Smithsonian 

Fiscal Year 2023 

Submitted to the Committees on Appropriations 

Congress ofthe United States 
Smithsonian Institution 

Fiscal Year 2023 

Budget Justification to Congress 

Revised 

April 2022 
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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION (SI) 

Fiscal Year 2023 Budget Request to Congress 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 

INTRODUCTION 

Overview ....................................................................................................1 

FY 2023 Budget Request Summary...........................................................7 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES 

Summary of FY 2023 Changes and Unit Detail........................................11 

Fixed Costs 

Salary and Related Costs ...................................................................15 

Utilities, Rent, Communications, and Other ........................................17 

Summary of Program Changes................................................................20 

No-Year Funding......................................................................................34 

Object-Class Breakout .............................................................................34 

Federal Resource Summary by Performance/Program Category ............35 

MUSEUMS AND RESEARCH CENTERS 

Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research ................................................37 

National Air and Space Museum ........................................................43 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory ............................................51 

Major Scientific Instrumentation..........................................................56 

National Museum of Natural History ...................................................61 

National Zoological Park.....................................................................67 

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center ....................................72 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.............................................75 

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Freer Gallery of Art ....................................79 

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage.............................................83 

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.....................................88 

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden..........................................91 

National Museum of African Art ..........................................................96 

Anacostia Community Museum ........................................................100 

Archives of American Art ..................................................................103 

National Museum of African American History and Culture ..............107 

National Museum of American History, Behring Center ...................113 

National Museum of the American Indian .........................................120 

National Museum of the American Latino .........................................124 

National Portrait Gallery....................................................................129 

National Postal Museum...................................................................136 

Smithsonian American Art Museum..................................................140 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum ...........................145 

MISSION ENABLING 

Outreach...........................................................................................150 

• The SI Traveling Exhibition Service and Affiliations; Educational 

Outcomes and Academic Programs; the Office of Educational 

Technology; the Office of Academic Appointments and Internships; and 

the SI Scholarly Press 

Communications ...............................................................................155 

Institution-wide Programs .................................................................159 
• Research Equipment Pool............................................................... 160 

• Information Resources Management Pool ...................................... 160 

• Collections Care and Preservation Fund ......................................... 161 

• Asian Pacific American Initiative Pool.............................................. 163 

• Research Program Initiatives........................................................... 164 

• Digital Support Pool......................................................................... 165 

• Education Initiatives Pool................................................................. 166 

Smithsonian Exhibits.........................................................................168 

Museum Support Center...................................................................171 

Museum Conservation Institute ........................................................173 

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives..................................................178 

Office of the Chief Information Officer...............................................182 

Administration ...................................................................................185 

• The offices of the Secretary; Deputy Secretary, Under Secretary for 

Museums and Culture; Under Secretary for Science and Research; 

Under Secretary for Education; and Under Secretary for Administration 

Office of the Inspector General .........................................................189 

Facilities Maintenance ......................................................................191 

Facilities Operations, Security, and Support .....................................193 

FACILITIES CAPITAL 

Overview ................................................................................................197 

Summary Tables ....................................................................................200 

Revitalization Projects............................................................................203 

Restore Historic Core (Castle/AIB) ...................................................203 

National Air and Space Museum ......................................................205 

National Zoological Park...................................................................208 

National Museum of Natural History .................................................223 

National Museum of American History..............................................228 

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden........................................232 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute...........................................234 

Suitland Collections Center...............................................................239 

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center ..................................242 

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum...................................244 

National Museum of the American Indian .........................................246 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory ...........................................248 

National Museum of African American History and Culture..............253 

Quadrangle.......................................................................................254 

Multiple Location Revitalization Projects...........................................255 

Facilities Planning and Design ...............................................................257 

Construction (POD 6).............................................................................258 

APPENDIX 

Organization Chart .................................................................................261 

Visitation Chart.......................................................................................262 

Trust Funds Summary............................................................................263 

Appropriation Language and Citations ...................................................265 
A MOMENT OF PROMISE AND POSSIBILITY FOR THE SMITHSONIAN 

Throughout history, some of our nation’s most profound changes have come in 

response to crises: the massive demographic shift of African Americans leaving the South 

after the end of Reconstruction, the rise of the American middle class coinciding with the 

growth of our global influence in the wake of World War II, and the expansion of voting 

rights and other civil liberties in response to the oppression of Jim Crow laws. Today, our 

country finds itself at another crossroads, facing the turning points of the global coronavirus 

pandemic, climate change, and the persistent scourge of systemic racism. 

When I began my tenure as Secretary of the Smithsonian, I knew that to best serve 

the American people we would have to keep evolving to meet their changing needs and 

expectations. We would have to be more than our collection of 155 million objects; more 

than our 21 museums, 21 libraries, many research centers, and National Zoo; and more 

than the exhibitions at our physical locations. We have an obligation to help the nation live 

up to its ideals and a duty to be an institution that transcends our physical location by 

reaching all Americans. This unique moment in our history has proven that we can do both. 

Our employees and volunteers have embraced the challenge of largely working from a 

distance. With creativity and determination, they have made the Smithsonian a more digital 

institution, providing teachers, students, and scholars with more educational resources, and 

leading important discussions to examine this moment and help Americans everywhere 

navigate the “new normal” in our lives. 

The Smithsonian has faithfully served our nation and our world during this fraught 

time. It is our solemn responsibility to repay the trust we have been given as keepers of 

some of the nation’s most revered artifacts. We are grateful for the robust support we 

receive from the American people, Congress, and the Administration. It enables the 

Institution to fulfill its mission to increase and diffuse knowledge. Even as medical experts 

and sound scientific data have informed our strategies for dealing with the pandemic, this 

moment has proven we are not standing still. Whether visitors are at our buildings or 

accessing us from their homes or schools, we will use our vast collections, research, data, 

and scholarship to improve communities locally and globally, and to fulfill the promise of our 

Strategic Plan’s goals for “greater reach, greater relevance, and profound impact.” 

Greater Reach 

A key component of having greater reach is the Smithsonian’s ongoing 

transformation into a virtual museum that complements our physical spaces. That need 

was illuminated by the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Although nothing 

replaces the authentic objects we display, we use all the digital tools available to us to 

ensure that our treasures still reach millions across the country and the globe who cannot 

visit us in person. In fiscal year (FY) 2021, for the first time, our websites received more 

than 200 million visitors. We have more than 19 million social media followers. The 

Smithsonian podcast Sidedoor is currently in its seventh season and has been 

downloaded more than 10 million times (and appears in the top 1 percent of podcasts as 

measured by average downloads) by people in all 50 states and more than 146 countries. 

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For years, we have digitized our objects, specimens, archival materials, and library 

books to make them more accessible to the public. Our museums and libraries have 

created digital images for more than five million objects, specimens, and books, and 

electronic records for more than 34 million artifacts and items in the national collections. 

Our Digitization Program Office has created 3D digital images for collection objects people 

can access, explore, and even print, such as the Apollo 11 command module, Columbia. 

And in February of 2020, we launched Smithsonian Open Access, an initiative that makes 

nearly four million digital objects in our collections freely available for anyone to download, 

share, and reuse for any purpose. To date, people have viewed this content more than 

125 million times and downloaded it nearly 8 million times, using our digital assets to 

explore, discover and create for themselves. Since the beginning of the pandemic, we 

have also seen a massive increase in the number of digital volunteers signing up to work 

at the Smithsonian Transcription Center. We now boast more than 56,000 active digital 

volunteers who transcribed 264,000 pages of archival material in FY 2021 alone. 

Even with our building reopened to the public, the Smithsonian will continue to 

maximize our digital potential. We have created a new, Institution-wide Digital Steering 

Group that is developing concrete plans to make us a more virtual Smithsonian. In support 

of that goal, we hired a Head of Digital Transformation, the Smithsonian’s first leadership 

role exclusively devoted to developing a pan-institutional digital strategy, to execute this 

plan. With her guidance, we will conceptualize, integrate and prioritize ongoing digital 

initiatives; consider and act on new and innovative ideas; and implement the cultural and 

structural reforms needed to support a “One Smithsonian” digital approach. By prioritizing 

innovative and ongoing digital initiatives, we will have a more expansive, integrated digital 

portfolio to reach audiences across the nation and around the world. It will allow people to 

experience our world-renowned scholarship, research, and collections in new and exciting 

ways. This initiative will be organized around themes such as democracy, race, innovation, 

sustainability, and identity. By seeking out more innovative partnerships to leverage state-ofthe-art resources, we can scale up our use of groundbreaking technology and reach new 

audiences worldwide. 

Expanding our reach also means looking beyond America’s borders. As the world’s 

largest museum, education, and research complex, we can engage audiences and 

populations across the globe. Today, the Smithsonian works in more than 100 countries 

and on every continent. We have active research and training facilities in Panama, Belize, 

and Kenya, where the next generation of global science and cultural scholarship intersects 

with and informs our own research programs at home. Through strong international 

collaborations and partnerships, the Smithsonian is helping to tackle some of the world’s 

most pressing challenges: the climate crisis, global health, cultural conservation, and 

more. And in 2021, we launched our first-ever International Strategic Framework, setting a 

new course for international engagement to support the Smithsonian’s global efforts. 

Greater Relevance 

One of the Institution’s strengths that we want to leverage during this national 

reckoning on race and identity, and in the years ahead, is our ability to engage people in 

meaningful dialogue where they live. Accordingly, we have launched several initiatives to 

help the public grapple with the nation’s continuing racial divide. For example, Our Shared 

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Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past, the first coordinated Smithsonian effort to 

explicitly address racism and racial equity, explores how Americans confront race, its 

impact on communities, and the way it shapes our nation’s future. Since our first forum in 

August of 2021, the initiative has brought people together to talk, share, and learn from 

one another. In addition, the Smithsonian is continuing to help audiences explore how 

America’s past informs its present, through exhibitions like Make Good on the Promises: 

Reconstruction and Its Legacies at the National Museum of African American History and 

Culture (NMAAHC) and Food for the People: Eating and Activism in Greater Washington 

at the Anacostia Community Museum (ACM). 

The Smithsonian is also collecting contemporary items which deal with the COVID19 pandemic and systemic racism so that future visitors and scholars can understand the 

impact of the coronavirus and the social justice movement at this turning point in the life of 

our nation. The NMAAHC and the National Museum of American History (NMAH) are 

documenting the coronavirus pandemic for posterity and exploring how best to exhibit 

those collections. Those museums and the ACM are also collaborating to collect and 

preserve oral histories, homemade masks, and signs from Black Lives Matter protests in 

Lafayette Square Park, next to the White House, following George Floyd’s tragic death at

the hands of a police officer. 

As an institution that represents all Americans, we also take seriously the need to 

encompass diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) within the walls of our 

museums, research centers, and educational facilities. That is why we are working 

diligently to find a Head Diversity Officer who has the deep background and expertise to 

show us how we can provide leadership in this important area. This person will help us 

develop a “One Smithsonian” strategy, serving as a resource to support individual unit 

efforts and facilitating internal conversations about how we can model best practices in 

DEAI among cultural institutions. 

With a focus on our top priorities to drive large, visionary, interdisciplinary 

research and reach one billion people a year with a “digital-first” strategy, the 

Smithsonian will continue to address relevant topics through scientific research, 

collecting, and public programming on topics such as climate change, zoonotic 

diseases, life during the COVID-19 pandemic (as well as the science related to it), and 

understanding the impact of race on our nation. By rigorously studying important 

societal issues and serving as a model for the civil discourse needed to address 

different points of view, we will stay abundantly relevant to the audiences we serve. 

Finally, thanks to the wisdom and boldness of Congress, we have been tasked with 

bringing to life the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum (SAWHM) and the 

National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL). We have selected advisory boards for 

each Museum and recently named Jorge Zamanillo the founding director of NMAL even as 

we also start the process of searching for permanent leadership for SAWHM. In 2022, the 

Molina Family Gallery will open at the NMAH. Dedicated to recognizing Latino 

contributions to the United States, this gallery will serve as a preview to the NMAL. With 

the success of the NMAAHC, we have proven expertise in creating poignant, powerful 

museums that tell the American story through different lenses. These forthcoming 

museums will help the Smithsonian further reimagine what new cultural institutions look 

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like in a post-pandemic world, expand the American narrative, and be an even more 

responsive, representative institution to better serve our fellow citizens. 

As the leader of an influential scientific, cultural, and educational complex, I believe it 

is essential for us to exercise our power to bring people together to share big ideas and 

conflicting perspectives, especially about important topics that touch all aspects of society 

like race relations, a deadly virus, or support for democracy in general. The Smithsonian, 

as a gift to the United States, has an obligation to work for the common good by giving 

back value to our country and increasing the public’s ability to understand our universe, our 

history, and our shared future. 

Profound Impact 

One of the primary ways the Smithsonian achieves a profound impact is by 

reaching students, teachers, and scholars with our educational resources. Today, we have 

many education, learning, and discovery spaces in our museums and research centers. 

Smithsonian education providers such as the Smithsonian Science Education Center, 

Smithsonian Affiliate museums, and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition 

Service are working diligently to bring our virtual educational offerings in art, history, 

culture, and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) to every state 

nationwide and countries around the world. Each year, Smithsonian educators and 

Affiliates bring knowledge, stories, curricula, and inquiry-based lessons to more than 8 

million learners around the globe. 

Our Smithsonian Learning Lab website is an example of the kind of educational 

impact we made even when our buildings were closed due to the pandemic. In the first 

month of school closures in the spring of 2020, the website saw a 346 percent increase in 

traffic compared to the same time the previous year, providing even more people with 

lesson plans, materials, and activities in arts, history, design, and STEM. An example of 

the vital STEM curricula we create is the Smithsonian Science Education Center’s COVID19! How Can I Protect Myself and Others? resource. By partnering with the World Health 

Organization, the Center developed this downloadable guide in multiple languages to help 

young people understand the medical and social science behind COVID-19 and give them 

the tools to keep themselves, their families, and their communities safe. 

However, we cannot rely on digital learning alone. Many young people, especially 

those who have been underserved, lack access to a computer or reliable internet service. 

That is why the Smithsonian works to bridge the digital divide by providing no-tech 

educational resources to students across the country. In June of 2020, we began 

partnering with USA Today to create a series of learning packets that offers hands-on 

activities to help kids and adults explore STEM, the arts, and history. To date, more than 

600,000 print activity guides for children have been delivered, prioritizing learners in areas 

deemed “technology deserts,” and 3.7 million printed newspaper inserts have been 

distributed for intergenerational learning. To date, we have reached more than 40 states 

and U.S. territories through distribution sites which include the Boys and Girls Clubs of 

America, Smithsonian Affiliate museums, Meals on Wheels of America, and the FUTURES 

exhibition at the Arts and Industries Building. Digital copies for all the publications are also 

available for learners via the Smithsonian Learning Lab. Building on this progress, the next 

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USA Today insert will be distributed nationwide in March of 2022, featuring content from 

the Smithsonian American Women’s History Initiative. 

In the coming years, the Smithsonian will continue developing our STEM education 

offerings, particularly for those populations that have been underrepresented in science 

and technology. We are thrilled to begin the process of building the new Bezos Learning 

Center at the National Air and Space Museum. The Center will feature programming, 

activities, and lessons to encourage students to pursue innovation and explore careers in 

STEM fields, as well as provide resources for STEM educators. And to kick off Women’s 

History Month in 2022, the Smithsonian is celebrating women and girls in STEM with the 

new exhibition #IfThenSheCan. The exhibition will display 120 statues of contemporary 

women innovators and role models to highlight the extraordinary contributions women 

have made to STEM and inspire the next generation of learners. 

Based on our history and respected reputation, I plan to continue applying 

innovative thinking to ensure our position as a national leader, not only in lifelong learning, 

but also in pre-K–12 education. My goal is for the Smithsonian to reach every classroom in 

America. As we have proven during this challenging and difficult time, educational 

materials based on our science and scholarship can enhance the ways students and 

teachers engage in 21st-century learning. We are developing a model of the future of 

education and museums through a collaboration with the Washington, DC, public school 

system. Sharing that work nationwide and abroad while drawing on best practices and 

lessons learned will expand our impact and help us make the most effective use of our 

resources. As an example, in September of 2021 we hosted the first annual Smithsonian 

Educator’s Day, a free, virtual conference for educators and administrators from around 

the nation to share classroom innovations, best practices, and resources with one another. 

As all these projects are implemented, program managers will monitor distance 

learning and other education outreach audience participation rates to gauge the 

effectiveness of the Smithsonian’s work to catalyze national conversations on climate 

change, public health, and race so we can fine tune our resources and knowledge-sharing 

platforms for maximum impact to serve the American people. 

Looking Ahead 

In 2022, we look forward to several landmark events, exhibitions, and anniversaries 

which will continue to engage our public, inspiring curiosity and wonder. Opening in the 

spring of 2022 at the National Postal Museum, Baseball: America’s Home Run will 

commemorate historic, culture-defining moments and bring a unique perspective to 

America’s national pastime. In May, the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian American Art 

Museum’s Renwick Gallery will enable people to reflect on the importance and legacy of 

boundary-pushing creativity in contemporary arts and crafts. Later in 2022, the Smithsonian 

will celebrate the 50th anniversary of giant pandas at the National Zoo, where our scientists 

have been leaders in biology, conservation, and international collaboration to save those 

rare animals as well as other endangered species around the world. 

I am also excited by the new leadership across the Smithsonian that will make all 

these efforts possible. In the past year we have welcomed new directors at the National 

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Museum of the American Indian, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the 

National Zoo, Smithsonian Libraries and Archives, and the National Museum of African 

Art, as well as a new Under Secretary for Administration. This professional management 

team is helping reimagine and reshape the future of the Smithsonian. 

The past two years have been a once-in-a-generation stress test for the American 

people as we have all had to deal with the uncertainty, anxiety, and fear of these multiple 

crises. Despite this, our difficult circumstances have reinforced what an amazing group of 

people we have at the Smithsonian. 

In 2021, the Smithsonian celebrated its 175th anniversary. Since our founding in 1846, 

we have used our collections, scientific research, scholarship, and education to serve the 

American people and the citizens of the world. Rather than take the opportunity of an 

anniversary to look back, however, we chose to look ahead to what is possible. The 

Smithsonian of tomorrow will ensure every home and classroom has access to the digital 

content of our nation’s priceless treasures. We will work together to serve our public more 

nimbly and more effectively. We will be a trusted source of knowledge that explores and 

grapples with what it means to be American. We will harness our institutional expertise to 

elevate science in the global discourse. And we will engage with educational systems 

throughout the country to build and enrich a national culture of learning that reflects the best 

of what the United States can achieve when we work together in pursuit of our dreams. 

With the funds requested in our FY 2023 budget submission, the Institution will 

continue to address our aging infrastructure needs, plan for developing two new museums, 

advance groundbreaking scientific research, strengthen the Smithsonian’s support for 

education for learners of all ages, and help all Americans engage in constructive and muchneeded conversations about the many challenges our nation faces today. From addressing 

global climate change, to overcoming structural racism and finding ways for us to reconcile 

our differences, and supporting the very structure of democracy itself by serving as a role 

model for civil discourse, the Smithsonian will put its federal appropriation to good use for the 

benefit of all our fellow citizens. 

I am convinced that we can be the best version of ourselves, a fully realized version of 

the Smithsonian that Americans need and deserve. With the continued support of the 

Administration, Congress, and the American people, I have no doubt we will continue to 

welcome everyone to learn, marvel, and imagine, using our creativity and intellectual capital 

for the good of society. I look forward to seeing this hallowed Institution’s continuing 

transformation into a cauldron of ideas, innovation, and understanding that reaches more 

people and has greater impact than ever before. Though we have been through storms in the 

recent past, our shared future remains bright. 

