Report to the Regents

Third Quarter, Fiscal Year 2011

Discovery, the longest-serving orbiter in the space shuttle fleet, will be accepted 

into the National Air and Space Museum collection upon arrival at the Steven F. 

Udvar-Hazy Center in the spring of 2012. 
Broadening Access: Visitation Summary

Through the third quarter of fiscal year 2011, the Institution counted about 21 million visits to its 

museums in Washington, D.C. and New York, plus the National Zoological Park and Steven F. UdvarHazy Center—similar to the figure for this period in fiscal year 2010. Of note were increases in visitation 

at Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York City (up 62 percent) and the Donald W. 

Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture (up 25 percent).

The Smithsonian also counted: 

Approximately 4.5 million visits to traveling exhibitions mounted by the Smithsonian 

Institution Traveling Exhibition Service; and 

About 90 million visits to Smithsonian websites. 

Visits to Smithsonian Venues

First Three Quarters, Fiscal Years 2009, 2010, and 2011 

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0

1

2

3

4

5

6

Anacostia

Renwick

Cooper-Hewitt (NY)

Heye Center (NY)

Postal

African Art

Ripley Center

Hirshhorn

Freer/Sackler

Reynolds Center

Udvar-Hazy

American Indian

SI Castle

National Zoo

American History

Natural History

Air and Space

FY 2009

FY 2010

FY 2011

Millions

Report to the Regents, September 2011
Grand Challenges Highlights 

Valuing World Cultures 

Secretary G. Wayne Clough, Under Secretary Richard 

Kurin, and Director of the National Museum of African Art

Johnnetta Cole joined Rachel Goslins, Executive Director of 

the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, 

and Eryl Wentworth, Director of the American Institute for 

Conservation, on a visit to Port-au-Prince, Haiti on June 21–22. 

The team reviewed the Smithsonian’s conservation work in the 

earthquake-ravaged country and met with Haitian officials, U.S. 

embassy staff, heads of cultural organizations, and Haiti Cultural 

Recovery Project personnel. 

Research 

The Freer and Sackler Galleries hosted a scholarly symposium 

on the “Art and Material Culture of the Northern Qi Period” in conjunction with the Sackler exhibition 

Echoes of the Past: The Buddhist Cave Temples of Xiangtangshan. It was the first international symposium 

devoted to this topic.

The National Museum of the American Indian held two scholarly symposia:

“Where Art Worlds Meet: A Conversation with Indigenous Hawaiian, Native American, and 

Aboriginal Contemporary Artists” focused on the evolution of the global indigenous art scene.

“Essentially Indigenous?” at the Museum’s George Gustav Heye Center in New York investigated 

the attributes of Native artists’ work that make it “Native.” 

Papers presented at the November 2010 Anacostia Community 

Museum symposium “Connecting the Worlds of the African 

Diaspora: the Living Legacy of Lorenzo Dow Turner” were 

published in a special spring 2011 issue of The Black Scholar: 

Journal of Black Studies and Research.

Broadening Access

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage hosted another 

successful Smithsonian Folklife Festival, with programs 

highlighting Colombia, the Peace Corps, and rhythm and 

blues. For 10 days, more than 280 artists and artisans shared 

their talents with an estimated 1,083,000 visitors—the highest 

Festival attendance since 2002.

Two new exhibitions opened at the Sackler Gallery:

Waves at Matsushima (May 29–July 5, 2011) featured 

screens and prints depicting the beauty of the region hit 

by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. 

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Smithsonian leaders visited Haiti

Report to the Regents, September 2011
A sneak preview of the National Museum of 

Natural History exhibition Eternal Life in 

Ancient Egypt went on display on April 5. The 

full exhibition opens on November 17; it focuses 

on the insights that mummies, burial rituals, and 

cosmology provide about life in ancient Egypt.

Understanding the American Experience 

The Association of Art Museum Curators voted the National Portrait 

Gallery exhibition Hide/Seek the nation’s top thematic art museum 

exhibition in 2010. 

Research 

The National Portrait Gallery, in association with the University of California Press and the 

Contemporary Jewish Museum, published Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Stories by Wanda M. Corn and 

Tirza True Latimer, the companion volume to an upcoming Gallery 

exhibition on Stein.

The Smithsonian American Art Museum, in association with D Giles 

Ltd., London, published The Great American Hall of Wonders: Art, Science, 

and Invention in the Nineteenth Century, written by guest curator Claire 

Perry and with a foreword by Museum Director Elizabeth Broun, to 

accompany a Museum exhibition that opened in the fourth quarter. 

The Civil War: A Visual History, produced by the Smithsonian in 

association with DK Publishing, offers a definitive visual history of the 

conflict that tore the United States apart. The National Portrait Gallery’s 

Jim Barber and the National Museum of American History’s Harry 

Rubenstein served as editorial consultants. 

Broadening Access

The Smithsonian celebrated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month in May with a series of lectures, 

performances, and films. More than 500 people participated in the feature event, a family day celebration 

at the National Museum of American History. 

In April, the Smithsonian celebrated the 10th anniversary of Jazz Appreciation Month. To mark this 

milestone, Smithsonian Folkways launched a Jazz Education website featuring an interactive music 

mixer, a history of jazz timeline, an interactive jazz map, and a discussion board. The Month’s events at 

the National Museum of American History focused on the legacy of women in jazz. 

Family Matters: Portraits from the 

Qing Court 

Family Matters: Portraits from the Qing 

Court (June 11, 2011–November 16, 

2012) includes 16 paintings of Qing 

dynasty emperors, empresses, princes, 

and princesses. 

