks by Mary Edna Fraser
(through June 4, 1995) Large-scale silk batiks by this
contemporary artist portray her vision of geographic
features throughout the United States.
Where Next, Columbus? - Permanent show examines the
scientific, technological, economic, ethical and
political issues involved in future space travel.
Destiny In Space (10:45 A.M., 1 P.m., 3:15 P.m., 5:25
P.m. daily) Imax film looks at human and robotic space
exploration.
Titanica (6:15 P.m. daily) New Imax film reveals the
discovery of the sunken luxury ocean liner Titanic.
National Museum of Natural History
Spiders! (through January 2, 1995) Live and mounted
specimens, games, videos, photographs, interactive
displays, prose, poetry and spider myths.
Sacred Mountains of the World (through September 5,
1995) Photographic images of mountains that have been
inspirational in the quest for the preservation of
wilderness.
0. Orkin Insect Zoo - Newly renovated insect zoo
features various insect habitats and a look at insects
in your home.
From Crystal Gardens (through January 2, 1995)
Exhibition of 20 of the most spectacular specimens in
the museum's mineral collections.
National Zoological Park
What's New at the Zoo? - An engaging new generation of
animals has taken up residence at the Zoo this past
year. Look for such additions as Kumari, the elephant
calf born last December.
Amazonia - Permanent installation re-creates a microcosm
of the world's largest rain forest and river habitat.
National Museum of American History
Science in American Life - Permanent exhibit tracks
advances and discoveries in science over the past 125
years, and features a hands-on science center.
American Encounters - Permanent exhibition focuses on
the American Indian, Hispanic and Anglo-American
cultures of New Mexico's Upper Rio Grande Valley. Earth
Angels: Migrant Children in America (through February
1995) Photographs by Nancy Buirski.
Home Care Becomes A Profession: Public Health Nursing,
1885-1993 (through January 2, 1995) Images document
achievements of visiting nurses associations.
Images of Steel (through January 16, 1995) Photographs
by Russell Aikens, Lewis Hine, Arthur D'Arazien, Ander-
son Scott, look at America's steel industry.
National Postal Museum
The Smithsonian's newest museum, located next to Union
Station on Capitol Hill, presents exhibitions tracing
the history of the nation's mail service.
Best Wishes: Holiday Greetings from the White House
(through February 17, 1995) A series of Christmas cards
from Presidential families.
Philatelic Rarities (runs indefinitely) Display features
original stamp sketches by President Franklin D.
Roosevelt.
Freer Gallery of Art
Beyond Paper.- Chinese Calligraphy on Objects (through
April 21, 1995) Clay, lacquer, metal, jade, bamboo and
wood objects date from 7th-19th century.
Masterpieces of Chinese Calligraphy (through February
19, 1995) Works represent all four major scripts and the
four primary formats.
Luxury Arts of the Silk Route Empires (runs
indefinitely) Adjoining galleries showcase objects from
the Freer and Sackler collections.
Arthur M. Sackler Gallery
Paintings from Shiraz (December 24 - August 27, 1995)
Bound manuscripts and individual paintings illustrate
the arts of the Persian book created in Shiraz during
the 14th-16th centuries.
A Basketmaker in Rural Japan (through July 9, 1995)
Woven bamboo backpacks, fishing creels, kitchen storage
baskets and containers by Japanese basketmaker Hiroshima
Kazuo.
Landscape as Culture: Photographs by Lois Conner
(through May 30, 1995) Large format platinum prints by
the contemporary photographer record the landscape and
architecture of China and South Asia.
National Museum of African Art
Mohammad Omer Khalil, Etchings/Amir L M. Nour, Sculpture
(through February 26, 1995) Works by two contemporary
artists from the Sudan.
Grace Kwami Sculpture: An Artist's Book by Atta Kwami
(through March 27, 1995) Ghanaian artist's recent "book"
explores the artwork of his mother, Grace. Images of
Power and Identity - Permanent exhibition features 100
masterworks.
Anacostia Museum
In Search of Common Ground: Senior Citizens and
Community Life at Potomac Gardens (December 4-January
15, 1995) Shared experiences of ten black families,
migrants from the rural South to Washington, D.C. in the
1930s-'50s.
Black Mosaic: Community, Race and Ethnicity Among Black
Immigrants in Washington, D.C. (through August 7, 1995)
Oral histories, art, photographs, other materials,
reveal cultural diversity.