Lonnie G. Bunch III 

Secretary 

Smithsonian Institution 

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

FY 2023 BUDGET REQUEST SUMMARY 

Account 

FY 2021 

Enacted 

FY 2022 

Enacted 

FY 2023 

Request 

Salaries and Expenses 

Facilities Capital 

Total 

$818,192,000 

$214,530,000 

$1,032,722,000 

$852,215,000 

$210,000,000 

$1,062,215,000 

$909,500,000 

$265,000,000 

$1,174,500,000 

For FY 2023, the Smithsonian’s total request to fund essential operating 

expenses, priority program increases, and revitalization of the Institution’s physical

infrastructure is $1,174.5 million. The total amount includes $909.5 million for 

Salaries and Expenses (S&E) and $265.0 million for the Facilities Capital account. A 

detailed summary and table of the increases are presented on the following pages. 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES 

FIXED COSTS INCREASES (+$26,250,000) 

This budget request provides funds for the 2.7 percent pay raise effective in 

January of 2022, and the 4.6 percent pay raise effective in January of 2023. The 

request also provides funding for inflation-related increases in utilities, software 

licenses, and other operating costs. Details are provided in the S&E section.. 

PROGRAM CHANGES (+$31,035,000) 

This budget request for FY 2023 aligns the programmatic increases among the 

broad categories of the Smithsonian’s Strategic Plan, thereby linking the funds directly to 

the achievement of the Institution’s overall mission and strategic goals. Details of the 

programmatic increases are provided in the S&E section of this budget submission. 

FACILITIES CAPITAL PROGRAM 

The request for the Facilities Capital Program ($265,000,000) is essential to 

diminish the deterioration of some of the Smithsonian’s oldest and most visited 

buildings and maintain the current condition of other facilities through systematic 

renewal and repairs. This amount will enable the Facilities Capital Program to 

address the priority revitalization projects scheduled for FY 2023. 

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

FY 2023 BUDGET SUMMARY 

BY APPROPRIATION ACCOUNT 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES FTEs Amount 

FY 2022 Enacted 4,080 $852,215,000 

FIXED COSTS INCREASES 26,250,000 

Salaries and Related Costs 0 21,220,000 

Utilities, Rent, Communications, and Other 0 5,030,000 

PROGRAM INCREASES 

New Museums 20 4,000,000 

National Museum of the American Latino 11 2,000,000 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum 9 2,000,000 

Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research 20 8,150,000 

Research Support 20 8,150,000 

Expand Digital Technologies 16 6,750,000 

Digital Support 14 5,000,000 

Education Support 2 1,750,000 

Understand and Impact 21st Century Audiences 7 935,000 

Visitor Engagement 5 635,000 

Exhibit Support 2 300,000 

Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage 11 5,100,000 

Animal Welfare 1 600,000 

Facilities Operations 10 4,000,000 

Security 0 500,000 

Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration 14 6,100,000 

Information Technology Security 3 3,600,000 

Operations Support 11 2,500,000 

Program Increases 88 31,035,000 

Total Increases 88 57,285,000 

Total FY 2023 Salaries and Expenses 4,168 $909,500,000 

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

FY 2023 BUDGET SUMMARY 

BY APPROPRIATION ACCOUNT 

FACILITIES CAPITAL FTEs Amount 

Revitalization 

Smithsonian Institution Building (Castle) 55,000,000 

National Air and Space Museum (NASM) 23,000,000 

National Zoological Park 20,400,000 

National Museum of Natural History 15,300,000 

National Museum of American History 7,300,000 

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden 8,700,000 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 8,400,000 

Suitland Collections Center 8,000,000 

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 5,900,000 

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 3,500,000 

National Museum of the American Indian 2,000,000 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 1,800,000 

National Museum of African American History & Culture 1,000,000 

Quadrangle 1,000,000 

Multiple Location Revitalization Projects 11,300,000 

Construction Supervision and Management 53 9,500,000 

Total Revitalization 182,100,000 

Facilities Planning and Design 46,900,000 

Construction — Museum Support Center, Pod 6 36,000,000 

Total FY 2023 Facilities Capital Projects 53 $265,000,000 

FY 2023 REQUEST, ALL ACCOUNTS 4,221 $1,174,500,000 

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES (S&E) 

FY 2023 Request 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES FTEs Amount 

FY 2022 Enacted 4,080 $852,215,000 

FIXED COSTS INCREASES 26,250,000 

Salaries and Related Costs 0 21,220,000 

Utilities, Rent, Communications, and Other 0 5,030,000 

PROGRAM INCREASES 

New Museums 20 4,000,000 

National Museum of the American Latino 11 2,000,000 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum 9 2,000,000 

Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research 20 8,150,000 

Research Support 20 8,150,000 

Expand Digital Technologies 16 7,250,000 

Digital Support 14 5,000,000 

Education Support 2 1,750,000 

Understand and Impact 21st Century Audiences 7 935,000 

Visitor Engagement 5 635,000 

Exhibit Support 2 300,000 

Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage 11 4,600,000 

Animal Welfare 1 600,000 

Facilities Operations 10 4,000,000 

Security 0 500,000 

Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration 14 6,100,000 

Information Technology Security 3 3,600,000 

Operations Support 11 2,500,000 

Program Increases 88 31,035,000 

Total Increases 88 57,285,000 

Total FY 2023 Salaries and Expenses 4,168 $909,500,000 

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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

Unit Detail of the FY 2021 Revised, FY 2022 Enacted, FY 2022 Revised and FY 2023 Request ($s in Thousands) 

FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 ANALYSIS OF CHANGE 

Revised Enacted Request (FY 2023 Increases) 

 Pay & 

Benefits 

Rent & 

Utilities 

Fixed 

Other Program Change 

Page # FTE = Full-Time Equivalent FTEs $000 FTEs $000 FTEs $000 $000 $000 $000 FTEs $000 

MUSEUMS AND RESEARCH CENTERS 

43 National Air and Space Museum 131 20,945 131 21,552 134 22,788 828 0 0 3 408

 Digital Support 2 270

 Visitor Engagement 1 138 

51 Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 88 25,226 88 25,733 88 26,412 679 0 0 0 0 

56 Major Scientific Instrumentation 0 4,118 0 4,118 0 4,118 0 0 0 0 0 

37 Universe Consortium 0 184 0 184 0 184 0 0 0 0 0 

61 National Museum of Natural History 274 51,551 277 53,435 277 55,239 1,804 0 0 0 0 

67 National Zoological Park 199 32,221 203 33,655 204 35,388 1,133 0 0 1 600

 Animal Welfare 1 600 

72 Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 34 4,616 34 4,759 34 4,934 175 0 0 0 0 

75 Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 191 15,266 191 15,643 191 16,176 533 0 0 0 0 

37 Biodiversity Consortium 0 1,543 0 1,543 20 6,063 20 0 0 20 4,500

 Forest/Marine GEO 13 2,500

 Climate Change Coordination 2 1,000

 Research Data Managers Support 5 1,000 

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79 Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Freer Gallery of Art 45 6,461 45 6,689 46 7,058 229 0 0 1 140

 Visitor Engagement 1 140 

83 Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage 17 3,565 17 3,637 17 3,938 101 0 200 0 0

 Fixed Costs - Festival Security 200 

88 Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 36 5,190 37 5,417 38 5,687 170 0 0 1 100

 Digital Support 1 100 

91 Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden 31 5,007 33 5,339 34 5,699 220 0 0 1 140

 Digital Support 1 140 

96 National Museum of African Art 32 5,140 32 5,257 34 5,769 182 0 0 2 330

 Digital Support 2 330 

37 World Culture Consortium 0 792 0 792 0 792 0 0 0 0 0 

100 Anacostia Community Museum 20 2,698 21 2,873 21 2,949 76 0 0 0 0 

103 Archives of American Art 17 1,987 17 2,023 17 2,097 74 0 0 0 0 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

Unit Detail of the FY 2021 Revised, FY 2022 Enacted, FY 2022 Revised and FY 2023 Request ($s in Thousands) 

FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 ANALYSIS OF CHANGE 

Revised Enacted Request (FY 2023 Increases) 

 Pay & 

Benefits 

Rent & 

Utilities 

Fixed 

Other Program Change 

Page # FTE = Full-Time Equivalent FTEs $000 FTEs $000 FTEs $000 $000 $000 $000 FTEs $000 

107 National Museum of African American History & Culture 145 33,751 148 34,853 148 35,767 914 0 0 0 0 

113 National Museum of American History, Behring Center 160 26,581 160 27,331 163 28,742 1,051 0 0 3 360 

Digital Support 3 360 

120 National Museum of the American Indian 190 34,891 190 35,680 190 36,762 1,082 0 0 0 0 

124 National Museum of the American Latino 5 1,307 17 8,324 28 10,392 68 0 0 11 2,000 

New Museum Support 11 2,000 

129 National Portrait Gallery 57 6,983 57 7,176 59 7,808 297 0 0 2 335

13

Digital Support 1 200

 Visitor Engagement 1 135 

136 National Postal Museum 6 1,854 8 2,105 8 2,160 55 0 0 0 0 

140 Smithsonian American Art Museum 90 10,938 90 11,263 91 11,861 448 0 0 1 150

 Digital Support 1 150 

145 Smithsonian American Women's History Museum 0 500 13 7,500 22 9,568 68 0 0 9 2,000 

New Museum Support 9 2,000 

37 American Experience Consortium 0 600 0 600 0 600 0 0 0 0 0 

Total for Museums and Research Centers 1,768 303,915 1,809 327,481 1,864 348,951 10,207 0 200 55 11,063 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

Unit Detail of the FY 2021 Revised, FY 2022 Enacted, FY 2022 Revised and FY 2023 Request ($s in Thousands) 

FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 ANALYSIS OF CHANGE 

Revised Enacted Request (FY 2023 Increases) 

 Pay & 

Benefits 

Rent & 

Utilities 

Fixed 

Other Program Change 

Page # FTE = Full-Time Equivalent FTEs $000 FTEs $000 FTEs $000 $000 $000 $000 FTEs $000 

MISSION ENABLING 

Program Support and Outreach 

150 Outreach 51 9,717 51 9,924 53 10,525 301 0 0 2 300 

Exhibit Support 2 300 

155 Communications 18 2,915 18 2,982 20 3,297 93 0 0 2 222

 Visitor Engagement 2 222 

159 Institution-wide Programs 0 23,284 0 15,734 0 23,934 0 0 0 0 8,200

 Digital Support Pool 3,050

 Research Program Initiatives Pool 3,650

 Education Initiatives Pool 1,500 

168 Smithsonian Exhibits 28 3,266 29 3,498 29 3,627 129 0 0 0 0 

171 Museum Support Center 18 1,949 18 1,991 18 2,044 53 0 0 0 0 

173 Museum Conservation Institute 22 3,459 22 3,562 22 3,770 208 0 0 0 0 

178 Smithsonian Libraries and Archives 106 15,106 107 15,956 108 16,935 579 0 300 1 100

 Fixed Costs - Library Subscription Inflation 300

 Digital Support 1 100 

Subtotal, Program Support and Outreach 243 59,696 245 53,647 250 64,132 1,363 0 300 5 8,822 

14

182 Office of the Chief Information Officer 107 55,845 107 59,388 110 65,895 895 0 2,012 3 3,600

 Fixed Costs - Communications 2,012

 Information Technology Security 3 3,600 

185 Administration 196 38,391 198 39,950 213 44,188 1,110 0 78 15 3,050

 Management Operations (Smithsonian Civil Program) 2 500

 Education Support Office of the Under Secretary of Education) 2 250

 Digital Support (Digital Transformation Office) 2 300

 Operations Support (Human Resouces and Diversity) 9 2,000

 Fixed Costs - Annual Audit costs 78 

189 Office of the Inspector General 23 4,184 23 4,295 23 4,426 131 0 0 0 0 

Facilities Services 

191 Facilities Maintenance 470 115,261 470 116,917 470 119,258 2,341 0 0 0 0 

193 Facilities Operations, Security, and Support 1,219 240,900 1,228 250,537 1,238 262,650 5,173 2,440 0 10 4,500

 Facilities Operations 10 4,000

 Utilities 2,440

 Security 0 500 

Subtotal, Facilities Services 1,689 356,161 1,698 367,454 1,708 381,908 7,514 2,440 0 10 4,500 

Total for Mission Enabling 2,258 514,277 2,271 524,734 2,304 560,549 11,013 2,440 2,390 33 19,972 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES TOTAL 4,026 818,192 4,080 852,215 4,168 909,500 21,220 2,440 2,590 88 31,035 
 

 

 

 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES 

FY 2021 Enacted $818,192,000 

FY 2022 Enacted $852,215,000 

FY 2023 Request $909,500,000 

For fiscal year (FY) 2023, the Smithsonian requests $909.5 million in the Salaries 

and Expenses (S&E) account. Within the total increase requested, approximately 

46 percent is attributable to fixed costs for sustaining base operations (e.g., pay, utilities, 

etc.), and the remainder is for high-priority requirements throughout the Institution. 

FIXED COSTS 

SALARY AND PAY-RELATED COSTS (+$21,220,000) — The Institution 

requests an increase of $ 21.2 million for higher salary and pay-related costs. The 

request funds the annualization of the 2.7 percent pay raise effective in January of 2022 

and a 4.6 percent increase for a civilian pay raise in January of 2023. 

Salary and Related Costs: Request 

▪ Annualization of 2022 pay raise (1/4 year at 2.7%) 3,803,000 

▪ Proposed 2023 pay raise (3/4 year at 4.6%) 17,710,000 

▪ Workers’ Compensation - 293,000 

Total $21,220,000 

• Annualization of the requested January 2022 Pay Raise of 2.7 percent 

(+$3,803,000) — This request funds the annualization of the enacted 2.7 percent pay 

raise in January of 2022 for the first quarter of FY 2023. 

• Funding of the proposed January 2023 Pay Raise of 4.6 percent (+$17,710,000) —

This request funds the proposed 4.6 percent pay raise in January of 2023 for the last 

three quarters of FY 2023. 

• Workers’ Compensation (-$293,000) — This supports the provisions of Section 

8147(b) of Title 5, United States Code. The Workers’ Compensation bill for 

FY 2023 is $2,419,000, based on a Department of Labor invoice for costs incurred 

from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2021. This represents a -$293,000 decrease from 

the FY 2022 Workers’ Compensation costs ($2,712,000). 

15 
FY 2023 Increased Pay Costs (Dollars in Thousands) 

Line Item 

FY 2023 

Pay Raise and 

FY 2022 Pay 

Annualization 

National Air and Space Museum 828 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 679 

National Museum of Natural History 1,804 

National Zoological Park 1,133 

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 175 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 533 

Biodiversity Consortium 20 

Arthur M. Sackler Gallery/Freer Gallery of Art 229 

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage 101 

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 170 

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden 220 

National Museum of African Art 182 

Anacostia Community Museum 76 

Archives of American Art 74 

National Museum of African American History & Culture 914 

National Museum of American History, Behring Center 1,051 

National Postal Museum 55 

National Museum of the American Indian 1,082 

National Museum of the American Latino 68 

National Portrait Gallery 297 

Smithsonian American Art Museum 448 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum 68 

Outreach 301 

Communications 93 

Museum Support Center 53 

Museum Conservation Institute 208 

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives 579 

Smithsonian Exhibits 129 

Office of the Chief Information Officer 895 

Administration 1,403 

Workers’ Compensation (Administration) -293 

Inspector General 131 

Facilities Maintenance 2,341 

Facilities Operations, Security, and Support 5,173 

Total Pay-Related Costs 21,220 

16 
UTILITIES, POSTAGE, RENT, COMMUNICATIONS, AND OTHER FIXED 

COSTS (+$5,030,000) — For FY 2023, the Institution requests an increase of 

$5,030,000 for utilities and other fixed-cost accounts, as detailed in the chart below. The 

requested increase reflects consumption and rate changes in the utilities accounts and 

increases for Communications and Other Support to provide for fixed software licensing 

and maintenance costs, inflationary increases for library subscriptions, and to meet 

compliance requirements. 

The following table displays the estimates for FYs 2022 and 2023. The details that 

follow address the specific changes affecting the FY 2023 accounts. 

Federal Utilities, Postage, Rent, Communications, and 

Other Fixed Costs 

FYs 2022–2023 

(Dollars in Thousands) 

FY 2022 

Estimate 

FY 2023 

Estimate Change 

Utilities: 

Electricity 

Chilled Water 

Steam 

Natural Gas 

DC Gov’t Water/Sewer

Other Water and Fuel Oil 

Subtotal, Utilities 

20,707 

3,008 

8,169 

3,284 

8,775 

1,240 

45,183 

20,921 

2,589 

7,844 

3,332 

11,679 

1,258 

47,623 

214 

-419 

-325 

48 

2,904 

18 

2,440 

Postage 1,461 1,461 0 

Motor Fuel 370 370 0 

Rental Space: 

Central 

Unit 

Subtotal, Rent 

42,807 

5,793 

48,600 

42,807 

5,793 

48,600 

0 

0 

0 

Communications 24,396 26,408 2,012 

Other Support 5,920 6,498 578 

Total $125,930 $130,960 $5,030 

17 
UTILITIES (+$2,440,000) — Justified here, but included in the Facilities Operations, 

Security, and Support line item, are requested changes to cover the costs of energy and 

water. The request includes the following: 

• Electricity (+$214,000) — Electricity is used to operate the Smithsonian’s large 

infrastructure. The major use of electricity is for air-conditioning that provides essential 

climate control to protect the priceless national collections as well as ensure the comfort 

of visitors and staff. The anticipated changes in FY 2023 include an anticipated 3.1 

percent increase for PEPCO along with minor increases throughout the Institution and 

the change to electricity from chilled water at the National Air and Space Museum. 

• Chilled Water (-$419,000) — Chilled water costs represent actual chilled water usage 

supplied by the General Services Administration’s (GSA) central plant to the 

Smithsonian’s south Mall facilities. This decrease is due to the change from chilled 

water to electricity at the National Air and Space Museum (NASM). 

• Steam (-$325,000) — The Smithsonian uses steam for heating and humidification, and 

to produce hot water for facilities on the Mall and in New York City. This decrease is 

due to the change from steam to natural gas at the NASM. 

• Natural Gas (+$48,000) — The Smithsonian uses natural gas and propane for heating 

and generating steam. This increase is due to the change to natural gas from steam at 

the NASM. 

• DC Water and Sewer (+$2,904,000) — Funds cover the costs of both water and sewer 

services provided by the District of Columbia Water and Sewer Authority (DCWSA). The 

net increase includes rate and billing adjustments transmitted by DCWSA to the 

Smithsonian in April of 2021. 

• Other Water and Fuel Oil (+$18,000) — Funds provide water service for facilities 

outside of Washington, DC, and fuel oil used in dual-fuel boilers and generators for 

emergency power. There are minimal changes projected for FY 2023. 

POSTAGE AND MOTOR FUEL ($0) — Funds provide for all official domestic and 

international mail services and for motor fuel that powers the Smithsonian’s motor vehicle

fleet and scientific research vessels. No increases are requested in FY 2023. 

RENTAL SPACE ($0) — No increase is requested for rental space because of the 

purchase of an Administration Headquarters Building in the Washington, DC area and the 

subsequent savings expected in FY 2023. These savings will offset any anticipated 

escalation costs in other leased properties in FY 2023. 

18 
COMMUNICATIONS (+$2,012,000) — The communications base supports the 

operations of the Institution’s voice and data telecommunications infrastructure upgrade 

and maintenance. This request covers increases in the cost of infrastructure service for 

our Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) system and increased license costs for our 

financial system tied to the overall budget of Institution; an increase to the Endpoint 

Replacement Program to address the increased cost of the switch to laptops to enable the 

flexible workplace; and funding to replace uninterruptable power supplies (UPS) and 

batteries in communications closets that are operating beyond the manufacturer’s 

recommended lifespan and that can lead to safety hazards. Also included are increases 

for higher license maintenance costs to support our facilities management systems and 

funds for license costs to support various centrally provided software for all staff. 