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Eternal Life in Ancient 

Egypt 

Report to the Regents, September 2011 
Over the past five years, a $3.6 

million grant from the Terra 

Foundation for American Art has 

enabled the Archives of American 

Art to process and create online 

finding aids for 138 collections, fully 

digitize 111 collections, and make 

1.5 million digital files available 

online. Terra Foundation support 

will continue with a new $3.1 

million, five-year grant. 

The exhibition For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights (June 10–

November 27, 2011), organized by the National Museum of African American History and Culture and 

the Center for Art, Design, and Visual Culture at the University of Maryland, opened at the National 

Museum of American History. It examines the role media images played in 

the fight for racial equality.

The National Portrait Gallery is marking the 150th anniversary of the Civil 

War with a series of seven exhibitions, including The Death of Ellsworth, 

which opened this quarter (April 29, 2011–March 18, 2012). Colonel Elmer 

E. Ellsworth was the first Union officer to be killed in the Civil War.

The exhibition Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Warriors: Photographs by Gertrude 

Käsebier (April 13–June 15, 2011) in the International Gallery of the Ripley 

Center featured 60 photos of Lakota (Sioux) tribe members who visited New 

York City with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show in 1898. It was produced by 

the National Museum of American History and the Buffalo Bill Historical 

Center, a Smithsonian Affiliate.

The National Postal Museum launched four online exhibitions that combine 

philately with history and culture: Thurgood Marshall: Celebrating One of 

America’s Greatest Civil Rights Pioneers; Celebrating People 

with Disabilities Through Stamps; Heroes on Stamps; and 

People and Places of the Pacific: 2011 Edition. 

Former U.S. Representative, Atlanta Mayor, and U.S. 

Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young 

joined Jack H. Watson, Jr., chair of the National Portrait 

Gallery’s Commission, to discuss Young’s role in the Civil 

Rights movement and to witness the unveiling of Young’s 

portrait in the Gallery’s Struggle for Justice exhibit. 

Two small exhibitions opened at the National Museum of 

American History: 

“So Much Need of Service”–The Diary of a Civil War 

Nurse (April 22 –July 29, 2011) featured the diary 

of Civil War–era nurse Amanda Akin and related documents. 

HIV and AIDS 30 Years Ago (ongoing; opened June 3, 2011) looks at public health, scientific, 

and political responses in the early phase of a global pandemic. 

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For All the World to See: Visual Culture and the Struggle for Civil Rights

Elmer Ellsworth

National Portrait Gallery Director Martin Sullivan with 

Civil Rights figure Andrew Young

 Report to the Regents, September 2011
Renowned musician, artist, and poet Patti Smith gave a performance at Sotheby’s 

in New York City to benefit the Archives of American Art, featuring readings 

from love letters in the Archives’ collections.

Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe

Research: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO)

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) 

During this quarter, CfA scientists’ research 

appeared in 146 peer-reviewed papers, as well 

as 221 non-peer-reviewed articles presented at 

meetings, conferences, or other venues. Among the scientific journals 

carrying CfA research results was the leading journal Nature, which 

had five citations. 

The Kepler spacecraft team, which includes 12 CfA astronomers, 

has announced the discovery of an astonishing 1,235 possible new 

extrasolar planets (planets orbiting stars other than our own sun). 

CfA astronomers, using a small, 1.2-meter survey radio telescope, 

have discovered a new spiral arm on the far side of our Milky Way 

galaxy. The arm is thought to be a sweeping extension of a currently 

known feature, implying that the Milky Way is symmetrical, with 

only two arms. 

SAO astronomers used the Chandra X-Ray Observatory to complete 

a landmark study of a massive star-forming complex in Carina, which 

lies around one of the most luminous stars in the southern sky, Eta 

Carinae. The 16 resulting papers resolve numerous outstanding 

mysteries of the region. 

Research: National Air and Space Museum (NASM) 

Center for Earth and Planetary Studies (CEPS) 

John Grant of CEPS co-convened the fifth and final workshop 

focused on selecting a landing site for NASA’s Mars Science 

Laboratory rover mission. Grant co-chairs the group appointed by 

NASA to provide input on landing sites. 

An important paper with contributions by two CEPS scientists, 

Bruce Campbell and Lynn Carter, “Massive CO2 Ice Deposits 

Sequestered in the South Polar Layered Deposits of Mars,” appeared 

in Science. Campbell and Carter were members of a team that recently 

announced the discovery of ice layers on Mars containing huge 

amounts of CO2. 

Patti Smith

The Kepler spacecraft

The Great Nebula of Carina 

A new picture of the Milky Way 

Report to the Regents, September 2011 
Broadening Access

Two temporary exhibitions opened at the National Air and Space Museum: 

NASA/Art: 50 Years of Exploration (May 28–October 9, 2011), a 

joint project of the Museum, the Smithsonian Institution Traveling 

Exhibition Service, and NASA, features works from the NASA art 

program, which was established in 1962 to document the human 

spaceflight program. 

From Earth to the Solar System, developed by the Smithsonian 

Astrophysical Observatory, NASA Astrobiology Institute, and 

National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and 

featuring 30 beautiful images of the solar system, was on display 

during the month of June. 

The National Air and Space Museum also hosted a number of events to mark the 50th anniversary of 

human spaceflight: 

The Division of Space History co-sponsored a symposium, “1961/1981: Key Moments in 

Human Spaceflight,” which drew leading historians and social scientists. 