Hirshhorn Museum & Sculpture Garden
Bruce Nauman (through January 29, 1995) The work of one
of the most rigorously experimental American artists of
the past 25 years.
Directions-Gary Simmons (through February 12, 1995)
First solo museum show of the New York-based African-
American artist includes 1993 series "Erasures."
Arts and Industries Building
Imagining Families: Images and Voices (through February
28, 1995) Inaugural exhibit of the National African
American Museum Project presents the work of 15 American
photobiographer-artists.
Discovery Theater
Hansel and Gretel (through December 31) Performances:
Tuesday-Friday, 10 and 11:30 A.M.; Saturday, 11:30 A.m.
and 1 P.m. For reservations call (202) 3571500 (voice or
TTY).
S. Dillon Ripley Center,
International Gallery
Wenceslaus Hollar: Seventeenth-Century Prints from the
Museum Boymans-Van Beuningen, Rotterdam (through January
23, 1995) Engravings by the Czechoslovakian artist
present a reliable record of the land and people of
Europe.
Concourse and Rotunda Gallery
Monumental Propaganda (December 9 - Februarv 21, 1995)
Proposals by artists for concepts for transforming
Moscow into a showplace of post-totalitarian art.
Heye Center, National Museum of the American Indian (New
York)
Creation's journey: Masterworks of Native American
Identity and Belief (runs indefinitely) First of three
inaugural exhibitions features objects dating from 3200
B.C. to the present.
All Roads Are Good: Native Voices on Life and Culture
(runs indefinitely) Some 300 objects celebrate the
indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
This Path We Travel: (celebrations of Contemporary
Native American Creativity (through July 30, 1995)
Unique collaboration of 15 contemporary Native American
artists.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum (New York)
Good Offices and Beyond: The Evolution of the Workplace
(through February 26, 1995) Office design in the 1970s
and '80s.
The Structure of Style: Modernism in Dutch Applied Arts
1880-1930 (through February 19, 1995) Turn-of-the-
century Dutch decorative and applied arts.
Exhibition catalogs
Catalogs available currently include:
Sacred Mountains of the World ($50/$25 paper)
Creation's Journey: Native American Identity and Belief
($45/S29.95 paper)
All Roads Are Good: Native Voices on Life and Culture
($55/$29.95 paper)
This Path We Travel: Celebrations of Contemporary Native
American creativity ($18.95 paper)
Free Within Ourselves: African American Art from the
National Museum of American Art's Collection ($40/$22.95
paper)
Bruce Vauman ($35 paper)
To order, send check or money order to Smithsonian
Museum Shops, 8308 Cinder Bed Road, Newington, Virginia
22122. Include 15 percent of purchase to cover postage,
handling (minimum, $1.75).
Smithsonian on the air
Radio Smithsonian's Folk Masters The award-winning
series of traditional American music continues its new
season on public radio nationwide with programs
featuring blues, ballads and accordion kings of zydeco.
Check listings.
For a free copy of the companion Listener's Guide,
write: Office of Telecommunications, Smithsonian
Institution, National Museum of American History, MRC
645, Washington, D.C. 20560.
Resident Associate Program
To become a Resident Associate, or for fee and ticket
information, call (202) 357-3030. December events
include:
Peter and the Wolf and More (December 4; 2 P.m.) A
concert of light Classical music for young people, ages
6 and up.
An Evening of Mystery with Walter Mosley (December 5; 7
P.m.) The celebrated crime-fiction writer discusses his
fourth Rawlins mystery.
Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service
SITES organizes and circulates exhibitions to cities
throughout the United States and abroad. To sponsor a
show in your community, write SITES, Smithsonian,
Washington, D.C. 20560. Here are some December
exhibits:
Savannah, Georgia (December 10-January 22, 1995)
Africa's Legacy in Mexico: photographs by Tony Gleaton,
King-Tisdell Cottage Foundation Inc.
Sheffield, Ohio (December 3-January 15, 1995) The
Tongass: Alaska's Magnificent Rain Forest, French Creek
Nature Center.
Douglas White
http://dsys.ncsl.nist.gov/~dwhite
click on "Smithsonian" at the bottom of the page
or retrieve it using anonymous ftp
ftp 129.6.50.1
cd pub/dwhite
get smithdec.txt
The text file is about 12 KB, if you can't access it via
WWW or FTP, I can email it. Get in touch - dwh...@nist.gov
Enjoy!