The requested increases will enable high-tech solutions which have been 

implemented to support telework for staff and distance education for the public as well as 

employees. The increases will keep business-critical systems current and enable vendors 

to continue supporting them, as well as enhance operations to improve and streamline 

business workflows. The mandatory transition of data/Internet-leased lines will allow the 

Institution to replace outdated telecommunications technologies and capitalize on new 

options to provide faster connectivity and reduce system redundancies. This will result in 

more cost-effective and efficient workspaces. 

OTHER SUPPORT (+$578,000) — An additional $578,000 is requested to offset the 

effects of inflation and to cover other fixed costs. The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives 

requires additional funding to adequately address inflationary increases in library 

subscriptions (+$300,000). This increase will enable the Libraries to cover the 

extraordinary inflation costs of purchasing journals and electronic databases, which are 

essential to support the Institution’s many research programs and scientists.

In addition, the Institution requests an increase (+$200,000) to support the 

Smithsonian Folklife Festival’s compliance with National Park Service (NPS) regulations 

in its management of the National Mall. Because of the continued issues of security on 

and around the Mall, the NPS has called for stronger security measures for the Festival, 

including greater numbers of officers, specialized armed officers, and enhanced security 

camera surveillance. The Institution must cover these necessary costs to maintain public 

safety and security. 

Finally, the Institution requests an increase (+$78,000) to support the mandatory, 

contractually required inflation costs for the annual audit of the Smithsonian’s financial 

statements and personal property inventory. 

19 
 

SUMMARY OF FY 2023 S&E PROGRAM CHANGES 

FY 2022 

Baseline 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

Request 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTE 

Changes 

New Museums +4,000 +20 

• National Museum of the American Latino 8,324 +2,000 +11 

• SI American Women’s History Museum 7,500 +2,000 +9 

Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research +8,150 +20 

• Scientific Research 76,981 +8,150 +20 

Digital Support and Education +6,750 +16 

• Digital Support 19,769 +5,000 +14 

• Education Support 22,653 +1,750 +2 

Understand and Impact 21st Century Audiences +935 +7 

• Visitor Engagement 31,743 +635 +5 

• Exhibit Support 68,987 +300 +2 

Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage +5,100 +11 

• Animal Welfare 10,503 +600 +1 

• Facilities Operations 169,107 +4,000 +10 

• Security 94,150 +500 0 

Enable Responsive Administration +6,100 +14 

• Information Technology Security 50,609 +3,600 +3 

• Operations Support 96,007 +2,500 +11 

Total S&E Program Increases +$31,035 +88 

Note: For a complete list of program categories, see page 35. 

NEW MUSEUMS 

Category 

FY 2023 

Program 

Increase 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTEs 

Increase 

NEW MUSEUMS 

• National Museum of the American Latino +2,000 +11 

• Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum +2,000 +9 

Total Increase +$4,000 +20 

National Museum of the American Latino 

Public Law 116–260, signed by the President on December 27, 2020, 

established the National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) within the 

Smithsonian Institution. The mission of the NMAL is to give voice to the richness and 

the challenges of the Latino American experience so all people can better understand 

how it reflects the depth, complexity, and promise of the American experience, and also 

20 
to serve as a national forum for collaborating on and celebrating Latino American history 

and culture through educational and social institutions. 

More specifically, the NMAL will be the keystone for people in the United States and 

visitors worldwide to learn about Latino contributions to life, art, history, and culture in the 

United States, as well as to serve as a gateway for visitors to view Latino exhibitions, 

collections, and programming at other Smithsonian Institution facilities and museums 

nationwide. 

In FY 2022, the resources from the Latino Initiatives Pool ($5,000,000) were 

transferred to the NMAL line item to support the new Museum. 

The FY 2023 budget estimate includes a program request of 11 FTEs and 

$2,000,000 to continue recruiting and selecting initial personnel; forming planning and 

coordination teams to develop exhibitions, public programs, education, research, collections 

acquisition, technology, and capital fund raising; implementing a site-selection evaluation 

process; and developing the capacity for administrative operations. 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum

Public Law 116–260, signed by the President on December 27, 2020, established 

the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum (SAWHM) within the Smithsonian 

Institution. 

Currently, there is no national museum in the United States devoted to documenting 

women’s contributions throughout the nation’s history. On December 19, 2014, Congress 

created a commission to study the potential for an American museum of women’s history.

The bipartisan commission unanimously concluded that the United States needs and 

deserves a national museum dedicated to showcasing the historical experiences and 

impact of women in the United States. A comprehensive women’s history museum will 

document the full spectrum of the experiences of women in the nation, represent a diverse 

range of viewpoints, experiences, and backgrounds, more accurately depict the history of 

our country, and add value to the Smithsonian Institution for the American people. 

In FY 2022, the resources from the American Women’s History Initiatives Pool

($5,000,000) were transferred to the SAWHM line item to support the new Museum. 

The FY 2023 budget estimate includes a program request of 9 FTEs and 

$2,000,000 to continue recruiting and selecting initial personnel; forming planning and 

coordination teams to develop exhibitions, public programs, education, research, 

collections acquisition, technology, and capital fund raising; implementing a siteselection evaluation process; and developing the capacity for administrative operations. 

21 
ENHANCED INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH 

The Smithsonian’s FY 2023 budget submission supports the programs described 

below to advance science, technology, and innovation within the Institution to achieve highreturn benefits from the investment in research. The Institution will continue implementing 

its Strategic Plan, with the following requested increases for Enhanced Interdisciplinary 

Research: 

Category 

FY 2023 

Programs 

Increase 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTEs 

Increase 

ENHANCED INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH 

Research Program Initiatives +3,650 0 

Biodiversity Research +4,500 +20 

• Global Earth Observatories +2,500 +13 

• Climate Change Monitoring +1,000 +2 

• Research Data Management +1,000 +5 

Total Increases +$8,150 +20 

Research Program Initiatives — FY 2023 Increase: (+$3,650,000) 

The funding requested will support an innovative and emerging research pool of 

funds to be managed by the Under Secretary for Science and Research. The pool will 

foster a research environment conducive to scientific innovation and provide the 

essential financial support necessary to execute world-class science. Priority will be 

given to high-risk, high-reward activities that build technical capabilities within the 

Smithsonian’s established areas of research. This program will help the Institution 

recruit and retain the finest scientific talent, support postdoctoral researchers, and build 

a diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce. 

The funding criteria will be flexible enough to respond to unique research 

opportunities that could change our understanding of Earth systems (e.g., extreme 

ground-level weather events and volcanic eruptions). The funds will be distributed by 

both competitive and more targeted efforts. We expect to allocate the funding in several 

tracks; for example, internally competitive seed grants and innovation grants, start-up 

funds for new researchers, and targeted funds to address diversity and inclusion and to 

account for the impact of COVID-19 telework on researchers just starting their careers, 

especially women. 

Examples of relevant research to fund include: One Health (interactions between 

human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health, including climate change); biodiversity 

genomics (answering questions about ecology and evolution, including impacts of 

climate change); movement of animals across landscapes (including impacts of climate 

change); and studying endangered and invasive species and how climate change 

affects all these areas. In addition, in the areas of astronomy and planetary science, the 

research would include how to find evidence of life on other planets, what conditions 

22 
lead to habitability, and what physical-chemical processes lead to the great diversity 

among planets in our solar system and beyond. Additional information on this request is 

provided in the Institution-wide section of this budget submission. 

Biodiversity Research — FY 2023 Increase: (+$4,500,000, +20 FTEs) 

The Smithsonian is well known for our research products that help sustain 

biological diversity, assess the effects of climate change and resilience strategies, and 

understand and manage invasive pests and infectious diseases. The Institution’s assets 

include one of the world’s largest groups of scientists working on the biology of whole 

plants and animals, a network of Earth observation platforms and field stations, and 

huge collections of specimens and libraries of resources. Additional information on this 

request is provided in the Enhanced Research Initiatives section of this budget 

submission. 

▪ Global Earth Observatories, ForestGEO and MarineGEO — FY 2023 Increase: 

(+$2,500,000, +13 FTEs) 

The mission of our Global Earth Observatory (GEO) networks is to accelerate 

understanding of the diversity and functioning of forest and marine ecosystems to 

predict their futures and sustain their vital roles in supporting life on Earth. The 

world’s forest and marine ecosystems support all aspects of life on Earth: everything 

from providing food, medicines, and building materials to regulating climatic and 

carbon cycles. They have never been under more pressure through the dual threats 

of climate and land-use changes. Research-based global solutions are required to 

mitigate these risks and increase ecosystem resilience. The Smithsonian GEOs 

have developed globally distributed in-situ monitoring and experimental 

observatories on land (ForestGEO) and in the sea (MarineGEO) that, coupled with 

new global scientific capacity, will transform our understanding of these ecosystems 

and provide policy makers with a basis for their future sustainable management. 

For FY 2023, the Institution requests funding (+$1,500,000 and +5 FTEs) for the 

Forest GEOs. ForestGEO provides long-term scientific data about biodiversity and 

the ecological, hydrological, soil, and meteorological processes associated with 

climate change at local, regional, and global scales. 

The requested resources will: (i) expand ForestGEO to better represent all major 

forest types globally, transforming the network into a permanent global 

observation system for the world’s forests; (ii) broaden the scientific disciplines 

addressing forest response to climate change through strategic appointments in 

genomics, microbial ecology, and ecosystem modeling; (iii) ensure the long-term 

sustainability of ForestGEO science by strengthening the coordination and 

management of ForestGEO sites and future data collection; and (iv) increase the 

role of ForestGEO in science development through Fellowships and training to 

build the human resources needed to solve the global forest crisis. Together, 

these steps will provide an exciting opportunity to revolutionize our understanding 

of one of Earth’s most biologically complex and important systems.

23 
 

In addition, the Institution requests funds (+$1,500,000 and +8 FTEs) for the Marine 

Global Earth Observatories, or MarineGEO. MarineGEO is dedicated to 

understanding changes in the structure and function of coastal marine ecosystems, 

monitoring, forecasting, and enhancing resilience to climate change. These funds 

will build on existing Smithsonian federal and trust investments, collaboration with 

the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Science and 

Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Ocean Science and Technology 

(SOST) and leverage in-kind support from a range of academic partners to expand 

the network beyond the initial sites. 

• Climate Change Coordination and Monitoring — FY 2023 Increase: 

(+$1,000,000, +2 FTEs) 

The funding requested will support internal research and communications in 

climate change and related fields, and enable coordination with other national and 

international efforts. In addition, the new funding will provide research and 

monitoring infrastructure and support personnel across Smithsonian facilities and 

programs, allowing the Institution to meet evolving needs and priorities. Uses 

include bolstering existing monitoring networks and implementing new field sites. 

More information on this request can be found in the Enhanced Interdisciplinary 

Research section of this budget submission. 

• Research Data Management — FY 2023 Increase: (+$1,000,000, +5 FTEs) 

The Smithsonian manages a vast array of increasingly critical environmental data 

that are comparable to the Institution’s world-renowned collections of objects. 

Global demand for Smithsonian environmental data has grown rapidly to help 

natural resource managers and policy makers quantify the pace and scale of 

climate change and develop strategies for ecosystem-based mitigation and 

adaptation. These unique data resources allow scientists and the public to track 

and propose nature-based solutions to the extraordinary declines in biodiversity of 

key regions and the entire planet. When harmonized and synthesized, these data 

resources have the potential to provide crucial insights into the function, health, 

and sustainability of ecosystems through time, their resilience to human impacts, 

and the tipping points beyond which ecosystems permanently change. The 

Smithsonian has the obligation to share its data according to FAIR data standards 

that meet the emerging principles of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, 

and Reusability. 

To meet this challenge, the Smithsonian requests +$1,000,000 and +5 FTEs for 

essential resources to curate, analyze, and synthesize large volumes of data in 

diverse formats, such as image and acoustic data, instrument data streams, 

including real-time data from laboratory and field instruments, biodiversity and 

genomic data, and environmental DNA. This will ensure the Institution is 

supporting the conservation of biodiversity to support cultures, livelihoods, and 

social equity. 

24 
 

EXPAND DIGITAL SUPPORT AND EDUCATION 

Category 

FY 2023 

Programs 

Increase 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTEs 

Increase 

Digital Support 

• Digital Support Pool +3,050 0 

• Digital Unit Support +1,950 +14 

Education Support 

• Education Initiatives Pool +1,500 0 

• Education Unit Support +250 +2 

Total Increase +$6,750 +16 

Digital Support — FY 2023 Increase: (+$5,000,000 and +14 FTEs) 

The Institution requests an increase of $5,000,000 and 14 FTEs to continue 

developing the “Virtual Smithsonian” and leveraging digital capabilities and platforms to 

reach expanded audiences. The funding will support key Institution priorities, such as 

addressing racial equity and climate change. The increase includes a digitization pool 

($3,550,000) and additional staff embedded in key units ($1,950,000 and 14 FTEs) to 

support key priorities and digital efforts. 

The additional resources and staff will also support website modernization and 

digital transformation efforts. The funds requested will help support an Institution-wide 

digital strategy for the audiences we seek to serve and will make our content more 

accessible, relevant, and impactful. It is essential to have the support staff who can 

better leverage data and technology to serve the public with our digital resources. Our 

physical museums and research centers attract tens of thousands of visitors every year, 

yet a strengthened virtual strategy provides an opportunity to reach even more parts of 

the country. 

Specifically, the additional funds will enable the Institution to advance its goal of 

ensuring that every household and classroom can access the Smithsonian’s digital 

content. To make this possible, we envision a unified virtual initiative that will allow 

audiences to experience our world-renowned scholarship, research, and collections in 

ways that are not only relevant and meaningful but are also in line with the expectations 

of the public in the 21st century. This will allow us to provide equitable access to content 

organized around themes such as democracy, race, innovation, identity, and climate 

change. By building a foundation of digital capabilities centered on the customer 

experience, the Smithsonian will develop Web enhancements to meet the needs of the 

public and provide the greatest educational impact in line with the Institution’s mission 

“for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

The systems supported by this request are the infrastructure that enables the 

Smithsonian’s collections and other content to be made available to our digital 

25 
audiences. The funding is therefore essential to achieve the Institution’s transformation 

goals and strategic priorities. 

• Digital Support Pool 

Specifically, to expand digitization and open access, and increase the type and 

volume of content we manage and make available to the world, the Smithsonian 

is requesting that a Digital Support Pool (+$3,050,000) be established in the 

Institution-wide line item, details of which can be found in the Institution-wide 

Programs section of this budget submission. The funding requested will enable 

development of a digital platform and software, support the ramp-up of mass 

digitization, informatics, and expansion of the 3D digitization infrastructure, and 

provide the necessary staffing of key program managers. This request will also 

support the central digital transformation function, digital platforms which enable 

the sharing of our collections, the Open Access Initiative, the digitization program, 

and the Transcription Center that has blossomed into a highly publicized program 

with thousands of digital volunteers worldwide. In addition, the funding will support 

data science by expanding the information management infrastructure. 

• Digital Unit Support 

The Institution also requests additional staff embedded in key units (+$1,950,000 

and +14 FTEs) to support our digitization efforts. This will allow several units to 

participate in digital content production and more effectively transform their 

workflows to reach expanded and underserved audiences. The following units 

are requesting digitization support: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 

(1 FTE); Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (1 FTE); National Museum of 

American History (3 FTEs); National Air and Space Museum (2 FTEs); National 

Portrait Gallery (1 FTE); Smithsonian American Art Museum (1 FTE); 

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (1 FTE); the National Museum of African Art 

(2 FTEs) and the Head Transformation office (2 FTEs). Additional justification for 

this request is provided in the respective unit budget submissions. 

Education Support — FY 2023 Increase: (+$1,750,000 and +2 FTEs) 

The Institution also requests funding to support educational outreach, including 

programs to address racial equity and sustainability issues. In response to the COVID19 pandemic, the Smithsonian ramped up public access to a wide array of virtual 

assets, educational tools, and digital platforms. 

These educational tools and resources include Learning Lab, our website that 

allows educators, parents, and students to access high-quality learning resources and 

interactive tools to create lesson plans aligned with the curricula of many states. In the 

first month of pandemic-related school closures in 2020, the website saw a 346 percent 

increase in traffic compared to the same time the previous year, providing even more 

people with lesson plans, materials, and activities in arts, history, and design, as well as 

science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The Smithsonian open 

access platform lets people download, create, and reuse nearly three million 2D and 3D 

26 
digital items from the national collections. In addition, Sidedoor, our Webby-nominated 

podcast, tells special behind-the-scenes stories of interest to learners of all ages. 

With a keen focus on K–12 education, the Smithsonian will continue developing 

online materials and educational content to bring the depth and breadth of the 

Institution to classrooms across America. The Institution will harness the power of 

information technology to increase the volume of digital content and offer resources on 

topics like the civil rights movement, human origins, conservation, sustainability, and 

responsible environmental stewardship. 

One of the main ways the Smithsonian achieves a profound impact is by reaching 

students, teachers, and scholars with educational resources in the learning and 

discovery spaces in our museums and research centers. The Smithsonian Science 

Education Center, Smithsonian Affiliate museums, and the Smithsonian Institution 

Traveling Exhibition Service work diligently to bring virtual educational offerings in art, 

history, culture, and STEM to every state nationwide and countries around the world. 

However, the Institution cannot rely on digital learning alone. Many young 

people, especially those who have been underserved, lack access to a computer or 

reliable internet service. That is why the Smithsonian is committed to bridging the digital 

divide, providing no-tech educational resources to people across the country. By 

partnering with USA Today, we created a series of learning packets which offer handson activities to help children and adults explore STEM, the arts, and history. Distributed 

through public libraries and schools, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, our Affiliate 

museums, and directly through newspaper subscriptions, they reached nearly two 

million households last year, with more editions planned. 

By building on our history and respected reputation, the Institution plans to apply 

innovative thinking to be a national leader, not only in lifelong learning, but also in preK–12 education. As we have proven during this difficult time, educational materials 

based on our science and scholarship can enhance the ways students and teachers 

engage in 21st-century learning. At the local level, the Institution is continuing to 

develop a model of the future of education and museums through a collaboration with 

the Washington, DC public school system. Sharing that work nationwide and abroad, 

while drawing on best practices and lessons learned, will expand our impact and help 

us make the most effective use of our resources. 

• Education Initiatives Pool 

The Smithsonian requests $1,500,000 to establish an Education Initiatives Pool 

and continue providing high-quality educational resources, as detailed below and 

in the Institution-wide section of this budget submission. 

o Learning Lab 

The Smithsonian’s Learning Lab is a free, online platform for educators 

and learners to access millions of digitized resources and support 

teaching and learning. Smithsonian educators and experts use this 

platform to co-create content with pre-K–12 teachers nationwide. Free 

tools like the Learning Lab help extend the reach of the Smithsonian to 

27 
communities and make high-quality and relevant content accessible to all. 

The pool funds will support the integration of the Learning Lab with 

learning management systems used by schools across the country. 

o Equity and Access 

As a strong proponent of expanding opportunities for underserved 

audiences, the Smithsonian is committed to making equal access to highquality educational resources a reality for learners who have often been 

left behind. The pool funds will be used to create educational resources 

and tools in a variety of low-tech and highly tactile formats. The funds 

requested will also support enhancements for learning tools to make 

content accessible to individuals with disabilities and communities needing 

bilingual content. 

o Distance Learning 

The Smithsonian Institution is the nation’s knowledge partner and has been 

engaging in distance learning since well before the COVID-19 pandemic 

struck, serving learners beyond the walls of our museums and research 

centers through virtual tours, webinars, distance-learning classes at 

America’s military bases around the globe, recorded videos, podcasts, and 

more. These funds would be used to create new distance-learning 

resources and add content to existing, popular Smithsonian platforms to 

better serve the students and teachers wherever they engage in distance 

learning. 