A program at the Udvar-Hazy Center, “To the Moon: The Speech That Launched Apollo,” 

commemorated the 50th anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s famous speech announcing 

the United States’ intention of sending a manned mission to the moon. 

The annual John H. Glenn Lecture featured Senator John Glenn himself and fellow spaceflight 

pioneer Scott Carpenter; it was the most popular lecture at the Museum and on its website for 

the year so far.

During this quarter, the Astrophysics Data System (ADS) website, administered by the HarvardSmithsonian Center for Astrophysics, had over 330 million hits. ADS provides searches and worldwide 

open access to the astronomy and astrophysics literature. 

A full-scale model of Curiosity, the next Mars rover, arrived at the National 

Air and Space Museum, on loan from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. 

Understanding and Sustaining a Biodiverse Planet

The Museum Conservation Institute hosted a Smithsonian Climate 

Change Research Symposium that brought together scientists from across 

the Institution. Several areas of research were identified as particular 

Smithsonian strengths, 

such as research 

on geologic time periods of cyclic warming and 

cooling, the influences of extraterrestrial forces on 

climate, and coastal/wetland systems. 

On April 27, Panamanian President Ricardo 

Martinelli visited Washington, D.C., where he met 

with Secretary Clough to discuss the Smithsonian 

Tropical Research Institute’s operations in 

Panama and the special relationship between the 

Smithsonian and Panama.

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NASA/Art

Curiosity

Panama’s President comes to the Smithsonian

 Report to the Regents, September 2011
Research: National Zoological Park (NZP) 

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI)

Whale sharks are often thought to be solitary, but new 

research by SCBI scientists and their colleagues, involving 

both surface and aerial surveys, discovered the largest assembly 

of whale sharks ever reported, consisting of up to 420 

individuals off the coast of the Yucatán Peninsula.

Researchers at SCBI and partner organizations will build 

a frozen repository of Great Barrier Reef coral sperm 

and embryonic cells. Genetic banks composed of frozen 

biomaterials hold great promise for conservation, as researchers 

can thaw these materials years in the future to help restore a species or diversify a population. 

SCBI and other Smithsonian scientists have confirmed that the devastating amphibian disease 

chytridiomycosis has reached Panama’s Darien region—the last area in the mountainous neotropics 

thought to be free of it. This is troubling news for the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation 

Project, a consortium of nine organizations (including SCBI and the Smithsonian Tropical Research 

Institute) that aims to rescue frog species in danger of extinction. 

The predictability and scale of seasonal changes in habitats help 

determine the behavior of migratory species, according to a paper 

published online in Global Ecology and Biogeography by SCBI 

researchers and their partners. The study’s findings have significant 

implications for land managers working to conserve endangered 

species that migrate. 

Research: National Museum of Natural History (NMNH)

The landmark volume The Subsistence Economies of Indigenous North 

American Societies: A Handbook (Smithsonian Institution Scholarly 

Press, April 2011), edited by NMNH’s Bruce Smith, documents how 

Native American societies adapted to the varied ecosystems of North 

America over the past 10,000 years. 

In the Journal of Archaeological Science article “Earliest Art in the Americas: Incised Image of a 

Proboscidean on a Mineralized Extinct Animal Bone from Vero Beach, Florida,” NMNH’s Dennis 

Stanford and his collaborators announced the discovery of a 13,000-year-old bone fragment with an 

incised image of a mammoth or mastodon—the oldest and only known example of Ice Age art depicting 

a proboscidean (animal with a trunk) in the Americas. 

A team of scientists including NMNH’s Hans Sues has discovered a 

fossilized dinosaur skull and neck vertebrae that reveal not only a new 

species, but an evolutionary link between two groups of dinosaurs. 

The new species, Daemonosaurus chauliodus, was discovered at Ghost 

Ranch, New Mexico. The findings were published in the Proceedings of 

the Royal Society B, with Sues as lead author. 

The American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced that 

NMNH’s Kay Behrensmeyer (Department of Paleobiology) and Bruce Smith (Department of 

Anthropology) were among the newly elected class of 2011 members. 

A whale shark 

Daemonosaurus chauliodus

Report to the Regents, September 2011 
The non-native Burmese python has established itself in the Florida Everglades, where it preys on native 

species. Scientists recently completed an analysis of the impact of the python on Florida’s native birds. 

Bird remains in the intestinal tracts of collected pythons were identified by comparing feathers and bone 

fragments with specimens in the NMNH collections. The findings were published in BioOne.

Research: Smithsonian Environmental 

Research Center (SERC) 

Invasive species often hitch rides to new ecosystems in 

the ballast water of ship hulls. In 2012, the U.S. Coast 

Guard will begin rolling out new standards requiring 

most ships to have some form of ballast water treatment 

system to eradicate invasive 

species. To help the EPA and 

Coast Guard develop practical 

standards, SERC ecologist Greg 

Ruiz and three other invasion 

scientists published a National Research Council report detailing the science 

behind the issue.

The ocean has absorbed roughly half the CO2 emitted by human activities since 

the Industrial Revolution, making it more acidic and threatening the survival of 

many species. Coastal waters are particularly at risk: research by SERC scientists 

Whitman Miller, Fritz Riedel, and Denise Breitburg has discovered that much 

greater short-term fluctuations in acidity occur in estuaries, where reduced 

salinity provides less buffering capacity. 

Research: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) 

A special May 15 issue of the journal Forest Ecology and Management, edited by 

STRI’s Jefferson Hall and his colleagues, offers insights from 20 years of tropical 

reforestation research. Hall also directs the Agua Salud Project, an ambitious 

700-hectare experiment in the Panama Canal Watershed aimed at measuring 

how land use practices affect water flow, carbon storage, and biodiversity.

Unpublished work by STRI’s Carlos Jaramillo was featured in a recent New 

Scientist article, “United Plates of America.” Jaramillo’s work challenges the 

orthodox account of the rise of the Isthmus of Panama, and argues for changing 

the date of the rise from 3 million years ago to 22 million years ago, based 

in part on new fossil evidence unearthed during the current Panama Canal 

expansion project. 

Broadening Access

The Smithsonian Associates and the National Museum of Natural History

program “Demystifying Seafood: The Ocean and Its Bounty” featured a panel 

discussion followed by a sustainable seafood reception. The panel was moderated 

by NPR science journalist Richard Harris and included environmental activist 

Ted Danson, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, and ocean scientists.

Invasive species can arrive in the ballast water of ships 

SERC’s Denise Breitburg 

STRI’s Jefferson Hall (top) 

and Carlos Jaramillo 

 Report to the Regents, September 2011
The National Museum of the American Indian launched the website “American Indian Responses to 

Environmental Challenges” for middle school students. Evaluation of this pilot project, which presents 

the environmental initiatives of four American Indian tribes, will inform the design of a major outreach 

effort to schools nationwide. 

The National Museum of 

Natural History’s annual 

Nature’s Best Photography 

Awards exhibition (April 

16–September 25, 2011) 

presents the winners of the 

2010 Windland Smith Rice 

International Awards for 

amateur and professional 

nature photography.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Marine Ecologist Denise Breitburg joined a panel of 

climate scientists for a congressional briefing on the dangers of ocean acidification. Breitburg discussed 

how factors such as wetland loss and nutrient pollution can intensify the problem in coastal waters.

Crossing Boundaries 

The Smithsonian Associates and the Creativity Foundation named Johnnetta Betsch 

Cole, anthropologist, author, educator, and Director of the National Museum 

of African Art, as the recipient of the 10th annual Benjamin Franklin Creativity 

Laureate Award, which honors some of the world’s most creative thinkers in the arts, 

sciences, and humanities. Previous recipients included Yo-Yo Ma, Daniel Patrick 

Moynihan, Sandra Day O’Connor, Jules Feiffer, Ted Turner, and Meryl Streep.

The National Postal Museum’s Cheryl Ganz received the Lee Medal from the 

Royal Philatelic Society London for her presentation “Come Take a Ride on the 

Hindenburg.” The Society, established in 1869, is the oldest philatelic society in the 

world; the Medal is awarded annually for the best presentation given to it that year.

Kenneth Slowik, Curator of Musical Instruments and Artistic Director of the 

Smithsonian Chamber Music Society at the National Museum of American 

History, was selected to receive the 2011 Secretary’s Distinguished Research Lecture 

Award, which recognizes a scholar’s achievement in research, commitment to the 

Smithsonian, and ability to communicate research results to non-specialists.

Publications from three Smithsonian units were honored in the 2011 American 

Association of Museums Publications Design Competition: 

The Freer and Sackler Galleries’ Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National 

Museum of Cambodia, designed by the Galleries’ Adina Brosnan-McGee, 

took first prize in the exhibition catalogue category. The National Portrait 

Gallery’s Hide/Seek catalogue received an honorable mention.

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden’s “Art Surrounds Us” 

promotional poster took first place in the poster category, while the Freer and 

Sackler Galleries’ In the Realm of the Buddha exhibition poster, designed by 

the Galleries’ Nancy Hacskaylo, won an honorable mention. 

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Two examples of Nature’s Best Photography

Johnnetta Cole 

(top), Cheryl Ganz, 

and Kenneth Slovik 

Report to the Regents, September 2011
The fall 2010 issue of the Hirshhorn’s Hirshhorn Magazine

(layout by the Hirshhorn’s Bob Allen) won first place in 

the magazine category. 

Research 

The Age of Plastics program was awarded a level one Grand 

Challenges Award to build a community of researchers engaged 

in the study of plastics from various disciplinary perspectives. 

A steering workshop, organized by the Museum Conservation 

Institute’s Odile Madden, was held at the Hirshhorn Art Lab. 

Only the Wing: Reimar Horten’s Epic Quest to Stabilize and Control 

the All-Wing Aircraft by the National Air and Space Museum’s 

Russell E. Lee, published by the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly 

Press, is the first in-depth study of a neglected part of aviation 

history—the development of the all-wing design.

In May, the Freer and Sackler Galleries hosted a two-day 

international seminar sponsored by the Association of Art Museum 

Directors, American Association of Museums, and National 

Archives, “A New Era of Collaboration and Digitized Resources: 

World War II Provenance Research Seminar.” 

Broadening Access 

A new exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History Race: Are We So Different? (June 18, 

2011–January 2, 2012) explores race from scientific, historical, and cultural perspectives, challenging 

visitors to ask questions, think critically, and reflect on their own experiences. 

Two new exhibitions opened at the Hirshhorn Museum and 

Sculpture Garden. 

Fragments in Time and Space (June 23–August 28, 2011) 

encouraged viewers to reconsider how they perceive and 

experience the world, from a single moment to an idea of 

the infinite. 