• Education Unit Support 

The Institution also requests $250,000 and 2 FTEs to support the Education 

Initiatives Pool that will be strategically placed in the office of the Under Secretary 

for Education. These resources will be essential to administer programs and 

serve schools and educators nationwide. Additional justification for this request is 

provided in the Administration budget submission. 

UNDERSTAND AND IMPACT 21st CENTURY AUDIENCES 

Category 

FY 2023 

Programs 

Increase 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTEs 

Increase 

UNDERSTAND AND IMPACT 21st CENTURY AUDIENCES 

• Visitor Engagement +635 +5 

• Exhibit Support +300 +2 

Total Increase +$935 +7 

28 
Visitor Engagement — FY 2023 Increase: (+$635,000, +5 FTEs) 

One of the Institution’s top priorities is to ensure the safety and security of the 

millions of visitors who come to our museums. It is also equally important to provide a 

meaningful experience to all our many visitors. 

The Smithsonian receives millions of visits a year at its high-visibility museums, 

galleries, and research centers. Accordingly, the Institution has a fundamental 

responsibility to provide a safe and secure environment for the public while protecting the 

nation’s priceless collections. 

The Institution accomplishes these goals by increasing access to Smithsonian 

facilities and enhancing the experiences of visitors, both online and in person. Our 

museums serve a vast global audience through their physical and digital initiatives to 

deliver on our mission to generate and diffuse knowledge. All Smithsonian public 

programs (including exhibitions, events, websites, apps, and social media) must be 

accessible to people with disabilities to the fullest extent possible and practicable. With 20 

percent of our nation’s population having a disability (a percentage that is likely to rise as 

the U.S. population ages), it is increasingly important for the Smithsonian to fully 

implement Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards on public accommodations 

and improve access to its physical and digital environments. 

While our museums provide baseline accessibility aids, to help the Smithsonian 

better serve a broader population of Americans with disabilities, the Institution requests 

additional resources to handle the growing number of elderly and disabled visitors. This 

includes providing auxiliary aids or services, such as American Sign Language 

interpretation, sighted guides, assistive listening systems, and Braille materials which will 

enhance the experiences of visitors with disabilities. 

The funds requested will support the following units: the Freer and Sackler Galleries 

(+1 FTE); the office of the Assistant Secretary for Communications and External Affairs 

(+2 FTEs); the National Portrait Gallery (+1 FTE); and the National Air and Space Museum 

(+1 FTE). Additional information on this request is provided in the respective unit budget 

submissions. 

Exhibit Support — FY 2023 Increase: (+$300,000, +2 FTEs) 

The Smithsonian has a long tradition of raising private funds to design and install 

new exhibitions. For generations, these exhibitions have been the reason why millions of 

visitors have come to the National Mall. However, the Institution requires federal funding 

to manage these exhibits and leverage the private funding necessary to install and 

maintain them. 

The requested budget increase will support the Institution’s traveling exhibitions, 

including the popular Museums on Main Street (MoMS) program. The MoMS program works 

with state humanities councils to bring traveling exhibitions, educational resources, and 

programming to small towns across America, especially to the underserved populations of 

rural America. 

29 
Specifically, funding would go to the Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition Service (+2 

FTEs). Additional information on this request is provided in the Outreach section in this 

budget submission. 

PRESERVE OUR NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 

Category 

FY 2023 

Programs 

Increase 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTEs 

Increase 

PRESERVE OUR NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 

▪ Animal Welfare +600 +1 

▪ Facilities Operations and Support +4,000 +10 

▪ Security +500 +0 

Total Increase +$4,600 +11 

Collections stewardship is a key component and core priority of the Smithsonian’s 

Strategic Plan. Assembled throughout the Institution’s 175-year history, Smithsonian 

collections are fundamental to carrying out the Institution’s mission and serving as the 

intellectual capital for scholarship, exhibition, and education. The proper management, 

documentation, preservation, and accessibility of collections are essential to the nation’s 

research and education infrastructure, enabling researchers to address such significant 

challenges as the spread of invasive species and the loss of biological diversity and its 

impact on global ecosystems and human welfare. 

Animal Welfare — FY 2023 Increase: (+$600,000, +1 FTE) 

The National Zoological Park (NZP) is requesting resources (+$600,000 and +1 

FTE) to support specialized animal care exhibits. Living collections require specialized 

support that includes items for daily animal care, such as physical therapy blocks for the 

NZP’s aging herd of Asian elephants, and for veterinary management, such as a training 

cage with a blood sleeve for giant pandas. 

Maintaining animal habitats and providing specialized items for the animals’ health 

and well-being are not just recommended best practices but required by oversight and 

regulatory entities such as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) and the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture (USDA). These standards are essential to safely and humanely 

house living collections while protecting the public and staff. 

Additional information to support this request is provided in the National Zoo’s unit 

section of this budget submission. 

Facilities Operations and Support — FY 2023 Increase: (+$4,000,000, +10 FTEs) 

The Institution requests additional funding to address high-priority operating and 

life-safety needs because contracts for basic facility services, materials, and supplies 

have outpaced any budget growth the Smithsonian has seen. In addition, the 

30 
Institution’s operations and physical footprint have grown, further increasing 

requirements. 

This increased funding will enable the Institution to effectively provide the proper 

cleaning and sanitizing services to approach APPA Level 2 cleaning. The funds will 

support much-needed services to manage the growth in our physical footprint and begin 

to address increasing workforce requirements. 

Additional information about this request is provided in the Facilities Operations, 

Security, and Support section of this budget submission. 

Security — FY 2023 Increase: (+$500,000) 

The events of the past few years have demonstrated both the challenges and the 

importance of providing adequate security for our museums, staff, and visitors on the 

National Mall. Our security guards are the front line of defense, and it is imperative that 

we provide the adequate resources to keep our museum doors open to the public. In 

addition, as the physical footprint of the Smithsonian has increased and facilities are 

revitalized, the Institution’s security and law-enforcement needs have also grown. This 

combination of more ground to cover and the demand for greater protection has steadily 

degraded the security base budget relative to the Institution’s needs. 

The Institution requests an increase of $500,000 for more contract security 

officers, as well as to fund the increased contract security rates. To evaluate the 

effectiveness of existing security resources versus the current requirements, the 

Smithsonian conducted a security staffing analysis for each of its major facilities. The 

facility analyses confirmed that the Smithsonian needs to add contract staff to provide a 

higher level of security around building perimeters and in interior public spaces such as 

galleries. These requested resources will allow the Smithsonian to provide a safer and 

more secure environment for visitors, staff, and collections. 

Additional information about this request is provided in the Facilities Operations, 

Security, and Support section of this budget submission. 

31 
ENABLE COST-EFFECTIVE AND RESPONSIVE ADMINISTRATION 

COST-EFFECTIVE/RESPONSIVE ADMINISTRATION 

FY 2023 

Programs 

Increase 

($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTEs 

Increase 

• Information Technology (IT) Security +3,600 +3 

• Operations Support 

o Human Resources Support +1,500 +6 

o Diversity Support +500 +3 

o Smithsonian Civil Program +500 +2 

Total Increase +$6,100 +14 

Information Technology Security — FY 2023 Increase (+$3,600,000, +3 FTEs) 

This funding request (+$3,600,000 and +3 FTEs) supports additional resources 

to enhance security monitoring and response by implementing additional security 

logging requirements to defend the Smithsonian against ransomware and other cyber 

threats. The funding will also support initiatives on supply chain risk management, threat 

intelligence, data loss prevention, and zero trust architecture while continuing to 

enhance security assessment, risk management, and compliance processes. 

The requested increase will enable the Institution to detect and respond to 

increasingly sophisticated threats by expanding monitoring and investigation of 

potentially suspicious activities and enhance our ability to identify and address risks to 

the Smithsonian’s supply chain. The funding will also help to prevent the inappropriate 

disclosure or distribution of personal and other sensitive information and integrate 

security components for better visibility into enterprise risk. 

These resources are vital to effectively defend the Institution against 

sophisticated threats, manage risk, and adapt IT defenses to the evolving business 

needs of an increasingly widespread work environment. 

Operations Support — FY 2023 Increase: (+$2,500,000, +11 FTEs) 

• Human Resources Support (+$1,500,000, +6 FTEs) — This request supports 

Human Resources (HR) staff required to facilitate internal and external strategic 

change; adequately address hiring timeliness goals; provide quality, timely advice and 

services to Smithsonian units; minimize risks; and improve the response time for 

answering requests for guidance or information. Additionally, these funds will position 

the Smithsonian to reduce the time employees require for on-the-job training and/or 

retraining because the behavior-based hiring assessments (which are informed by 

competency data) will enable the Institution to better recruit, attract, assess, and hire 

individuals with the skills needed to do their work more effectively. The funds would 

also provide contractor support to develop a competency framework and 

accompanying competency models which are the key to supporting the Smithsonian’s 

overall workforce planning strategy. Resources are also needed to adequately 

32 
address safety, security, and telework issues resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

This budget request provides for centralized training in the areas of supervision, 

compliance with the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), human resources, and 

Institution-wide leadership, and will also support training course development and 

delivery for employees. 

• Diversity Support (+$500,000, +3 FTEs) 

Diversity and inclusion are emphasized values in the Smithsonian Strategic Plan. 

These funds will support our new chief diversity officer with the resources required to 

implement our Equity and Diversity Action Plans in accordance with Executive Orders 

13985 and 14035. We are working to make our museums, labs, offices, and 

boardrooms reflect the nation and to build collections that tell today’s stories to future 

generations. In addition, the Smithsonian is creating programming on DEAI topics that 

will be available to the public, both in-person and virtually. And the National Museum 

of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum will

have an even greater reach on DEAI topics. 

These additional resources are also needed to address increased demands in support 

of supplier diversity, including quarterly reporting to the Secretary on equal 

employment opportunity (EEO) training, EEO complaints, reasonable 

accommodations, workforce diversity, diversity and inclusion initiatives, advisory board 

representation, and supplier diversity. The requested funds and staff will also help the 

Institution better implement its policies, which highlight our commitment to achieving 

these goals and provide the framework to ensure the resources will be allocated 

effectively. 

• Smithsonian Civil Program (+$500,000, +2 FTEs) 

One of the Institution’s top priorities is to ensure a harassment-free and safer 

workplace within the Smithsonian. This will be accomplished by improving our 

processes, increasing employee resources, and driving transformative change to 

ensure the Institution is a model place to work and visit. To that end, we are 

requesting additional funds to implement significant enhancements to the 

Smithsonian’s anti-harassment initiatives. 

The Smithsonian Civil Program is a resource for all employees and affiliated staff. It 

provides a safe way for individuals to report incidents of harassment, workplace 

violence, or retaliatory behaviors impacting the workplace. This covers incidents 

involving any member of the Smithsonian community, including any affiliated staff or 

operational stakeholders as well as employees. The funds requested would allow this 

program to achieve its full potential in support of the Institution’s diverse and 

professional workforce. 

33 
 

 

NO-YEAR FUNDING — The following table provides the FY 2023 Salaries and Expenses 

requests for No-Year Funding. 

No-Year Funding Request 

(Dollars in Thousands) 

Salaries and Expenses FY 2023 

Request 

($000s) 

No-Year Funds 

National Museum of the American Latino 10,392 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum 9,568 

National Museum of Natural History 

Exhibition Reinstallation 954 

Repatriation Program 1,507 

Major Scientific Instrumentation 4,118 

Collections Acquisition 435 

Total, No-Year Funds $26,974 

OBJECT-CLASS FUNDING — The following table provides an object-class breakout 

of resources for the Salaries and Expenses account. 

Salaries and Expenses FY 2023 

Request 

($Ms) 

Salaries and Benefits 548 

Travel and Transportation 5 

Rent, Utilities, Communications, 

and Other 

104 

Other Services 200 

Supplies and Materials 22 

Equipment 27 

Land and Structures 4 

Total, Object-Class Funds $910 

34 
FEDERAL RESOURCE SUMMARY BY PERFORMANCE OBJECTIVE 

AND PROGRAM CATEGORY 

The Smithsonian has developed its FY 2023 budget request by reviewing and 

prioritizing all resources and identified increases or decreases in relation to the 

Institution’s performance plan and overall Strategic Plan. 

The Institution’s program performance goals and objectives are aligned with the 

program categories used in the federal budget and the Institution’s financial accounting 

system. This enables the Smithsonian to clearly demonstrate the relationship between 

dollars budgeted and results achieved. 

The table below summarizes the Institution’s FY 2022 enacted budget and 

FY 2023 request, and shows the proposed changes by strategic goal, performance 

objective, and program category. 

FTEs $000s FTEs $000s FTEs $000s

Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research 533 101,852 553 113,072 2 0 11,220

Engage in impactful scientific research & 409 76,981 429 87,558 2 0 10,577

Engage in vital arts and humanities research 124 24,871 124 25,514 0 643

Expand Digital Technologies 253 42,422 272 51,661 1 9 9,239

Digitization and Web Support 106 19,769 123 26,444 1 7 6,675

Education 147 22,653 149 25,217 2 2,564

Understand & Impact 21st Century Audiences 545 100,730 556 105,258 1 1 4,528

Public Programs 132 31,743 141 33,824 9 2,081

Exhibitions 413 68,987 415 71,434 2 2,447

Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage 2,183 460,595 2,197 479,669 1 4 19,074

Collections 442 80,421 446 83,503 4 3,082

Facilities Operations 620 169,107 630 178,792 1 0 9,685

Maintenance 463 116,917 463 119,296 0 2,379

Security 658 94,150 658 98,078 0 3,928

Enable Responsive Administration 566 146,616 590 159,840 2 4 13,224

Management Operations 469 96,007 490 103,107 2 1 7,100

Information Technology 9 7 50,609 100 56,733 3 6,124

New Museums: 25 FTEs and $4M included in 

FY22 and 20 FTEs and $4M additional in FY23

Total 4,080 852,215 4,168 909,500 88 57,285

Salaries and Expenses ($'s in thousands)

 Federal Resources by Performance Objective and Program Category

Performance Objective and Program Category

FY 2022 FY 2023 Change

35 
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36 
 

ENHANCED INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL TRUST DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS & 

CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 0 3,119 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 0 3,119 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 20 7,639 0 0 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian’s enhanced research initiatives provide an overarching framework 

for the Institution’s scientific programs and operations. Funding these efforts will enable the 

Smithsonian to integrate the work of many disciplines within our museums and cultural and 

research centers, as well as broaden external collaborations. The programs are grounded 

in research and emphasize complementary education and outreach; together, they will 

influence how the Smithsonian directs its resources and focuses its energies. The 

Institution has developed and implemented initiatives to advance cross-disciplinary, 

integrated scholarly efforts which use a competitive internal process to distribute externally 

raised funds for advancing research, revitalizing education, and harnessing the power of 

emerging technology. The funding may also help to leverage additional resources, both 

internal and external, thereby amplifying the scope and breadth of cross-cutting research 

initiatives. Funds are distributed through existing Smithsonian units with subject-matter 

expertise to make the most cost-effective use of expenditures in the areas being supported. 

Although there are no specific units primarily associated with these initiatives, all 

Smithsonian museums, research centers, and offices will look for opportunities to 

integrate the Institution’s research goals and objectives into their activities and programs. 

The table below summarizes the FY 2023 Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research budget 

Programs 

FY 2022 

Enacted 

$000s 

FY 2023 

Request 

$000s 

Change 

$000s 

Universe 184 184 0 

Biodiversity Research 1,543 6,063 4,520 

World Cultures 792 792 0 

American Experience 600 600 0 

Total 3,119 7,639 4,520 

37 
 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $4,520,000, which provides 

$20,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded 

under this line item, as well as a programmatic increase of $4,500,000 for biodiversity 

research. 

The Institution requests the $4,500,000 increase to help make research in 

important societal issues more focused, relevant, and rigorous for “the increase and

diffusion of knowledge,” which is our core mission. The budget also supports the 

Smithsonian’s efforts to modernize and manage our research infrastructure and applies 

to scientific collections and biological field stations, as well as interagency partnerships, 

such as those with the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) and its 

relationship with our Forest and Marine Global Earth Observatories. Specifically, these 

resources will enhance the science for conserving biodiversity in ways that support 

culture, livelihoods, and social equity. 

While other research institutions work in fields which may resemble those of the 

Smithsonian, the Institution’s scientific initiatives complement the operations of our federal 

agency and university partners. The federal appropriation we receive enables us to 

approach research from a long-term perspective. We establish observatories that collect 

data for many decades, enabling studies to keep acquiring collections and data for use by 

scientists and citizens nationwide and throughout the world. The Smithsonian is also wellpositioned to communicate these research results to the public. 

The Institution’s scientific research enhances but does not duplicate that of our 

partner federal agencies such as the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Commerce, 

and Defense, all of which have staff in residence at our facilities; or our contracted partners 

such as the United States Navy, United States Air Force, Federal Aviation Administration 

(FAA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the Bureau of Ocean Energy 

Management (BOEM), for whom we share our expertise to boost the quality and impact of 

federally funded science for natural resource management. Our exceptional scientific staff 

collaborates regularly with research universities in the United States and beyond, as faculty 

benefit from participating in the Smithsonian’s long-term research studies and the Institution 

recognizes the expertise these scientists bring to those programs in return. This mutually 

beneficial arrangement adds value to the research conducted by both public- and privatesector participants and results in a more efficient, symbiotic coordination of our resources. 

The programs described below will continue to advance science, technology, and 

innovation within the Institution to achieve high-return benefits from the investment in 

research. The Smithsonian will keep implementing its Strategic Plan, with the following 

requested increases for Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research: 

38 
 

Category 

FY 2023 

Program 

Increase ($000s) 

FY 2023 

FTEs 

Increase 

Biodiversity Research 

• Global Earth Observatories +2,500 +13 

• Climate Change Monitoring +1,000 +2 

• Climate Data Management and Analysis +1,000 +5 

Total Increases +$4,500 +20 

Biodiversity Research — FY 2023 Increase: (+$4,500,000, +20 FTEs) 

The Smithsonian has a special role nationally and globally in not only conducting 

biodiversity research, but also training the next generation of scientists and providing 

infrastructure and information which enable research by others. Everything the Institution 

does in biology — from acquiring collections and conducting research to advancing 

education and outreach — is potentially useful to the bioeconomy, which represents the 

infrastructure, innovation, products, technology, and data derived from biologically related 

processes. The biological sciences also drive economic growth, promote public health, and 

increase social benefits for the American people. 

For example, much of the Smithsonian’s research as part of the U.S. Global Change 

Research Program (USGCRP) is directly relevant to biosecurity; such as keeping diseases 

and pests away from animals, people, and property; and biosurveillance monitoring that 

detects and prevents the spread of pests and diseases and contributes to long-term publichealth security goals. 

The Smithsonian is well known for research products that help natural resources 

managers sustain biological diversity, assess the effects of climate change and resilience 

strategies, and understand and manage invasive pests and infectious diseases. Our assets 

include one of the world’s largest groups of scientists working on the biology of whole 

plants and animals, a network of Earth observation platforms and field stations, and huge 

collections of specimens and libraries of resources. 

In many ways, the species that share our planet are still poorly understood in terms 

of where they live and what they do, how their dynamics vary with climate change, and why 

it matters to us. For example, the capacity of the federal Government to identify potentially 

invasive pest species and diseases has major gaps, which hamper our ability to respond to 

those threats. Communities of species in temperate and tropical forests and coral reefs 

respond to climate change in varied and presently unpredictable ways, once again limiting 

our options for planning and response. 