Directions: Grazia Toderi (April 21–October 24, 2011) 

presents mesmerizing nightscapes by the noted Italian 

artist Grazia Toderi. 

The Hirshhorn also co-hosted a forum where 20 YoungArts Presidential Scholars discussed “The 

Meaning of Museums to the Next Generation.” YoungArts, the core program of the National Foundation 

for Advancement in the Arts, seeks to identify talented young artists and to foster greater appreciation for 

the arts. This gathering launched a long-range collaboration between the Hirshhorn and YoungArts.

The Freer Gallery’s renowned Peacock Room has been restored to its appearance in 1908, when Charles 

Lang Freer used it to display more than 250 ceramics from Asia. The first special exhibition in this 

room since its conservation in 1993, The Peacock Room Comes to America (April 9, 2011–spring 2013) 

highlights Freer’s belief in “points of contact” between American and Asian art.

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Race: Are We So Different? 

Directions: Grazia Toderi 

10 Report to the Regents, September 2011
The Smithsonian Institution Libraries’ Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) librarians Grace Costantino, 

Bianca Crowley, and Erin Thomas were awarded the 2011 De Gruyter Saur International Federation 

of Library Associations Research Paper Award for their paper, “Heeding the Call: User Feedback 

Management and the Digital Library.” 

Broadening Access: Outreach

Through the third quarter of fiscal year 2011, the 

Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition 

Service (SITES) circulated 50 exhibitions to 

445 venues in all 50 states, plus the District of 

Columbia, Guam, and U.S. military bases in 10 

countries. In the third quarter, SITES launched 

two new exhibitions on national tours: 

American Sabor: Latinos in U.S. Popular 

Music opened at the Sacramento 

(California) Public Library. 

Suited for Space opened its four-year 

national tour at the Chicago Museum of 

Science and Industry. 

The national tour of the SITES exhibition Freedom’s Sisters was extended to accommodate special 

showings at locations closely aligned with key moments in Civil Rights history. In Jackson, Mississippi, 

the exhibition took center stage at 50th anniversary events honoring returning “Freedom Riders” and 

Mississippi icon Myrlie Evers-Williams. 

Several Smithsonian art museums held events 

in their evening series aimed at drawing in a 

young-adult demographic, including “Asia After 

Dark: A Tribute to Japanese Art and Fashion” at 

the Freer and Sackler Galleries, “After Hours” at 

the Hirshhorn, and “Africa Underground: West 

Africa to the Caribbean” at the National Museum 

of African Art. 

Smithsonian Affiliations offers museums, cultural 

institutions, and educational organizations access 

to the Institution’s collections and other resources. 

At the end of the past quarter, there were 169 

Affiliates in 40 states, plus Panama and Puerto 

Rico. In this quarter:

The Smithsonian welcomed four new Affiliates: the Musical Instrument Museum (Phoenix, 

Arizona); City of Las Cruces Museum System (Las Cruces, New Mexico); U.S.S. Constitution 

Museum (Boston, Massachusetts); and Stafford Air and Space Museum (Weatherford, 

Oklahoma). 

Two artifacts were loaned to Affiliate organizations; there are currently 1,230 Smithsonian 

artifacts on view at Affiliate organizations. 

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Suited for Space 

“After Hours” at the Hirshhorn

Report to the Regents, September 2011 11
Twenty Smithsonian staff participated in 

programs and events with Affiliates. 

The 2011 Affiliations National Conference 

was held at the Smithsonian; 80 participants 

from 54 Affiliates attended the sessions. 

The National Museum of American History’s 

Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra completed 

a successful U.S. State Department–sponsored 

concert tour to Russia.

The Freer and Sackler Galleries’ Alice Tracy and 

Daisy Yiyou Wang led a team of 18 Smithsonian 

colleagues to meet with over 80 Chinese museum 

professionals at the American Association of Museums Annual Meeting in Houston, Texas. After this 

event, Chinese visitors from 20 museums spent two days in Washington, D.C., seeing the Smithsonian 

and discussing future collaborations. 

The Smithsonian Institution Archives launched Women’s History Month with an online outreach 

initiative, including blogging on women scientists in the Archives’ collections, new images in the 

“Women in Science” set on the Smithsonian Flickr Commons, and a crowdsourcing campaign to get the 

public’s help in identifying the scientists in some of these images. 

The Office of the Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture hosted the two-day public forum 

“Flashpoints and Fault Lines: Museum Curation and Controversy” in response to the controversy 

surrounding the Hide/Seek exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery. Distinguished representatives of 

the arts, museum, and cultural communities from within and outside the Smithsonian participated. 

The Smithsonian Accessibility Program and National Museum of American History piloted a program 

called “Morning at the Museum” for families of children on the autism spectrum.

Broadening Access: Education 

The Smithsonian Center for Education and Museum Studies (SCEMS) presented several major 

educational outreach offerings: 

In association with MIT’s Education 

Arcade, SCEMS produced Vanished, an 

online multiplayer game that engaged more 

than 6,000 young people (and 3,500 adult 

observers) in scientific problem-solving. 

Sixteen Affiliates contributed by offering 

game-related activities onsite.

SCEMS launched “Scientists @ the 

Smithsonian,” a web page designed to 

interest young people in careers in science. 

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The Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra toured Russia

12 Report to the Regents, September 2011
SCEMS presented the fourth online program in the “Shout” environmental education series 

sponsored by Microsoft Partners in Learning, featuring interactive sessions with scientists from 

the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, 

and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. 