• Global Earth Observatories, ForestGEO and MarineGEO — FY 2023 Increase: 

(+$2,500,000, +13 FTEs) 

The mission of our Global Earth Observatory (GEO) networks is to speed 

understanding of the diversity and functioning of forest and marine ecosystems to 

39 
better predict their futures and sustain their vital roles in supporting life on Earth. The 

world’s forest and marine ecosystems support all aspects of life on Earth: everything 

from providing food, medicines, and building materials to regulating climatic and 

carbon cycles. They have never been under more stress from the dual threats of 

climate and land-use changes. Research-based global solutions are required to 

mitigate these risks and increase ecosystem resilience. Earth observations using 

remote sensing have been prioritized by many governments, including the United 

States; however, we must complement these remote data with a vastly improved 

understanding of the processes which regulate these ecosystems on the ground. 

The Smithsonian GEOs have developed globally distributed, in-situ monitoring and 

experimental observatories on land (ForestGEO) and in the sea (MarineGEO) that, 

coupled with new global scientific capacity, will improve our understanding of 

ecosystems and give policy makers options for their future sustainable management. 

The Smithsonian provides the essential foundation for these networks, based on: 1) 

long-term global leadership and workforce development in biodiversity science; 2) 

multi-disciplinary science that draws on the resources of the Tropical Research 

Institute (STRI), Environmental Research Center (SERC), Conservation Biology 

Institute (SCBI), and the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH); 3) interagency collaborations, including the National Science Foundation (NSF), National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and 

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Department of Energy (DOE), NEON, 

Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER), and BOEM; 4) scientific and educational 

partnerships with diverse U.S. universities; 5) leadership in open science and 

information and knowledge dissemination; 6) programs for strengthening scientific 

capacity nationally and internationally; and 7) enhancing international partnerships 

built through science-based diplomacy. 

In FY 2023, the Institution requests new funding (+$1,250,000 and +5 FTEs) for the 

ForestGEOs. ForestGEOs provide long-term scientific data about biodiversity and 

ecological, hydrological, soil, and meteorological processes associated with climate 

change at local, regional, and global scales. This research platform enables 

Smithsonian scientists and their university and federal agency partners to better 

understand the storage and movement of carbon and water in tropical and 

temperate forests, as well as the impacts of climate change on the relationships of 

forests with wildlife, the atmosphere, and sources of fresh water. To do this, the 

Smithsonian coordinates with the NSF’s LTER and NEON programs through multiple 

shared sites. 

While ForestGEO has successfully established 71 forest research sites in 27 

countries, this is not sufficient to represent the biotic and abiotic conditions under 

which the world’s forests grow, and consequently is insufficient to model forest 

functioning on a global scale. Furthermore, critical ecological processes which 

control forest function, such as soil microbial activity, are not included in the 

current ForestGEO protocols. 

40 
The requested resources will: (i) expand ForestGEO to better represent all major 

forest types globally, transforming the network into a permanent global observation 

system for the world’s forests; (ii) broaden the scientific disciplines addressing how 

forests respond to climate change through strategic appointments in genomics, 

microbial ecology, and ecosystem modeling; (iii) ensure the long-term sustainability 

of ForestGEO science by strengthening the coordination and management of 

ForestGEO sites and future data collection; and (iv) increase the role of ForestGEO 

in science capacity development by offering Fellowships and training designed to 

recruit the best minds needed to study the global forest crisis. Together, these 

developments will provide an extraordinary opportunity to revolutionize how we 

understand one of the Earth’s most biologically complex and important ecosystems. 

In addition, the Institution requests new funding (+$1,250,000 and +8 FTEs) for the 

MarineGEOs. MarineGEOs are dedicated to understanding changes in the structure 

and function of coastal marine ecosystems, monitoring, forecasting, and enhancing 

resilience to climate change. MarineGEO focuses on collecting, analyzing, and 

making publicly available data that improves understanding of changes in the ocean 

system. The request includes funding for the initial operational expenses of a field 

station at Coibita in Panama, which will enable Smithsonian scientists at STRI to 

make important comparisons between the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean coastal 

ecosystems. These oceans differ in physical and biological characteristics, making 

them excellent natural experiments to understand the effects of changing 

environments on marine organisms. These funds will efficiently build on existing 

Smithsonian federal and trust investments and collaborations with NOAA and the 

National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) Subcommittee on Ocean Science 

and Technology (SOST), and leverage in-kind support from a range of academic 

partners to allow expansion of the network beyond the initial sites. This 

comprehensive approach will provide a new, fundamental understanding of our 

oceans, their sustainability, and their importance to human life and society, as well 

as different alternatives policy makers may consider to better manage our impact on 

these vital ecosystems. 

For both GEOs, this budget request funds executive directors, research 

scientists, and the necessary staff to build the networks and provide a stable core 

of personnel for research, training, and information management which will focus 

on improvements in science, monitoring, and cooperative research. For 

MarineGEO, special attention will be given to research on how to make fisheries 

and protected resources more resilient to the effects of climate change. 

• Climate Change Coordination and Monitoring — FY 2023 Increase: 

(+$1,000,000, +2 FTEs) 

The funding requested will support internal research and communications in 

climate change and related fields such as One Health, and enable coordination 

with the USGCRP and GEOs to more efficiently coordinate with other national 

and international efforts. The requested increase will fund a senior program 

41 
officer and program assistant, in the office of the Under Secretary for Science 

and Research, to manage these inter-related activities. 

In addition, the new funding will provide research and monitoring infrastructure and 

support personnel across Smithsonian facilities and programs, allowing the 

Institution to be nimble in meeting evolving needs and priorities. Uses include: 

bolstering existing monitoring networks; implementing new field sites, especially 

related to ForestGEO and MarineGEO; enhancing existing field sites (such as Barro 

Colorado Island at STRI, Rhode River, Indian River, and Mpala); long-term 

experiments (such as BiodiversiTree and Agua Salud); establishing training 

programs; and support for the human, physical, and technological infrastructures 

that will improve science, monitoring, and cooperative research. 

• Climate Data Management and Analysis — FY 2023 Increase: 

(+$1,000,000, +5 FTEs) 

The Smithsonian manages a vast array of unique and increasingly critical 

environmental data that are comparable to the Institution’s world-renowned 

collections of objects. Global demand for Smithsonian environmental data has 

grown rapidly to help natural resource managers and policy makers quantify the 

pace and scale of climate change and develop strategies for ecosystem-based 

mitigation and adaptation. These detailed data resources allow scientists and the 

public to track and propose nature-based solutions to the extraordinary declines in 

biodiversity of key regions and the entire planet. When harmonized and 

synthesized, these data resources have the potential to provide crucial insights into 

the function, health, and sustainability of ecosystems through time, their resilience 

to human impacts, and the tipping points beyond which ecosystems permanently 

change. The Smithsonian has the obligation to share its data according to FAIR

data standards that meet the emerging principles of Findability, Accessibility, 

Interoperability, and Reusability. In addition, the Institution must support improved 

data analytics to facilitate public and professional use of data for problem solving. 

To meet this challenge, the Smithsonian requests new funding of +$1,000,000 

and +5 FTEs for essential resources to curate, analyze, and synthesize large 

volumes of data in diverse formats, such as image and acoustic data, instrument 

data streams, including real-time data from laboratory and field instruments, 

biodiversity and genomic data, and environmental DNA. These funds will enable 

Smithsonian science to achieve its full potential and support projects with our 

federal agency and private-sector research partners. 

42 
NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 131 20,945 97 7,874 34 11,947 2 581 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 131 21,552 97 37,609 43 71,459 3 826 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 134 22,788 97 12,273 43 12,615 3 2,747 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum (NASM) collects,

preserves, studies, and exhibits artifacts and works of art related to the history, 

culture, and science of aviation and spaceflight and the study of the universe. Its 

cutting-edge research and outreach activities serve multiple audiences within and 

beyond its walls. The Museum commemorates the past, looks at current and future 

developments in aerospace, and is committed to educating and inspiring the next 

generation of innovators and explorers to study and apply science, technology, 

engineering, art, and math (STEAM) to create the future. 

NASM is administered as one Museum with multiple locations: the National 

Mall Building (NMB) in Washington, DC; the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (UHC) in 

Chantilly, Virginia; and the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland (a nonpublic facility). Construction of the first module of the Dulles Collections Center, 

adjacent to the Udvar-Hazy Center, was completed in January of 2019 and the 

Center is providing state-of-the-art storage for NASM collections. 

NASM provides millions of on-site guests from around the world with access 

to its peerless collection of aerospace artifacts and stories. Due to continued 

closure periods of both of its public facilities (the NMB and UHC) during the COVID19 pandemic, the Museum continued to engage the public online through enhanced 

digital resources reaching more than 10 million virtual guests via its website, 

broadcast/webcast educational programming, and social media. Despite the 

COVID-19-related closures, the two locations were open in calendar year 2021, 

NASM had 350,000 visitors at the NMB and 480,000 at the UHC. 

In FY 2023, NASM is continuing to collect and preserve the nation’s key 

aviation and space artifacts and archival material, as well as those from other 

countries, and to perform original research and reference support in aviation and 

space history and planetary science. Their core activities support a broad array 

of exhibitions, programs, publications, and education and outreach projects. 

Throughout the second year of shutdowns related to the COVID-19 pandemic, 

NASM upgraded its programming focus to digital/online content providing 

43 
 

 

 

educational resources and engaging, entertaining, and inspiring content for 

students, teachers and caregivers to use while studying and working from home. 

To accomplish its public service mandate and reach diverse audiences, the 

Museum draws upon a mixture of in-house and contracted resources as well as a 

large roster of volunteers and docents. The NMB is being completely renovated 

but continues to host visitors safely while also transforming all exhibits and public 

spaces of America’s favorite Museum to make NASM more than a destination to 

visit. Museum exhibits immerse visitors in the stories of people of all 

backgrounds who have broken barriers, defied what was thought possible, and 

changed the world to inspire a new generation to accomplish the amazing. 

Beyond the walls, digital offerings will allow anyone, anywhere to take a path that 

engages them with the Museum’s collections and stories, provides resources to 

students, teachers and researchers, and integrates those elements with the inperson experience to amplify its impact.

The Museum’s main focus in FY 2023 will be the ongoing revitalization of 

the NMB and the transformation of all the NMB exhibits. Despite the ongoing 

COVID-19 pandemic which closed our buildings to the public and sent most of 

the NASM workforce home to telework for part of the year, construction at the 

NMB continued through FYs 2021 and 2022, although at a slower rate. Planning 

for artifact movement as part of the revitalization and transformation effort 

resulted in a detailed plan to relocate and conserve/preserve more than 4,000 

artifacts. This has involved steadily moving artifacts to the Mary Baker Engen 

Restoration Hangar and Emil Buehler Conservation Lab at the UHC for treatment 

prior to installation of the new exhibitions on the west end of the NMB. The west 

end gallery spaces have been prepared, so that large artifacts can be installed 

first, then lighting, exhibit walls, cases, and a variety of media such as large 

projection screens, and technology for immersive experiences, and computer 

interactives. Simultaneously, artifacts are being removed from the other half of 

the building to prepare for the transformation of those exhibitions which are 

having their designs finalized and initial components built off-site. Artifacts are 

being temporarily stored in the Dulles Collections Center Storage Module or on 

the public floor of the UHC. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $1,236,000 that 

provides $828,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing 

staff funded under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 3 FTEs and 

$408,000 for digital support and visitor engagement. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

Public Engagement — Learning at NASM sparks curiosity and empowers 

learners to imagine the possibilities of our future. Accordingly, we continue our 

efforts to reach diverse audiences in meaningful ways through exhibitions, 

educational programming, research reference support, publications, and electronic 

outreach. In FY 2023, the Museum will use our transformation to redefine and 

strengthen NASM’s role as a learning facilitator and convener by exploring new 

initiatives to place the audience at the center of the experience. Senior leadership 

44 
 

 

has developed a learning engagement cycle that embraces both digital and on-site 

learning, ultimately increasing the Museum’s ability to engage a national audience. 

To help track this work, specifically in the digital learning space, NASM staff created 

a digital engagement roadmap. This roadmap is rooted in the learning engagement 

cycle and accompanying digital engagement key performance indicators. The 

roadmap is broken into annual phases, with progress checkpoints during each year. 

This strategy, and accompanying implementation tools, will position the Museum, to 

be a key stakeholder in building a nation of innovators and explorers via immersive 

experiences inspired by real-world issues, and rooted in national learning 

standards, that help foster critical thinking skills. Developing these skills will ensure 

a strong and diverse workforce that not only further advances America’s legacy as 

home to the world’s greatest innovators, but also ensures the face of the workforce 

reflects that of our population. 

As both a national and a community Museum, in FY 2023 NASM will 

continue to add on-site and online programs and products to our arc of engagement 

for learners from pre-kindergarten through to adulthood. Museum staff will continue 

to work with educators to build their capacity and comfort in teaching science and 

science-related concepts through high-quality professional development 

opportunities, including our professional learning community (PLC) dedicated to 

middle school educators, the Teacher Innovation Institute and Bezos Empowering 

Educators program NASM will expand camp offerings and develop a series of 

challenges for middle and high school youth that leverage the resources across 

Smithsonian and are rooted in, and have the potential to solve, real-world problems. 

In addition, the Museum will build upon the success of virtual and on-site 

student-focused programs and resources to inspire the next generation of 

innovators and explorers. One component of this work will be the rollout of new 

discovery stations funded by and created in collaboration with the U.S. Patent and 

Trademark Office. Also, the recently developed digital components of Soar 

Together @ Air and Space Family Days, are inviting families nation-wide to see 

themselves in NASM and make the collections and program content relevant to the 

generations who did not experience many early aviation and space milestones in 

their lifetimes. 

In FYs 2022 and 2023, Museum staff and volunteers will continue to support 

a variety of programs. NASM Education provides daily experiences for students and 

families ̶such as hands-on science activities, demonstrations, virtual planetarium 

shows, live virtual chats with experts and resources for learners with autism and 

sensory perception disorders. The Museum also facilitates large, multi-faceted, daylong events that can reach tens of thousands of diverse visitors in one day. In FY 

2022, NASM welcomed its fourth cohort of educators into its free Teacher Innovator 

Institute. The FY 2022 summer institute focused on how to integrate STEAM 

concepts throughout the school day and was led by both Museum educators and 

members of the Institute’s professional learning community. In addition, the FY 

2022 program included peer-to-peer learning and support of a mentoring 

component for new teachers. 

45 
 

 

NASM also continues to enhance the nature of its programming to embrace 

digital engagement nationwide, while also supporting on-site events which range 

from evening lectures to innovative collaborations with external partners. In FY 

2022, NASM partnered with Deloitte Consulting LLP to cohost its second virtual 

Hackathon for high school students attending schools in Northern Virginia. Students 

were challenged to design a digital interaction/tool/experience that would begin to 

improve diversity in the aviation and aerospace fields. Teams of students had two 

weeks to develop their solutions. Throughout the development process, the teams 

had regular meetings with coaches and experts. Their final products were judged by 

a panel that included an aerospace engineer and professionals from leading 

aerospace corporations. NASM intends to implement other such partnerships with 

external organizations in the coming years. 

The Museum continues to advance the two strategic goals of Preserving 

Our Natural and Cultural Heritage and Understanding and Impacting 21st Century 

Audiences by making collections, archival documents, and images available via 

publicly accessible websites. The NASM collections and archives databases 

contain extensive information on the history and provenance of each artifact and 

are an effective way to offer in-depth information to the public through electronic or 

digitized means. These electronic resources may also encourage more 

researchers to request access to the Museum’s archives and collections, and to 

make in-person visits to follow-up on initial online research efforts. The NASM 

Archives set up workflows for attaching digital assets to the Smithsonian Online 

Virtual Archives (SOVA). Since then, more than 327,972 digital assets were 

attached to SOVA in FY2021, resulting in a total of 1,162,940 digital assets 

currently available to the public. 

In FY 2023, NASM will continue to make high-resolution images and 

information about our collections available to the public online. As part of the 

Smithsonian's new Open Access Initiative, the Museum will continually expand the 

number of collections and digital assets freely available to the public for any use. 

There are now almost 6,500 images marked for open access. NASM open 

access items were viewed more than five million times and downloaded more than 

half a million times in FY 2021. NASM staff will continue to conduct audience 

research and evaluate the impact of their online collections content with virtual 

visitors, making iterative enhancements to improve the user experience. The 

Museum will also continue to share behind-the-scenes views of its transformation 

and panoramas inside famous aircraft and spacecraft, as well as pursue 

partnerships and digital storytelling efforts to engage a broader and more diverse 

audience. 

Exhibitions — In FY 2023, the Museum will continue to ensure stewardship 

of and access to its peerless collection of aerospace artifacts and archival 

materials, and to produce expert scholarship and research, while guiding the 

fabrication of new exhibitions at the NMB. These exhibits will offer a fresh 

interpretation of many stories that the artifacts represent. During 2023, NASM will 

finish installing eight new exhibits, including: The Wright Brothers; America by Air; 

46 
 

 

 

Early Flight; Thomas W. Haas We All Fly; A Nation of Speed; Exploring the Planets; 

Destination Moon; and One World Connected. Additionally, the Museum will feature 

a rotating exhibit in the Allan and Shelley Holt Innovations Gallery with the first 

exhibit being about climate change. NASM is also finishing up the designs and 

starting fabrication for 10 new exhibitions, including the space exhibitions, At Home 

in Space; Discovering Our Universe; Living in the Space Age; and the Future in 

Space, as well as the interactive science gallery exhibit Textron How Things Fly, 

and the military aviation exhibits for World War I, World War II, and Modern Military 

Aviation. The Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery will feature the famous Spirit 

of St. Louis airplane that Charles Lindbergh piloted in the first solo flight across the 

Atlantic Ocean. 

Collections — NASM is enhancing collaboration with private collectors and 

other Smithsonian museums by requesting loans of key artifacts to share with the 

public in new exhibits on the inspiring stories of America’s role in pioneering

aeronautics and space exploration. NASM has also refined tools and processes 

to coordinate loan transactions in support of the Museum’s transformation, which 

will make the loan program more effective in the future. Other accomplishments 

in this area in FY 2021 saw the addition of a major aircraft acquisition, a Blue 

Angels F-18C Hornet, to the NASM collections. 

Artifact logistics is one of the biggest challenges throughout the 

revitalization of the NMB and transformation of NASM exhibits. Approximately 

3,300 objects will be re-installed into the Museum as part of the transformation, 

including many artifacts not currently on display at the NMB. Of the artifacts 

present in the NMB, approximately 1,300 are not coming back into the building. 

Some will go into long-term storage in the new Dulles Collections Center Storage 

Module while others will be exhibited at UHC or loaned to other museums. 

Most of the artifacts will require some type of preservation or conservation 

and the collections staff has estimated how long the treatment times will be for 

each artifact. The total treatment of all the artifacts is estimated to take 

approximately 15,000 workdays, including conservation and preservation. This 

work is progressing with hundreds of artifacts already moved, treated, or in 

treatment. For example, the Wright Military Flyer was relocated from the NMB to 

the UHC for extensive cleaning and conservation before its return to the NMB. 

In addition, NASM will continue the relocation of artifacts from the outdated, 

inadequate storage facilities at the Garber facility to UHC. In FY 2021 the Museum 

staff relocated 112 medium and 2,276 small artifacts from the Paul E. Garber 

facility to the UHC. 