The National Science Resources Center (NSRC) remained active in collaborative efforts to improve the 

teaching of science in schools across the nation and around the world: 

NSRC launched a pan-Institutional Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics 

(STEAM) Initiative for Smithsonian educators with a workshop that drew 80 participants. 

NSRC conducted professional development workshops for over 400 teachers and administrators 

from seven districts in North Carolina, and plans are underway to provide similar workshops for 

other partners in New Mexico and Houston. 

NSRC personnel participated in an InterAmerican Network of Academies of Sciences meeting 

in Mexico City, where representatives compared progress in advancing science education in their 

countries. 

The Smithsonian Latino Center and the White House 

Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics 

hosted a swearing-in ceremony in the Smithsonian 

Castle for newly appointed commissioners to the 

President’s Advisory Commission on Educational 

Excellence for Hispanics. Sonia Sotomayor, Associate 

Justice of the Supreme Court, presided. 

The local performing arts troupe Farafina Kan 

performed at the conclusion of the National Museum 

of African Art’s educational program “Studio Africa!,” 

which helps D.C. public school students explore the 

art and culture of Africa. 

Cooper-Hewitt, National 

Design Museum held several 

sessions of its popular Target 

Design Kids program, which 

introduces children and their 

families to the world of design 

through play, tours, and 

hands-on design workshops. 

On June 15, the National 

Museum of American History 

celebrated National History 

Day with presentations by the 51 state finalists from the National History Day competition and an 

evening event that drew over 5,500 competition participants and their families.

“Artful Connections,” the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s interactive videoconference program, 

completed 69 visits, serving 1,743 participants. The Museum’s education staff also completed 77 

videoconferences for a program with the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA), serving 

1,305 DoDEA students at six schools in Italy, Turkey, North Carolina, and Georgia.

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Farafina Kan performs

Secretary Clough speaks to the President’s Advisory 

Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanics

“Design Kids”

Report to the Regents, September 2011 1
Forty children in the Anacostia Community Museum’s Museum Academy after-school program 

participated in an educational initiative of the Washington National Opera, in which they developed and 

presented their dramatization of a West African folktale, Kukulu and Jama.

Strengthening Collections

On April 12, NASA announced the 

decision to transfer Discovery, the longestserving orbiter in the space shuttle fleet, 

to the Smithsonian. Discovery will be 

accepted into the National Air and 

Space Museum collection upon arrival 

at the Udvar-Hazy Center in the spring 

of 2012, and displayed in the James S. 

McDonnell Space Hangar. The shuttle 

Enterprise, currently on display at the 

Center, will move to a new home at the 

Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum in 

New York. 

The National Portrait Gallery unveiled a 

new portrait of philanthropists Bill and Melinda Gates by the artist Jon Friedman. 

The National Zoo’s living collections grew through both births and 

acquisitions:

The great cat program expanded with the arrival of a female 

Sumatran tiger, Damai. The Zoo plans to bring in a male tiger 

to breed with Damai later this year. 

The Zoo’s 50th kori bustard chick emerged from its shell. 

When the Zoo began breeding them in 1997, it was one of 

a handful of zoos in the world that bred these large African 

birds, but many of these offspring have subsequently been 

bred at other North American zoos.

Five cheetah cubs were born in Front Royal. This litter is 

significant because 

cheetah births in zoos 

have dwindled; this 

is the only litter born 

this year in a North 

American zoo. 

The National Museum 

of African American 

History and Culture received a collection of set props and 

other items from the musical variety television show Soul 

Train, which ran from 1971 through 2006. 

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Jon Friedman’s portrait of Bill and 

Melinda Gates

A valuable litter of cheetahs

Kori bustard chick

Damai the tiger

Discovery

14 Report to the Regents, September 201
An exceptional gold specimen was recently added to the 

mineralogy collection of the National Museum of Natural 

History. The specimen was collected from the Mockingbird 

mine, Mariposa County, California; it represents one of the best 

examples of crystallized gold from the United States.

The Asian Pacific American Program collected historic campaign 

items from Dalip Singh Saund (1899–1973), the country’s first 

Asian American U.S. Representative, who served California’s 29th 

Congressional district from 1957 to 1963. The items were donated 

by Representative Saund’s grandson and are now at the National 

Museum of American History. 

Organizational Excellence

Leadership Milestones

In April, Steve Case was appointed to the Smithsonian’s Board of Regents. Case, 

52, is chairman of the Case Foundation, which supports initiatives that use new 

technologies and entrepreneurial approaches in the social sector, and CEO of 

Revolution, an investment firm he co-founded in 2005 to help entrepreneurs. 

Konrad Ng was named director of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American 

Program, effective May 22. Ng has been an assistant professor in the University 

of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s Academy for Creative Media since 2007. His scholarship 

examines cinema and digital media in minority and diaspora communities.

Information Technology and New Media

The new Smithsonian Mall visitor mobile app was demonstrated to the Board of Regents and the 

Secretary. It includes a mobile visitor guide enhanced with museum content such as audio tours, 

exhibitions, floor plans, events calendars, and collections searches. It also offers visitors the chance to 

leave comments on their Smithsonian experience, ask questions, or give tips to 

other visitors.

The Under Secretaries approved a charter for the Digitization Program 

Advisory Committee, a pan-Institutional group that will work with the 

Digitization Program Office to guide implementation of the Smithsonian’s 

digitization strategic plan and develop long-term strategies, policies, practices, 

and procedures to address Institution-wide digitization needs. 