Facilities — The Smithsonian is using the Dulles Collections Center 

adjacent to the UHC as a swing space for storing artifacts from the NMB as the 

Museum undergoes renovations. After completion of the NMB revitalization, this 

storage module will support the continued move of artifacts from the Garber facility 

but is only the first of five such buildings required to provide enough space to store 

47 
all the artifacts remaining at the Garber facility. Accordingly, NASM will begin 

designing a second storage module project in FY2023. 

In the meantime, FY 2022 will see continued progress on the NMB 

revitalization effort, beginning with the deinstallation of artifacts and the assumption 

of renovation activities in east half of the NMB. In mid-FY2022, staff currently with 

workspaces in the east half of the NMB will relocate into renovated spaces in the 

west half of the building. 

Scientific Research — To achieve the strategic goal of Enhanced 

Interdisciplinary Research, NASM’s Center for Earth and Planetary Studies 

(CEPS) conducts original research related to planetary exploration, with an 

emphasis on the evolution of solid surfaces throughout the solar system. The 

CEPS also curates galleries and offers public programs in the planetary 

sciences. NASM scientists currently work as science team members for the Mars 

Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Express, Curiosity Mars rover, InSight Mars 

lander, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE), and 

the Europa Clipper, and Dragonfly missions. NASM scientists analyze the data 

from these and other missions to solar system bodies and convey this exciting 

information to the public. Original research and publications in scientific literature 

concentrate on the National Research Council and NASA priorities to determine 

the origin of solar system bodies and habitable planets, with an emphasis on the 

past climate of Mars and icy moons with subsurface water in the outer solar 

system. CEPS scientists were recognized for their work related to the NASA 

Mars InSight Mission, with John Grant and Sharon Purdy receiving a Group 

Achievement Award for excellence in developing the process to identify and 

select locations to place instruments on the surface of Mars as part of the 

Instrument Site Selection Working Group. Mariah Baker received a certificate of 

achievement as part of the Solar Array Cleaning Team. 

Historical Research — NASM continues to lead in the field of recording 

aerospace history by producing books, scholarly articles, and other publications, 

and by making presentations at professional conferences on the history of 

aerospace technology, aviation, aerodynamics, spaceflight, space sciences, and 

aviation and space art. Based on their research and expertise, the Museum’s 

archives and curatorial staff will continue to evaluate potential acquisitions for the 

national collections and respond to public inquiries. NASM will also continue to 

upgrade exhibitions dealing with aviation and spaceflight, thereby ensuring that 

current materials remain available to the public. 

Curators across NASM continue to produce an average of more than 50 

publications each year, many award-winning. For example, the book Hypersonic 

and High-Temperature Gas Dynamics, by curator John D. Anderson, won the 2021 

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Summerfield Book Award. 

Other significant publications by NASM scholars in FY 2021 included Operation 

Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo, by Teasel Muir-Harmony, and the 

Arabic translation of Spaceflight: A Concise History (Rihalat Alfadaa: Tarikh 

Mujaz), by Michael Neufeld. Curators also contributed to edited volumes, including 

48 
Cathleen Lewis and Michael Neufeld in Militarizing Outer Space: Astroculture, 

Dystopia and the Cold War; Jeremy Kinney in Aviation in the Literature and Culture 

of Interwar Britain; and Teasel Muir-Harmony in Antarctic Resolution. NASM 

historical research also appeared in important journals, including curator James 

David’s article in Quest: The History of Spaceflight Quarterly and American 

Women’s History Initiative curator Emily Margolis’s work in The European Journal 

of American Culture. 

Digital, Social Media, and Media Outreach ̶The Museum continues to 

expand its use of digital and social media outreach to share educational, 

collections and research information with the public and encourage their 

engagement with online assets, as well as to visit NASM and participate in its 

programs and events. Across all platforms, the number of Museum followers 

increased by more than 14 percent in FY2021, with average engagement per post 

increasing by more than 30 percent. Website visits topped 11 million. In FY2022, 

the Museum will use more analytic data to deliver targeted content to students, 

teachers and other key audiences to ensure they have access to NASM’s 

educational resources and provide timely information on visitation and programs. 

The Museum also engages consistently with local, national and international 

media to ensure potential visitors are aware of the collections, educational 

offerings, research findings and NASM events. During FY 2020, those efforts 

generated more than 15,000 print and online stories with a potential audience of 

more than 30 billion people. 

Management — NASM will advance the strategic goal of Enabling CostEffective and Responsive Administration by following the strategic plan to ensure 

the Museum is positioned to make the most out of opportunities resulting from 

revitalizing and transforming the NMB. NASM also continues to pursue the goals of 

the Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) strategic implementation 

plan to ensure that the Museum reflects the population of the United States and 

the world. To assist with these efforts, NASM has chartered an n Employee 

Resource Group (ERG) to give a voice to employees and enlist them as partners in 

our DEAI efforts. The ERG has supported several actions identified in the DEAI 

implementation plan and helped host regular “Learn and Connect” brown bag

events that are open to all staff. Recruitment and hiring practices have also been 

reviewed and improvements made to ensure that hiring panels are diverse and 

interviews include DEAI-related questions. NASM continues working to widen 

candidate searches to include under-served populations. 

Recognizing that the nature of work and the notion of worksite have been 

altered due to the COVID-19 pandemic, NASM is making plans to institute 

permanent changes in how the Museum conducts business. The plans include 

enabling senior leadership to manage the return of more staff on-site while 

instituting enhanced telework as a future staffing model. 

49 
 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $1,236,000. The 

request includes an increase of $828,000 for necessary pay and other related 

salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item, and a programmatic 

increase of 3 FTEs and $408,000 for digital support and visitor engagement. 

Digital Support (+$270,000, +2 FTEs) 

This budget request includes an increase of $270,000 and 2 FTEs to hire 

audio visual and information technology (IT) staff. Due to building closures required 

by the COVID-19 pandemic, NASM made a significant pivot to digital programming 

and needs specialized technical support for those efforts. The audio visual and IT 

staff will cover these increased requirements and maintain the necessary 

equipment for digital programming in the Museum. 

Visitor Engagement (+$138,000, +1 FTE) 

This budget request also includes an increase of $138,000 and 1 FTE to 

hire a data management evaluator. NASM supports adopting a standard process 

of audience research and evidence-based decision making to assess exhibits, 

digital offerings, programs, and Museum operations. This evaluator will oversee 

data collection and management, analysis, and interpretation. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support research, 

education, exhibitions, and fundraising, including salaries and benefits. 

Donor/sponsor-designated funds support costs related to specific programs and 

projects. A $250 million campaign to support the transformation of the NMB and 

the reimagination of the 23 exhibits and presentation spaces is underway, with 

$240 million already secured. The Museum received the largest gift since the 

Smithsonian’s founding when Jeff Bezos donated $200 million, approximately $70 

million of which will fund part of the transformation efforts (included in the $240 

million shown above). The remainder of the Bezos gift, $130 million, will fund 

education programs and the building of the Bezos Learning Center. Private support 

is also used to fund educational initiatives and public programs, as well as to apply 

for Government grants and contracts which support research and other scientific 

activities. The extended closures of the NMB and the UHC due to the COVID-19 

pandemic have significantly reduced NASM’s revenue and will impair programming 

and operations at the Museum for years to come. 

50 
 

SMITHSONIAN ASTROPHYSICAL OBSERVATORY 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED GOV’T GRANTS INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 88 25,226 93 21,003 8 5,796 237 80,573 1 223 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 88 25,733 91 22,211 8 5,375 237 80,573 1 230 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 88 26,412 91 22,211 8 5,375 237 80,573 1 230 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The mission of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) is to 

advance the public’s knowledge and understanding of the universe through research 

and education in astronomy and astrophysics. The secondary mission is to be of 

service to the national and international astronomical communities, and to society in 

general, in areas associated with our primary mission. 

SAO has an extraordinary 

record in developing and successfully 

implementing large, complex, and 

innovative observational and 

theoretical research projects. 

Additionally, SAO carries out 

investigative research performed by 

individual researchers and small 

groups. This broad range of activities 

creates the distinctive, fertile research 

environment that drives SAO’s 

success and makes it a recognized 

global leader in astrophysics. 

No event better illustrates the 

strength of SAO’s science than the 

extraordinary image of a 

supermassive black hole caught by 

the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) 

in April of 2019 (followed up in 

March of 2021 with a surprising 

detection of polarization in the image). This iconic picture is probably the most viewed 

scientific image in history. The EHT team was led by SAO astronomer Dr. Sheperd 

Doeleman and many of the key sub-elements were led by junior scientists at SAO. 

Hundreds of researchers from the United States, Europe, and Asia contributed to this 

51 
project under SAO’s leadership. Doeleman now leads the Next Generation EHT 

project, which will greatly expand the telescope’s capabilities. 

SAO’s work directly supports the Smithsonian Strategic Plan goal to “Drive large, 

visionary, interdisciplinary research and scholarly projects.” SAO contributes to the Grand 

Challenge of “Unlocking the Mysteries of the Universe” by advancing ‘knowledge at the 

forefront of understanding the universe.”

Founded in 1890, SAO is the largest and most diverse astrophysical research 

institution in the world. SAO has helped develop some of the world’s most sophisticated 

astronomical instruments, with high resolution at wavelengths across the electromagnetic 

spectrum. Alone, and in powerful partnerships with the National Science Foundation 

(NSF), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and the Department of 

Energy, it has pioneered the development of orbiting observatories and large, groundbased telescopes; the application of computers to study astrophysical problems; and the 

integration of laboratory measurements and theoretical astrophysics. Observational data 

are gathered at SAO’s premier facilities: the Submillimeter Array (SMA) in Hawaii; the 6.5-

meter-diameter Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) and the Very Energetic Radiation 

Imaging Telescope Array System (VERITAS) in Arizona; as well as the specialized 

telescopes at the Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory. SAO also conducts research with 

a broad range of powerful instruments aboard rockets, balloons, and spacecraft (most 

notably, the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, and the Parker 

Solar Probe); and at locations as diverse as the high plateaus of northern Chile and the 

Amundsen South Pole Station. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, SAO 

collaborates with the Harvard College Observatory to form the Center for 

AstrophysicsHarvard and Smithsonian. 

For decades, SAO astronomers and their colleagues have made revolutionary 

discoveries which have changed our fundamental understanding of the universe and our 

place in it. We have discovered and examined planets in orbits around other stars, 

watched as new stars are born, and discovered bizarre remnants of dead stars that emit 

vast quantities of x-rays. We have determined that the universe is 13.7 billion years old, 

and that it is populated with billions of galaxies, most of which have supermassive black 

holes at their centers. In addition, we have found convincing evidence that most of the 

matter in the universe is an unexpected mixture of some kind of unseen “dark matter,” with 

normal matter making up less than four percent of the total; and that the expansion of the 

universe is apparently accelerating, driven by a mysterious and invisible “dark energy.” At

the same time, SAO astronomers conduct the vital basic research that seeks to explain the 

sun and its x-ray-emitting corona, the nature of our solar system, the abundant elements in 

our Milky Way Galaxy, the gas and dust between the stars, the formation and evolution of 

galaxies, and the large-scale structure of the universe. Today, SAO continues to use 

advanced technologies to make new discoveries which will tell a coherent story of the 

cosmos from the Big Bang to the origins of life on Earth. 

SAO’s research is unique and world-renowned because of the strength and 

diversity of its observers, theorists, instrument developers, engineers, and laboratory 

scientists, and because SAO emphasizes multiple strategies which draw from the 

52 
strengths of both small projects and large research centers. Indeed, SAO’s extraordinary 

research success is partly the result of the rich cross-fertilization among its outstanding 

scholars in a climate that nurtures collaborative excellence and the sharing of ideas. 

SAO’s pre-eminence is underscored by the prominent role its scientists take in 

the consideration and establishment of national policy for astrophysics. For instance, 

SAO scientists participated broadly in the National Academies of Science Decadal 

Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics as members of science definition teams and 

topical panels. In addition, SAO offers key advice and reviews to NASA for the recently 

launched James Webb Space Telescope that reached its parking orbit at Lagrange 

point 2, almost a million miles from Earth, in late January of 2022. Continued federal 

support makes this leadership possible. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $679,000 for necessary pay 

and other related salary costs. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

To achieve the goal of Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research, SAO scientists will 

make optimal use of various astronomical facilities, including the ground-based optical and 

radio telescopes owned and operated by SAO in Arizona and Hawaii, and space-based 

telescopes, most notably the Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is operated by SAO on 

behalf of NASA. SAO scientists also have research privileges at the two 6.5-meter 

Magellan telescopes in northern Chile (because of SAO’s partnership with the Harvard 

College Observatory). In addition, SAO scientists and engineers are leading the science 

operations team and using the VERITAS telescope in southern Arizona to carry out a vital 

scientific research program in very high-energy astrophysics. These facilities enable SAO 

scientists to make substantial progress in answering basic questions about the origin and 

nature of the universe, including efforts to understand more about dark energy and dark 

matter, as well as questions about the formation and evolution of the Earth and similar 

planets. In addition, SAO scientists will continue their work on future space missions, 

collaborating with NASA and its research centers on missions to study the sun, the x-ray 

universe, and the outer solar system. 

SAO scientists are taking the lead in expanding the international EHT, which draws 

radio telescopes around the globe into one worldwide network, including SAO’s critically 

important SMA, to operate as one gigantic radio observatory to study the physics of the 

supermassive black holes at the centers of two galaxies: our own Milky Way and the giant 

galaxy M87. SAO now leads the Next Generation EHT project and continues to be the 

most significant contributor to that first-generation telescope. 

SAO is also collaborating with Taiwan’s Academia Sinica, Institute of Astronomy 

and Astrophysics, to establish radio observatories in Greenland. A 12-meter-diameter 

telescope was delivered to Thule in 2016 and came online in 2018. Plans are being 

developed to include a 3-meter dish at Summit Station, the NSF’s site high on the ice 

plateau. These additional capabilities will play a crucial role in enabling new, more 

53 
detailed EHT observations of M87 which can produce a “black-hole cinema” to help us 

better understand such phenomena. 

The Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics (2021) has endorsed SAO’s 

two largest strategic priorities: the development of an extremely large, ground-based 

telescope and the maturation of technologies for new NASA Great Observatories, for 

which x-ray instrumentation is a leading contender. SAO scientists and engineers are 

leading the development of new techniques and instrumentation for these priorities. SAO 

scientists and engineers also took the lead in designing critical elements of the Giant 

Magellan Telescope’s (GMT) wavefront control system that allows the seven huge mirrors 

to work as a single optical element. SAO continues to lead in the design and development 

of the first instrument that will be installed on the GMT: the GMT-Consortium Large Earth 

Finder (G-CLEF), which will enable astronomers to detect signs of life on planets orbiting 

nearby stars. In addition, SAO led the science and technology definition team for NASA’s 

next generation x-ray mission. 

Furthermore, the SAO team now operates a major instrument on NASA’s Parker 

Solar Probe mission. The Solar Wind Electrons, Alphas and Protons (SWEAP) is the only 

instrument on this mission that looks directly at the sun as the spacecraft approaches our 

own star closer than any previous scientific instrument. The Parker Solar Probe was 

launched from Cape Canaveral on August 12, 2018, and “touched the sun” for the first 

time in 2021. 

SAO scientists take a leadership role in astrophysics by participating in or hosting 

national and international conferences (e.g., the American Astronomical Society, the 

International Astronomical Union, and the Astronomical Data Analysis Software and 

Systems conference series), by participating as keynote and/or invited speakers at such 

meetings, and by serving on a diverse range of astronomical and astrophysical review 

panels. SAO scientists will also continue to publish in leading peer-reviewed journals, such 

as the Astrophysical Journal, the Astronomical Journal, and Astronomy & Astrophysics. In 

addition, SAO developed and operates the Astrophysics Data System, which is recognized 

as a world leader in the dissemination of scientific literature about the cosmos. 

SAO will achieve the strategic goal to Understand and Impact 21st Century 

Audiences by delivering educational services and products rooted in SAO research to 

meet the educational needs of the nation’s learners of all ages. This sustained outreach 

effort gives SAO increased publicity and recognition. 

The strategic goal of Enabling Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration will be 

achieved by making SAO’s information technology (IT) infrastructure robust, reliable, and 

secure; maintaining a cooperative environment through communication and activities 

which underscore SAO’s special mission and each staff member’s contribution to its 

success; evaluating managers and supervisors on their compliance with applicable equal 

opportunity laws, rules, and regulations, and on the effectiveness of their efforts to achieve 

a diverse workforce; and facilitating the use of small, minority, women-owned, and other 

underused businesses in SAO’s procurement operations and business relationships to the 

54 
maximum extent practicable. These proven management tools will continue to support and 

enhance SAO’s scientific and educational missions. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds come primarily from 

overhead charged on grants and contracts. SAO uses these funds to support 

administrative functions approved in the Indirect Cost Proposal submitted to the 

Department of the Interior, as required by 2 Code of Federal Regulations 200, Uniform 

Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal 

Awards. Donor/sponsor-designated funds come primarily from restricted gifts from 

individuals, foundations, and corporations, which are earmarked for specific purposes; 

restricted endowment funds; and non-Governmental grants and contracts. Government 

grants and contracts come from Government agencies for research in areas of SAO’s 

expertise. SAO often conducts this research in cooperation with governmental, academic, 

and research institutions in the United States and abroad. 

55 
MAJOR SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTATION 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL TRUST DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS & 

CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 0 4,118 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 0 4,118 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 0 4,118 0 0 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s (SAO) work directly supports the 

Smithsonian Strategic Plan’s goal to “Drive large, visionary, interdisciplinary research and 

scholarly projects.” SAO contributes to advancing knowledge and is at the forefront of 

understanding the universe. 

The Smithsonian uses its no-year funding from the Major Scientific Instrumentation 

(MSI) line item to develop large-scale instrumentation projects with advanced 

technologies that enable scientists at SAO to remain at the forefront of astronomy and 

astrophysics research. The Smithsonian’s criteria for proposing and selecting MSI 

projects are: 1) the instrumentation will enable compelling scientific advances that would 

not otherwise occur (either at SAO or anywhere else in the world) for some time to come; 

2) the instrumentation is novel and technically advanced, and would not be developed 

without SAO’s significant contribution; and 3) the science enabled by the innovative 

instruments significantly advances the Smithsonian Institution’s Strategic Plan. The

fundamental role for federal appropriations is to support the basic scientific infrastructure 

that enables SAO to conduct research, compete for external grants and funding, publish 

articles in peer-reviewed journals, and inform the public about the latest scientific 

discoveries in an exciting and compelling manner. Because of the magnitude of the costs 

involved and the time required to fabricate major new instruments and reconfigure 

existing ones, the Institution requests that MSI funds for these projects be kept available 

until they are spent. 

Innovative instrumentation has enabled Smithsonian astronomers to make 

fundamental discoveries about the universe. Today, SAO scientists use advanced 

technologies to tell a coherent story of the cosmos from the Big Bang to the origins of life 

on Earth. MSI funds are used to meet this objective. 

Three SAO projects are included in the FY 2023 MSI line item: the Greenland 

Telescope; the Submillimeter Telescope Array (SMA) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii; and the 

advanced telescope instrumentation for the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) and the 

56 
Magellan Clay Telescope, both located at the Las Campanas Observatory in northern 

Chile. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

SAO’s mission is to engage in astrophysical research and discovery. Observational 

astrophysics is the basic science responsible for understanding the universe and its 

components beyond Earth. SAO has made leading contributions to many key discoveries 

in astrophysics, including: 1) the remarkable discovery that the expansion of the universe 

is accelerating; 2) the discovery of enormous filamentary patterns traced by galaxies in 

the universe; 3) the most compelling demonstration of the existence of supermassive 

black holes at the centers of most galaxies; 4) the discovery of very high-energy gamma 

rays; 5) the most convincing observational evidence for the existence of dark matter; 6) 

the discovery of planets orbiting other stars; and 7) the spectacular image of the 

supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy M87, released by the SAO-led Event 

Horizon Telescope (EHT) team. SAO scientists contributed to these discoveries by using 

key facilities that enable observations in several different bands of the electromagnetic 

spectrum (i.e., the broad range of light that is emitted by shining objects in the universe). 

These contributions have put SAO in the forefront of this generation of astronomers and 

astrophysicists. 

SAO’s pre-eminence is underscored by the prominent role its scientists take in the 

consideration and establishment of national policy for astrophysics. SAO scientists 

participated in the National Academies of Science Decadal Survey of Astronomy and 

Astrophysics as members of science definition teams and topical panels. SAO also offers 

key advice and reviews to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for 

the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope. 

SAO’s strength in observational astrophysics depends on its major ground-based 

facilities, the SMA, the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT), the GMT (under development), 

and the NASA space-based facilities, including the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the 

Spitzer Space Telescope, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, and the Parker Solar Probe. 

Access to both ground- and space-based observatories enables SAO scientists to 

conduct research that would be impossible with either type of observatory alone. SAO’s

future strength in ground-based observational astrophysics depends entirely on equipping 

the SMA, the Greenland Telescope, and its optical telescopes with powerful new 

instruments. This leadership, in turn, depends on developing specialized instruments and 

facilities which do not yet exist. A team of talented scientists and engineers must develop 

these tools with support from multi-year MSI funding. Continued federal support makes 

this leadership possible. 

Greenland Telescope ($500,000) 

The Greenland Telescope, currently located in Thule, Greenland at the United 

States Air Force Base, was originally a National Science Foundation (NSF) prototype for 

the Atacama Large Millimeter Array (ALMA). It was transferred to SAO from NSF 

57 
Astronomy and has been retrofitted for cold-weather operation by SAO’s partner 

institution, the Academia Sinica Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics (ASIAA) in 

Taiwan. These investments by NSF and our Taiwanese collaborators are greatly 

enhanced by the SAO contribution, and the Smithsonian considers this an excellent 

opportunity to capitalize on a highly leveraged use of federal funds with high-value 

science returns on the investment. 

The Greenland Telescope serves as the critical northernmost node of the EHT 

network, operated jointly with SAO’s SMA (in Hawaii), the international ALMA telescope 

array (in Chile), and other telescopes, to make unprecedented observations of the event 

horizon of the supermassive black hole at the heart of the giant galaxy M87. This will 

complement the southern hemisphere observations made of the supermassive black hole 

at the center of our own Milky Way Galaxy. The combination of these observations will 

revolutionize our understanding of gravity where it is at its strongest, the very edges of 

black holes, and provide pioneering data for astronomers and physicists at SAO and 

around the world. The telescope will continue to be a key resource for new observations 

of the galaxy M87. 

SAO has worked with the NSF Division of Polar Programs to identify a high, dry, 

northern site on the Greenland ice sheet as the ideal place for high-frequency radio 

astronomical observations that require excellent atmospheric transmission and 

exceptional atmospheric stability. The NSF is redeveloping the Greenland Summit Station 

to better conduct this research. 

Submillimeter Telescope Array ($1,617,900) 

The SMA is a pathfinder telescope operating between radio and infrared 

wavelengths and has a major role in exploring the cool universe. In recent years, scientific 

studies have continued to focus on the study of the distant universe, planet-forming disks, 

and star formation. SAO scientists and engineers are dramatically improving the 

sensitivity of the SMA and enabling new wideband capabilities, which, for example, can 

obtain molecular inventories of star-forming regions to shed light on the origin of complex 

organic molecules. 

Continued improvement to the SMA’s sensitivity, imaging, and studies of transient 

phenomena depend on upgrading the telescope instrumentation that receives and 

processes the incoming signals using innovative technologies. The upgrades highly 

leverage the infrastructure investment in the antennas and the site. 

The SMA is also a key element of the EHT, as discussed above. 

With continued MSI funding, SAO is building and testing new wideband receiver 

sets in its labs in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Once all eight SMA antennas have been 

equipped with the new receiver sets, the sensitivity of the SMA will be increased by more 

than a factor of 20 since the SMA was first commissioned nearly two decades ago. Its 

instantaneous frequency coverage will be wider than that of any other radio telescope. 

58 
Advanced Telescope Instrumentation for the Optical Telescopes ($2,000,100) 

SAO’s expertise in building large and powerful instruments is a crucial capability in

this era of extremely large telescopes. Continued MSI funding will enable SAO to conduct 

this research and maintain the United States’ lead in this important scientific field. 

The GMT is being developed by SAO in partnership with 10 other research 

institutions in the United States, Australia, Brazil, and South Korea. When the GMT starts 

scientific operations in 2029, it will be the largest optical telescope in the world, with a 

24.5-meter (83-foot)-diameter primary mirror. This larger aperture will allow SAO to peer 

back in time and explore the earliest phases of the known universe, and to take much 

sharper images than those obtainable with the Hubble Space Telescope or the recently 

launched James Webb Space Telescope. 

SAO leads the design, development, and manufacture of the first scientific 

instrument that will be used with the GMT — the GMT- Consortium Large Earth Finder 

(or G-CLEF). G-CLEF will be used to search for planets that are “Earth Twins” orbiting

other stars, and to hunt for evidence of life on those planets. G-CLEF is the only 

instrument in development for the coming generation of extremely large telescopes which 

can detect signs of biological activity (life) in exoplanet atmospheres. 

The MMT, a joint project of SAO and the University of Arizona, dedicated in 1979, 

was originally made up of six identical 1.8-meter telescopes in a single altitude-azimuth 

(naval-gun-type) mount. In the 1990s, SAO and the University of Arizona replaced the six 

smaller mirrors of the original MMT with a single mirror 6.5 meters in diameter. This large 

mirror more than doubled the light-gathering capacity of the telescope, and a set of large 

corrector lenses, built with MSI funding, has since increased its field of view 400 times. 

The converted MMT is an extremely powerful telescope but requires sophisticated 

instruments to analyze the light it collects. To this end, SAO has built increasingly 

sensitive instruments to exploit the MMT’s potential, starting with Megacam in 2003 and 

continuing with the Binospec instrument commissioned in FY 2019. 

Binospec is a “game-changer,” enabling the MMT to compete on an equal footing 

with the largest telescopes in the world. Binospec’s huge light grasp enables SAO 

scientists to carry out pioneering explorations of the structure and evolution of galaxies, 

the structure of the Milky Way, and the nature of dark matter and dark energy. Binospec’s 

nimbleness in moving between spectroscopy and imaging allows Smithsonian scientists 

to lead in observing transient events, such as supernova explosions and gamma-ray 

bursts, to map the geometry of the universe, and accurately detect objects at the farthest 

reaches of the cosmos. The scientific opportunities made possible by Binospec are 

attracting the next generation of astrophysicists who will exploit the power of the 

telescope for the next 20 to 30 years. 

The MMT is a superb platform on which to develop innovative technologies for the 

new generation of extremely large telescopes such as the GMT. In addition to work on G59 
CLEF, SAO scientists are developing a novel instrument that is designed specifically to 

enhance G-CLEF’s ability to detect breathable diatomic oxygen in exoplanet 

atmospheres. Breathable oxygen is the strongest indicator of life on an exoplanet. A 

small, prototype instrument is being built for operation on the MMT to validate and 

optimize the underlying concept before a similar GMT-scale instrument is constructed. 

In FY 2023, MSI funds will be used to continue designing G-CLEF and develop 

prototypes of the high-risk subsystems needed to use the instrument to its full potential. 

MSI funds will also be used to evaluate the potential for installing G-CLEF on the 6.5-

meter Magellan Clay Telescope, located near the GMT site in Chile, to test the instrument 

while the GMT is still being built, and to exploit G-CLEF scientifically for several years on 

the Clay Telescope. SAO’s ability to use the Clay Telescope for this purpose is facilitated 

by its partnership with the Harvard College Observatory. 

60 
 

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T 

GRANTS INTERAGENCY 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 274 51,551 13 2,717 55 11,961 6 1,712 9 966 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 277 53,435 19 3,650 50 12,650 9 2,100 8 970 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 277 55,239 21 4,450 52 13,144 8 2,500 8 1,000 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The mission of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) is to 

understand the natural world and our place in it. We seek to inspire curiosity, 

discovery, and learning about nature and culture through outstanding research, 

collections, exhibitions, and education. 

Building upon our unique and vast collections and associated data, field 

research stations, specialized laboratories, and an internationally recognized team of 

science researchers, the Museum and the knowledge it generates serve a wide 

range of constituencies from federal agencies to the public. 

The Museum’s scientific research focuses broadly on discovering, 

documenting, and understanding biodiversity; studying the formation and evolution of 

the Earth and other planets; exploring human diversity and cultural change; and 

investigating evolutionary patterns and processes throughout the history of life on 

Earth. This research is closely linked to important societal issues such as global 

climate change, biodiversity loss, cultural conflict, environmental justice, invasive 

species, and natural hazards. 

NMNH science has worldwide impact and is often cited by the greater 

scientific community. Our researchers discover new species and document and 

analyze how species arise, evolve, persist, diversify, and interact with each other and 

with the environment, as well as how they migrate and go extinct. Our Earth and 

planetary scientists contribute to our understanding of our world’s history as well as 

the effects of geologic and meteoritic phenomena on Earth’s atmosphere and 

biosphere. They study the dynamic planet we inhabit in all its aspects, from its 

surface to its core. NMNH anthropologists use collections and field-based studies to 

help understand the continually evolving story of our species and our interactions with 

other life and with the planet. Our Museum’s staff also translates science to society 

through their diverse and dedicated outreach efforts and invests heavily in training 

and mentoring the next generation of new scientists. 

61 
Our physical collection, consisting of more than 147 million specimens and 

objects, and our collections expertise are at the core of the Museum’s mission as well 

as fundamental to science. The scope and breadth of the NMNH collections provide a 

vast research infrastructure that supports the scientific mission. NMNH scientists 

work with their professional colleagues in the United States and around the world to 

further build and draw on these collections, make new discoveries, and test new 

theories. The NMNH collections also represent a valuable historical archive in their 

own right, as they document billions of years of planetary, geological, organismal, 

and cultural changes. As part of a larger Smithsonian initiative, the NMNH focuses on 

ethical uses of collections, particularly those related to humans, in light of current 

societal considerations and concerns about equity and respect for diverse cultures 

and traditions. 

The NMNH collections provide vital information and are a dynamic resource 

used by researchers, educators, and policy makers worldwide. They serve as 

essential reference materials for U.S. Government agencies. These resources are 

used by staff members for the Departments of Defense, Commerce, and Agriculture, 

who are housed in NMNH facilities. For example, tens of thousands of insects 

urgently requiring identification are sent to the Museum from U.S. ports of entry each 

year. Scientists at the Department of Agriculture and the NMNH consult the 

collections and rapidly provide identifications to border control agencies so that 

American agricultural and economic interests are kept secure from damage by 

potentially invasive species. The NMNH collections also serve repository functions for 

agencies such as the National Cancer Institute, the Department of the Interior, and 

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The FBI also uses the 

Museum’s human skeletal collections to assist in its criminal investigations. 

The NMNH’s first-class research and collections are at the heart of its 

exhibitions and educational outreach. As one of the most visited museums in the 

world prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NMNH provides diverse public audiences 

with presentations on every aspect of life on Earth. Through its many affiliations and 

partnerships, the NMNH takes its science exhibitions and public programs to other 

museums and non-traditional exhibition venues, such as libraries, parks, schools, and 

universities across the country. With a growing body of digital data, network of 

interactive websites (which host more than 12 million unique visitors annually), 

distance-learning experiences, and social media, the Museum is transforming itself 

into a true digital classroom that is accessible to everyone — free of charge. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $1,804,000 for 

necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this 

line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

During the next four years, the Museum will implement its new strategic plan 

— Our World, Our Future. At the heart of this plan is a recognition that the NMNH has 

a central role to play in tackling some of the biggest issues of our time by using its 

research, outreach, and collective efforts to inspire and train the next generation of 

62 
natural history scientists. Through this effort, the NMNH will align itself with the 

broader Smithsonian objectives of embracing the Museum’s potential as a convener 

of national and international conversations, reaching Americans in their own 

communities through a more visible digital presence, and seizing opportunities to 

partner with other Smithsonian units to maximize our collective impact on the public. 

The plan is centered around the following four “Big Idea” initiatives which will 

be supported with a combination of federal and privately raised funding: 

• Our Unique Planet will combine our Earth science assets and a NASA mission 

to understand the origin of the Earth’s oceans, continents, and the geologic 

conditions that allowed for the evolution of life on our planet. 

• The Ocean Science Center will consolidate the Museum’s vast marine portfolio 

and create an array of new tools, techniques, and collections to measure 

marine biodiversity more accurately and rapidly. 

• Our World will be an immersive Museum experience that uses big data and 

stunning visualizations to drive home the reality, impact, and urgency of the 

climate and biodiversity crises we face while focusing on success stories to 

help visitors understand the possibility of contributing to positive outcomes. 

• The Inclusive Science Initiative will focus on youth from underserved 

communities and under-represented groups and train them to be the next 

generation of scientists and science-savvy citizens. 

On this last point, the NMNH has a long history of training future scientists. In 

FY 2023, the Museum will continue combining federal and private funding to invest in 

the next generation of scientists and researchers, with an emphasis on opportunities 

for individuals from diverse backgrounds. Through the Museum’s academic 

programs, the NMNH will continue to create a staircase of academic opportunity to 

mentor the next generation of museum scientists and professionals. These programs 

take students and young professionals from the early stages of scientific exploration 

in high school to the postdoctoral peak of stepping into the role of being professional 

researchers, by offering various Fellowship and internship programs for 

undergraduates, graduates, and postgraduates. 

An essential element of the NMNH’s plans to achieve the strategic goal of 

Preserving Our Natural and Cultural Heritage in FY 2023 is the Museum’s 

commitment to the stewardship of its federal scientific collections. These resources 

play an important role in public health and safety, homeland security, trade and 

economic development, medical research, and environmental monitoring. They also 

provide the foundation for the Museum’s diverse research, exhibits, and public 

outreach programs. The NMNH will continue its strong commitment to cutting-edge 

research and state-of-the-art stewardship of the collections, in partnership with 

affiliated federal agencies such as the Departments of Defense, Commerce, 

Agriculture, and the Interior. Significantly, federal funding is the linchpin for 

63 
maintaining and preserving these priceless collections and their valuable information 

for future generations, while also supporting their use for ongoing research. 

The Museum’s collections are the bedrock of its scientific enterprise. That is 

why the scientific research staff is organized into seven departments: anthropology; 

botany; entomology; mineral sciences; invertebrate zoology; paleobiology; and 

vertebrate zoology. NMNH programs address current topics, such as biological 

diversity, global climate change, molecular systematics to better understand the 

relationships between living things, ecosystem modeling, and the documentation and 

preservation of human cultural heritages. In 2022, the Museum’s scientific staff 

authored more than 720 scholarly publications. On an annual basis, they typically 

contribute to the discovery and description of hundreds of species new to science. 

In FY 2023, the NMNH will continue using federal funds to achieve the 

strategic goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences by 

maintaining and upgrading permanent exhibitions, replacing outdated exhibits with 

multi-disciplinary, interactive exhibitions on the Mall, improving public access to the 

Museum’s resources through traveling exhibits, and expanding our digital reach 

across the country. 

The COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting closure of the Museum to the 

public required significant adjustments to the special exhibits calendar, but the NMNH 

has since welcomed visitors back with a full offering of exhibitions and collections on 

display. 

The Museum’s timely exhibition Outbreak: Epidemics in a Connected World 

(on view into late 2022) continues to be popular with the NMNH’s audiences and 

members of the global health community. Support for the exhibit and an extensive 

slate of related programming has come from many agencies, including the Centers 

for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Foundation for Infectious 

Diseases, as well as foundations and individuals. When the NMNH reopened, visitors 

found the Outbreak exhibit had been updated with current information on the COVID19 pandemic and vaccination efforts. The print-on-demand poster version of the 

exhibit, Outbreak DIY, is carrying crucial messages on human, animal, and 

environmental health to schools, libraries, clinics, and other locations around the 

globe. As of December 2021, the Outbreak DIY exhibit has been displayed in more 

than 250 locations, in 40 countries, and 28 states, including Washington, DC and 

Puerto Rico, and is now available in 10 different languages. 

Unsettled Nature: Artists Respond to the Age of Humans will stay on display 

into the spring of 2022. This exhibition features eight artists who raise awareness of 

and encourage reflection on the role of humans in shaping Earth’s recent past, 

present, and future. With curatorial supervision from the Smithsonian American Art 

Museum, Unsettled Nature is an exhibition of innovative and thought-provoking art in 

a variety of media that sparks conversations about the current Anthropocene era and 

the issues raised by human activity on the planet. The exhibit is supported by the 

Windland Smith Rice Fund. 

64 
 

Also in 2022, the Museum’s exhibition Genome: Unlocking Life's Code returns 

after a successful national tour, with new information on human genetic research, 

including how genetic research aids the rapid development of vaccines. 

Following delays resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, work is now focused 

on three exhibitions scheduled to open in 2023. The Smithsonian Tropical Research 

Institute (STRI) is developing an exhibition and public programs to celebrate the 

centennial of the Barro Colorado research center in Panama, one of the world’s most 

significant areas for research in biodiversity. In the spring, the Museum will open 

Lights Out: Recovering Our Night Sky. Developed in conjunction with the 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory and with contributions from NASA, Lights Out 

will explore how the sight of the night sky — and its disappearance due to light 

pollution — affects all life on Earth, from natural ecosystems to human cultures. And 

in the summer of 2023, the Museum will launch the long-awaited exhibition 

Cellphone: Unseen Connections, a youth-oriented investigation into the oftensurprising connections between the natural world and the fastest-growing and most 

widespread technology in human history. 

In FY 2023, the NMNH will continue to inspire public appreciation of, and 

engagement with, science and the natural world through efforts in our education, 

outreach, and visitor experience programs. The Museum will initiate a phased 

reopening to on-site visitors that ensures safety for all. The NMNH will also continue 

to improve the accessibility of exhibits and programs and focus on reaching 

underserved audiences and visitors from under-represented communities. 

The NMNH will achieve the strategic goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st 

Century Audiences in FY 2023 by studying the effectiveness of its programs and 

activities and how they impact audiences, both at the Museum and nationwide. The 

studies will include evaluative as well as research-based inquiries which can inform 

learning about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) topics. The 

NMNH will also convene a national (virtual) conference of evaluators, researchers, and 

informal science educators as part of a multi-year project to measure the impacts of 

science programs and experiences within and across organizations as well as learners 

in and out of classrooms. 

Q?rius, The Coralyn W. Whitney Science Education Center — the 

Museum’s interactive STEM learning facility — brings NMNH research and 

collections to the forefront for visitors and learners. Q?rius programs inspire, 

nurture, grow, and diversify the next generation of STEM professionals by 

helping citizens become aware of their connection to current issues affecting the 

natural and cultural world. In FY 2023, the NMNH will launch a Web-based 

application for visitors’ phones that will give audiences greater control over their 

own learning experiences as they explore the collections within the Museum. 

In FY 2023, the NMNH will once again make the Museum’s science experts 

and collections available from behind the scenes and provide the public with 

opportunities to engage with scientists, their research, collections, and researchgrade scientific equipment. Programs such as “The Expert Is In” series, both online 

65 
and on site, will continue when the Museum can safely reopen. In addition, the 

Museum will host special online events and virtual festivals that bring the public and 

NMNH science experts together to focus on a specific area of natural history and 

science, such as Teen Earth Optimism, National Fossil Day, and World Ocean Day. 