Leafsnap, the world’s first plant identification mobile app using visual search, 

was developed by computer scientists from Columbia University and the 

University of Maryland and botanist John Kress of the National Museum of 

Natural History. It allows users to identify tree species by taking a photograph 

of the tree’s leaves. 

The Smithsonian Institution Libraries, in partnership with Smithsonian 

Institution Scholarly Press, has converted works from the Press’s Smithsonian 

Dalip Singh Saund campaign items

Report to the Regents, September 2011 1
Contributions and Studies Series to digital formats for use 

on Kindles, Nooks, and other e-readers. The electronic 

formats, which are offered at no cost, will eliminate the 

problem of maintaining physical stocks and will expand 

access to this research. 

Cooper-Hewitt launched the “Get Set in Style” Facebook 

application that allows users to try on virtually objects from 

the Museum’s exhibition, Set in Style: The Jewelry of Van Cleef 

& Arpels. This Facebook app is the first of its kind for the 

Smithsonian Institution. 

Construction, Renovation, and Facilities Projects

The completion of the final stage of construction at the 

Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia is a major 

milestone in the history of the National Air and Space 

Museum and the Smithsonian. The Museum received the 

certificate of beneficial occupancy for the Center in April 

2011. Approximately one third of the Museum’s staff will 

work there when it is fully operational; the complete movein will take several years. 

National Zoological Park, Asia Trail II: Elephant Trails

$54.3 million estimated total project and program cost

The second phase of the Asia Trail project has a projected cost of $54.3 million—$39.48 million Federal 

(received in fiscal years 2006–2012) and $14.82 million Trust. Construction of the new elephant barn 

and two of three outdoor habitats was completed in 2010, and work on the elephant community center 

is 31 percent complete. Additional private funding is being sought for the final habitat, and the project is 

now scheduled to be finished in 2013.

National Zoological Park, Seal / Sea Lion Exhibit

$40.0 million total estimated project cost

The Zoo’s Seal/Sea Lion exhibit is being revitalized to meet standards for animal care and to improve 

accessibility. The project also includes an upgrade of underground utilities in the Beaver Valley area. 

Construction is approximately 60 percent complete and is projected to be finished in mid-2012. The 

non-capital, interpretive component of the project will be funded with $1 million in Trust funds, while 

the Federal capital contribution is approximately $39 million in fiscal years 2009–2012.

National Zoological Park, General Services Building and North Road Retaining Wall

$33.8 million total estimated project cost

The $8.3 million Phase I of the project, funded over fiscal years 2004–2011, is nearly complete. It 

includes repairs to the General Services Building (GSB), design of permanent structural and safety 

upgrades, and relocation of the Vehicle Maintenance Branch to Suitland, Maryland. Phase II includes 

16 Report to the Regents, September 201
$25.5 million for GSB construction and replacement of an adjacent retaining wall. A supplemental 

environmental assessment for the retaining wall began in May 2011. Federal funding has been requested 

for fiscal years 2012–2014 for construction of the retaining wall and GSB upgrades.

National Zoological Park, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute 

Smithsonian-Mason Global Conservation Studies Partnership

$37.47 million total estimated project cost

Scientists and educators from the Smithsonian 

Conservation Biology Institute and George Mason 

University (GMU) donned their hard hats and dusted 

off their shovels for a groundbreaking ceremony on 

June 29 at the Institute’s complex in Front Royal, 

Virginia, where the two organizations are creating 

facilities to support a joint conservation biology 

program for undergraduates and professionals. 

GMU will build residential and dining facilities 

funded through a $20 million state bond, while the 

Smithsonian is renovating and expanding an existing building to house classrooms, laboratories, and 

faculty offices for a new education center. Relocation of animals from this building is complete, paid 

for with $1.87 million in raised funds. A single construction contract for the education center and 

concurrent utility upgrades was awarded in May 2011; the total cost of this work is $15.6 million—

$10.6 million in Federal funds in fiscal years 2010–2012 and $5 million in private funds. All facilities are 

projected to be complete for the start of the fall 2012 semester. 

National Postal Museum, New Program Space

$18.2 million total estimated project cost

The National Postal Museum, located in the historic Washington, D.C. City Post Office Building, has 

been given 12,000 square feet of space and use of a central hall by the U.S. Postal Service. Using funds 

from non-Federal sources, the project will transform the new space into a philatelic center and a visitor 

orientation space. Design is scheduled to be complete in late summer 2011, with construction starting in 

early 2012 and an opening in 2013.

National Museum of African American History and Culture

$500 million total estimated project cost

Concept design submittals are being updated based on comments from a March 2011 presentation to 

the Commission of Fine Arts and the National Capital Planning Commission. Summer 2011 is expected 

to see a Record of Decision with a final environmental impact statement; culmination of Section 106 

Historic Resources consultations in a programmatic agreement; completion of the relocation of a gas 

main on the site; and the award of a contract for a construction management firm to coordinate design 

and construction issues for a more efficient construction start in fall 2012. The Museum continues the 

concept phase of exhibit design with Ralph Appelbaum Associates. Total project costs are to be shared 

evenly, with $250 million from Federal capital funds and $250 million from non-Federal sources.

Report to the Regents, September 2011 1
Arts and Industries Building (AIB)

$52.8 million estimated cost for shell only

Construction on the AIB shell revitalization 

project (structural upgrades and replacement 

of the roof and windows) began in November 

2010, and should be completed by spring 2013. 

Project funding consists of $30 million from the 

Federal Legacy Fund, $15 million from Federal 

facilities capital funds, and the rest from private 

gifts. Scope definition is underway for the next 

phase, the design of an underground services 

building shared with the Castle; however, 

anticipated reductions in Federal appropriations 

have pushed the funding for its construction into fiscal year 2014 or beyond.

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa Laboratory Facilities

$19.4 million total estimated project cost

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is proceeding with the replacement of outdated facilities; 

a new terrestrial science lab on its recently acquired Gamboa site will be funded with $15.94 million 

in Federal and $3.46 million in Trust funds. Programming, design, and selection of construction 

management are complete, with construction to begin in summer 2011.

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Mathias Replacement Laboratory Project

$50.66 million total estimated project cost

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center is eliminating trailers that house lab space and 

offices; renovating and reconfiguring the Mathias Lab; and creating replacement labs that meet national 

standards. The 95,000-square-foot project employs sustainable technologies and building materials that 

will yield substantial reductions in energy and maintenance costs. A construction award was made in 

early April 2011, with completion expected by mid-2014.

Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture

$19.5 million total estimated project cost

The Smithsonian will complete the renovation of the Reynolds Center with the reconstruction of the 

F Street stairs and the addition of landscaping and security. Costs are estimated to be $9.5 million in 

Federal funds and $10.0 million in Trust funds.

Museum Support Center of the National Museum of Natural History, Pod 3

$38.5 million total estimated project cost

Renovations have been completed on Pod 3 in Suitland, Maryland, which provides consolidated storage 

space for several types of collections. Transfers of collections from four museums began in June 2010, and 

will take two years and cost almost $2 million to complete.

18 Report to the Regents, September 201
National Museum of Natural History, Main Building Ground Floor and Mezzanine

$24.0 million total project cost

The entire north ground floor of the main Natural History Building is under renovation. The 15,500-

square-foot west end of the floor will become a new education center, and the 27,600-square-foot east 

end will house an expanded Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, renovated Smithsonian Institution 

Libraries facilities, a paleobiology laboratory, and a consolidated facility support operations center. The 

project was awarded for construction in December 2010, with completion planned for mid-2012.

National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center

Revitalization of west wing public spaces, package III: $60 million total project cost

The third phase of renovation at the National Museum of American History will focus on three west 

wing public spaces. Data gathering, field surveys on existing conditions, and schematic design have been 

completed. The 95 percent design documents are complete, with final construction documents expected 

by summer 2011 and construction to begin in early spring 2012. The Federal appropriation for design 

($6 million) was received in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Initial construction funding of $5 million was 

received in fiscal year 2011, with the remainder ($49 million) requested for fiscal years 2012–2014.

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

$57.7 million total estimated project cost

The renovation 

of the Fox-Miller 

townhouses is 

scheduled to 

be complete in 

late summer 

2011. Design 

for the Carnegie 

Mansion 

renovation was 

completed in April 2011, with a construction contract to be awarded in summer 2011 and construction 

itself to be completed by mid-2013. Total project costs include $26.5 million in Federal funds and $31.2 

million in private funds. Of the required private funds, over $30 million (more than 94 percent) have 

been identified in gifts and pledges.

Permanent Physical Security Barriers

$55 million total project cost

Security barriers at the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History 

are complete. The final phase of barrier construction at the National Museum of Natural History is 

underway, with completion expected in summer 2011. Construction of barriers for the Castle and 

Quadrangle will start in fiscal year 2016, and work on off-Mall barriers will follow in order of priority.

Report to the Regents, September 2011 19
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Projects

$25 million total project cost

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided $25 million for repair and revitalization 

projects not covered by fiscal year 2009 funding. All project contracts were awarded by the end of fiscal 

year 2010, and final contractor payments were made by the end of January 2011. Contract closeouts and 

final reporting occurred in May 2011.

Sustainability

The Smithsonian is committed to the strategic objectives and goals 

of Executive Order 13514, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, 

Energy, and Economic Performance,” which set sustainability 

goals for Federal agencies. During the third quarter, the Institution 

submitted its 2011 Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan (SSPP) 

to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). The document 

summarizes the Institution’s activities and successes during the prior 

fiscal year. Highlights include:

Implementation of Federal environmental and energy 

management requirements in all design and construction 

projects in 2011.

Increasing alternative fuel consumption by 8 percent over fiscal year 2009 levels.

Reduction of petroleum use by 5.6 percent from the fiscal year 2009 baseline (exceeding the 

Executive Order mandate of 2.5 percent).

Completing a comprehensive greenhouse gas emission inventory.

Installation at the National Zoo of almost 200 containers to collect recyclable cans and bottles 

used by visitors and staff. (In their first season of use, the Zoo increased the amount of recycled 

material from a quarter of a ton to two-and-a-half tons per month.) 

A non-hazardous solid waste diversion figure of 17 percent (which exceeded the fiscal year 2010 

Smithsonian target of diverting 10 percent of such waste from landfill disposal).

The installation by the Office of the Chief Information Officer of the NightWatchman 

computer power management utility for most computers, which ensures that 95 percent of 

purchased electronics are power-saving compliant.

There were many more significant accomplishments. Once reviewed, the SSPP will be available on 

the Smithsonian’s public website. Looking forward, sustainability will continue to receive considerable 

attention, with focus areas to include energy, waste management, and green purchasing and development. 

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20 Report to the Regents, September 2011
Prepared by 

Office of Policy and Analysis