Additional Museum outreach activities will include traveling exhibitions, distance 

learning, and in-depth, online resources for teachers and parents, including virtual K–12 

school programs, pre-K family programs, the award-winning Smithsonian Science How 

webinars for classrooms, online science summer “camps” for youth, the Ocean Portal and 

Human Origins websites, and the Encyclopedia of Life, as well as digitized collections and 

longstanding programs of lectures, films, and teacher support. 

These NMNH programs and resources will continue to inspire citizens by 

making them aware of current issues related to the natural and cultural world, helping 

them understand their role in addressing those issues, and providing experiences to 

inspire stewardship, conservation, and protection of natural and cultural diversity. In 

addition, Museum staff are building new youth audiences and increasing youth 

participation in a continuum of opportunities to inspire, nurture, grow, and diversify 

the next generation of STEM professionals. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support 

salaries and benefits of administrative personnel, advancement and business 

activities, and other program-related costs. The Museum raises funds from 

private sources to support research, exhibitions, public programs, and 

administrative functions. Donor/sponsor-designated funds are vital to support 

exhibition hall renovations and offer educational activities and programs. In 

addition, significant endowment gifts support internships and Fellowships which 

introduce more students to the natural sciences, underwrite field research, and 

help the Museum maintain and expand its educational programs. 

66 
 

NATIONAL ZOOLOGICAL PARK 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T 

GRANTS INTERAGENCY 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 199 32,221 34 9,288 42 10,595 6 1,133 2 20 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 203 33,655 38 10,489 40 10,425 6 1,100 1 99 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 204 35,388 38 11,723 40 10,283 6 580 1 117 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

In FY 2023, the Smithsonian’s National Zoological Park and Conservation 

Biology Institute (NZP/SCBI) will continue to implement its strategic plan (2020–2025), 

with the focus for FY 2023 as follows: 

• Enhance Animal Care, Safety and Sustainability 

The life, safety, and health of the animals in our care is core to the Zoo’s

mission of “saving species” and “sharing knowledge.” Federal funding is vital to 

fully and safely meet the costs for animal care, including new federal requirements 

and revolving Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) accreditation standards, 

the gold standards in zoological care. In short, federal funding is essential to meet 

the fundamental, minimal needs of caring for the animals in our collection —

resources that cannot be secured through philanthropy, grants, or partnerships. 

Costs of animal care, drugs and medicines, animal food, as well as the cost to 

maintain habitats or replace and repair equipment, generally increase faster than 

the annual rate of inflation. 

The health, well-being, and safety of both the animals and staff of NZP/SCBI 

are its highest priority. As the science of zoology and aquatic studies grows, so too do 

accepted standards or best practices for medical care, husbandry, animal welfare, and 

safety for Zoo animals. Zoological facilities must continually improve in all areas to 

keep up with rising standards and expectations from regulatory agencies as well as 

the visiting public. For example, AZA standards are updated annually and recent 

revisions have included additional requirements for safety monitoring in aquatic lifesupport equipment, more stringent management of animal emergency procedures, 

and safer elephant husbandry standards. 

In addition, new veterinary medical procedures, diagnostics, and testing require 

more equipment and expertise and breeding and research protocols designed to save 

endangered species from extinction require a cutting-edge, sophisticated 

67 
 

management approach to ensure the safety of both animals and staff. When every 

birth of an endangered animal may impact the survival of a species, new and laborintensive approaches are increasingly needed to provide the life-saving veterinary 

care, medication, and hand-rearing that literally mean the difference between life and 

death. 

As our understanding of animals’ social and behavioral needs increases, so too 

do the needs for the size and complexity of their living spaces. Maintaining appropriate 

animal habitats requires extensive investments in their environments to allow for more 

species-appropriate behaviors and social interactions. These requirements can be as 

complex as timed, elephant-proof hay feeders that provide randomized food access to 

enhance foraging and exercise in Asian elephants to specialized light bulbs that allow 

the Zoo’s amphibians access to the appropriate spectrum of light they would have in 

their natural habitat. 

Finally, the protocols and processes which enhance the safety of both the 

animals and the people who care for them are rapidly evolving and involve specialized 

equipment and additional staff to ensure best practices (for example, two-person rules 

for staff working with large, dangerous carnivores and lock-out/tag-out systems to 

ensure humans and dangerous animals never unintentionally share the same space). 

• Fortify and Focus Science, Animal Care, and Collections Management 

to Advance Species Conservation and Sustainability 

The NZP/SCBI is world-renowned for its efforts to research, care for, breed, 

and reintroduce some of the world’s most critically endangered species. More than 

360 species are exhibited at the Zoo’s Rock Creek Park campus, including giant 

pandas, Panamanian golden frogs, Sumatran tigers, and Asian elephants. One of the 

NZP/SCBI’s key contributions to ensuring the survival of endangered species is the 

work that occurs at the NZP/SCBI’s 3,200-acre site in Front Royal, Virginia. There, 

Zoo scientists study and breed more than 20 different species, including some that 

were once extinct in the wild, like black-footed ferrets. Both locations house and care 

for some of the world’s most endangered animals, such as kiwis, clouded leopards, 

red pandas, and cheetahs, among others. 

NZP/SCBI scientists and animal care experts collaborate with colleagues in 

more than 30 countries, working to identify solutions to threats facing endangered 

animal populations. Additionally, the Zoo’s staff set high standards within the zoo 

community for medical care, nutrition, husbandry, reproduction, and safety for Zoo 

animals that are adopted by zoos worldwide. The NZP/SCBI’s recent 

accomplishments range from enhancing the sustainability of the North American 

elephant population and improving safety for keepers of dangerous carnivores to 

understanding the specifics of cheetah reproduction and successfully reintroducing the 

scimitar-horned oryx to the wild in Chad. 

68 
In addition to groundbreaking science to save wildlife, Zoo scientists are 

developing new and advanced analytical tools to study and model how ecosystems 

and species interact with their environment and how these systems respond to global 

climate changes. For example, NZP/SCBI researchers are engaged in science to help 

preserve the northern great plains of North America and are involved in bison 

restoration and the reintroduction of the swift fox into the wild. 

• Strengthen Core Foundations of People, Places, and Fiscal Resources 

for Mission Success 

The Zoo experienced multiple closures and decreased visitation throughout 

FYs 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to causing a 

sustained period of reduced revenue, the pandemic also resulted in increased 

costs in essential animal care supplies (such as food and medicine), a need for 

additional keeper supplies (in the form of personal protective equipment), and 

more supplies to ensure public safety (by installing barriers and capacity monitors 

for buildings). 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $1,733,000, which will 

provide $1,133,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff 

funded under this line item, as well as a programmatic increase of $600,000 and 1 

FTEs for animal care and management. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The health, well-being, and safety of both the animals and staff of the 

NZP/SCBI are its highest priority. The Zoo is world-renowned for its efforts to 

research, breed, and reintroduce some of the world’s most critically endangered 

species, including the scimitar-horned oryx, Przewalski’s horse, the golden-lion 

tamarin, black-footed ferret, red-crowned cranes, and many others. Accepted 

standards or best industry practices for animal care, husbandry, veterinary medicine, 

and nutrition for Zoo animals are continually increasing. In addition, the safety 

standards for the animals, the staff who care for them, and the visiting public increase 

as well. Examples of AZA standards which have been recently updated include 

additional requirements for monitoring of equipment safety, animal emergency 

procedures, and elephant care standards. 

In addition to the effect of higher standards and best practices, new procedures 

to prevent transmission of zoonotic diseases (such as COVID-19) have increased the 

costs of caring for the animals (because of the need for medicine, testing, and 

personal protective equipment) as well as the requirements for operating safely, which 

involve crowd management, capacity limitations, barriers, and signage. 

69 
EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $1,733,000, which will 

provide $1,133,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff 

funded under this line item, as well as a programmatic increase of $600,000 and 1 

FTEs for animal care and management. 

Collections Support (+$600,000, +1 FTEs) 

The NZP is requesting a funding increase (+$600,000 and +1 FTEs) to provide 

specialized support for its living and biological materials and collections, and for 

educating the next generation about the importance of sustaining biodiversity and 

saving species from extinction. Unlike Smithsonian museums, the Zoo cares for living 

animals, some of which are among the rarest species on Earth. Animals in our care 

require specialized support to meet certain mandatory standards for species as varied 

as Asian elephants, giant pandas, endangered corals, and extinct-in-the-wild frogs. 

Required support ranges from the need to provide adequate shelter, food, and clean, 

accessible water to specialty care for aged or sick animals. Despite the increase in 

federal funding received in FY 2021, the Zoo still has many vacancies in critical care 

positions, including animal keepers, curators, and scientists. NZP/SCBI also remains 

short-staffed in other operational positions in finance, information technology (IT), 

communications, and exhibits, all of which can directly or indirectly have an impact on 

the welfare of animals in the Zoo’s care.

Most Smithsonian collections are housed indoors. The Zoo’s 163-acre park in 

Washington, DC and its 3,200-acre campus in Front Royal, Virginia include many 

outdoor habitats and complex, specialized facilities designed to care for wildlife. For 

example, shade structures for bison and climbing structures for great apes require 

routine maintenance, and specialized barn and handling facilities are needed to 

properly ensure animal welfare. Of note, the Zoo maintains miles of animal 

containment, with standards continually being improved and updated in response to 

testing by the animals themselves. Maintaining animal habitats and providing 

specialized items for their health and well-being are not just recommended best 

practices, but required by oversight and regulatory entities such as the AZA and the 

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Most importantly, animal care staff, including 

keepers, curators, veterinarians, and scientists, must possess specialized knowledge 

and training, and staffing must be maintained at appropriate levels to ensure the life, 

safety, and health of both animals and people. 

The needs and standards for animal and veterinary care increase as our 

understanding of the challenges of caring for critically endangered species increases 

and regulations concerning animal health and welfare change. The need for additional 

resources also changes in response to the fluctuating diversity and size of the living 

collection. 

70 
Finally, although we have maintained minimal care standards, without the funds 

requested, the size of the living collection may have to be reduced — meaning that 

species at risk today will not benefit in the way that other critically endangered species 

have — and both Zoo operations and visitors’ experiences will be put at risk. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds, including in-Park 

earned revenue (e.g., from parking, food, and retail operations), support salaries 

and benefits of the Zoo director and general operational requirements not fully 

covered by federal funds (e.g., education, professional training, animal 

acquisitions, finance and administration, information technology, communications, 

exhibits, and animal care). Donor/sponsor-designated funds support the costs 

related to specific programs and projects to help save critically endangered 

species (such as antelope, amphibians, cheetahs, giant pandas, Asian elephants, 

and tigers). Private donations help the Zoo implement multiple small- to mediumsized projects and support all exhibit interpretive design and implementation. 

Government grants and contracts support a wide array of scientific studies on the 

biology and habitats of wildlife species. 

71 
SMITHSONIAN ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH CENTER 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T 

GRANTS INTERAGENCY 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 34 4,616 6 704 15 2,127 22 2,730 30 2,736 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 34 4,759 7 1,600 14 2,000 25 3,000 25 3,000 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 34 4,934 7 1,000 14 1,000 25 3,000 25 2,700 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) is a leader in research 

and public programs on ecosystems in the coastal zone, where most of the world’s 

population lives and most of our economy is based. SERC’s innovative research and 

unique setting advance basic environmental science to inform wise policy management 

decisions for the coast’s many natural resources. SERC’s complementary array of 

hands-on and virtual programs also provide the public with the knowledge to solve the 

environmental challenges of the 21st century. 

Research and discovery are the core activities at SERC. Scientists use the 

Center’s 2,650-acre site on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, the nation’s largest 

estuary, as a model system for long-term research and one-of-a-kind experiments. 

SERC researchers incorporate other sites, including Smithsonian field stations, to 

investigate connections among aquatic, terrestrial, and atmospheric components of 

complex ecosystems through comparative studies on regional, continental, and global 

scales. In addition, SERC is a partner in key Smithsonian research initiatives, including 

Life on a Sustainable Planet, ForestGEO, and MarineGEO (Global Earth 

Observatories). SERC also leads collaborations with other federal research networks, 

such as the National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) funded by the National 

Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Ballast Information Clearinghouse (NBIC) 

funded by the U.S. Coast Guard. 

SERC is expanding programs for public engagement. Public outreach programs 

connect thousands of people to a wide range of activities, including virtual evening 

lectures, Science Saturdays for families, nature hikes, and tours of facilities. In 2021, 

SERC finished restoring the historic 1735 Woodlawn House as a welcome center and 

public exhibit on the archaeology and history of land use at the Rhode River site. 

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs in environmental 

science provide thousands of school children with hands-on and virtual school field trips 

and teachers with training that builds their confidence to lead students in STEM. In 

72 
addition, SERC’s highly successful citizen-science program engages more than 500 

volunteers in research across a spectrum of projects. The Center’s vigorous 

professional training program for interns, graduate and postdoctoral Fellows, and 

visiting scientists produces the next generation of scientists and natural resource 

managers. SERC’s strategic plan envisions the Smithsonian Institute for the 

Environment to convene interdisciplinary teams in solving difficult environmental 

problems and advancing visionary research. 

In addition, SERC continues to update and implement its facilities master plan. In 

FY 2022, the Center is adding short-term housing to its Green Village for visiting 

scholars and consolidating its facilities maintenance structures for improved safety and 

efficiency. SERC is a Smithsonian leader in sustainability through energy conservation 

and shifts to renewable solar energy, with the goal of achieving net-zero carbon 

emissions by 2024. Improved water reuse and recycling systems also eliminate waste 

at the site. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $175,000 for necessary pay 

and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In addition to federal appropriations, SERC achieves its research mission 

through competitive success at applying for extramural grants and contracts. With these 

public and private resources, SERC stewards its 2,650-acre Chesapeake site as a 

model for long-term research and experiments on land-sea interactions. The site’s 

topography of streams, shorelines, forests, and agricultural fields now provide 

ecological data sets going back more than 50 years, and host large-scale experiments, 

instrument arrays, and remote sensing. SERC leverages its local infrastructure and 

global research platform to measure the effects of land use, pollution, fisheries, invasive 

species, habitat restoration, and climate change on biodiversity and complex ecosystem 

interactions. To observe and interpret changes in near-shore marine ecosystems and 

terrestrial environments, SERC headquarters the MarineGEO program, leads long-term 

studies of ForestGEO’s temperate forest plots, and serves as a base for the NSFfunded NEON forest tower and ground-based sampling array. SERC also supports the 

efforts of other agencies and collaborators (such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

U.S. Geological Survey, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Fish 

and Wildlife Service, U.S. Coast Guard, and many universities and state agencies). 

SERC’s research, education, and outreach activities support the Smithsonian’s 

Strategic Plan by informing environmental resource management and conservation and 

engaging the public in hands-on science. SERC uses its Chesapeake base to test and 

inform new national and international approaches to habitat restoration of forests, 

streams, wetlands, and shorelines. The Center uses the Smithsonian’s Earth Optimism 

program as a powerful communications tool to engage the public and policy makers in 

the application of its research results. SERC plans a primary facility to convene diverse 

teams of business leaders, policy makers, educators, and scientists to find innovative 

73 
solutions to the difficult environmental problems facing our nation. In addition to 

providing a public lecture series, workshops, and numerous volunteer opportunities, the 

Center also offers expert consultation for the public, including teachers and public 

officials. As part of its interactive core mission, SERC is open to the public six days a 

week for visitors to explore the Center’s many trails through forests, fields, and more 

than 15 miles of shoreline along the Chesapeake Bay. Furthermore, SERC’s 

comprehensive facilities master plan will support operationally sustainable growth to 

significantly improve public access and engagement and highlight conservation lessons 

by decreasing energy and water consumption to reduce operating costs across the 

campus. 

Finally, SERC management controls ensure proper accounting for its research 

activities, including indirect cost recovery in its sponsored research program. The 

Center also maintains excellent records of safety for all employees and visitors, as well 

as for managing its properties and protecting sensitive information and data. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — Extramural Government grants, contracts, and 

interagency agreements of approximately $6 million annually support most (70 percent) 

of SERC’s scientific research program, including the NBIC as established by Congress 

under the National Invasive Species Act of 1996. In addition, indirect cost recovery 

derived from these extramural research and education awards provides core 

administrative support. Other resources include donor/sponsor-designated funds which 

provide essential operating support for specific programs and projects in research, 

public education, and professional training. 

74 
SMITHSONIAN TROPICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 191 15,266 27 1,201 31 4,089 6 794 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 191 15,643 21 1,225 33 3,528 4 993 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 191 16,176 25 1,305 34 3,839 7 1,191 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

In 1910, Smithsonian Secretary Charles Walcott received a request from President 

William Howard Taft to send a scientific expedition to Panama to study the environmental 

impact of the Panama Canal. The President of Panama, Pablo Arosemena, invited the 

Smithsonian to extend its study to the entire isthmus (1910–1912), establishing a 

relationship that more than a century later continues to be a remarkable scientific 

investment for both countries and the wider world. The Smithsonian Tropical Research 

Institute (STRI) is now the principal U.S. organization dedicated to advancing fundamental 

scientific discovery and understanding of biological and cultural diversity in the tropics, and 

its contribution to human welfare. As such, STRI plays an important role for the U.S. 

Government and the Smithsonian by maintaining world-class research facilities in Panama, 

where each year approximately 1,400 resident and visiting international scientists and 

university students come to conduct research. STRI serves as the official custodian for the 

Barro Colorado Nature Monument (BCNM), under the terms of the Convention on Nature 

Protection and Wildlife Preservation in the Western Hemisphere, as ratified by the U.S. 

Senate in April of 1941 and codified in the Panama Canal Treaties. The BCNM is the only 

mainland tropical reserve under U.S. stewardship since it first served as the original base of 

operations for the 1910 expedition. STRI also owns and administers Coibita Island, which 

was bequeathed to the Institution to preserve and use for research, and is part of Panama’s 

Coiba National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 

The rise of the Isthmus of Panama, about three million years ago, changed the 

world. It connected North and South America and separated the Atlantic from the Pacific, 

setting into motion a global change that dramatically impacted marine and terrestrial life. 

STRI has been located at the ideal spot to study this event for more than a century. Its 13 

research facilities and field stations, situated throughout Panama’s diverse ecosystems, 

serve as an unparalleled field research platform to investigate the groundbreaking events 

that shaped the modern world and its tropical diversity. 

Scientific Productivity 

A Visiting Committee of outside experts regularly evaluates the relevance, quality, 

and performance of STRI scientists. In their last review, the Visiting Committee used 

75 
National Research Council criteria to measure the productivity and impact of STRI 

science compared to 142 of the best university research departments in the United 

States. STRI scientists ranked first in all measures of scientific relevance (such as 

publication citations), quality (in terms of scientific honors), and productivity (including 

publication numbers). In addition, the number of young scientists who choose STRI as the 

base for their graduate and postgraduate research training provides another annual 

measure of the relevance and quality of STRI science to the future of tropical biology and 

policy. STRI’s staff scientists share their research platform with scientists from the United 

States and international organizations. This collaborative effort has produced more than 

15,207 scientific publications to date, and currently results in an average of one new 

scientific publication every day. 

FY 2021 was another challenging year for the Institute and the measures needed to 

contain the COVID-19 pandemic required the continued closure of STRI facilities for much 

of that time. Despite the closures, STRI’s scientific achievements include the following:

• The Institute hosted 233 scientific visitors, down from the 1,172 scientific visitors in 

FY 2019 and the 633 in FY 2020, due to the COVID-19 closures. Scientific visitors 

came from 22 different countries; 

• In FY 2021, STRI processed a total of 126 academic appointments, of which 74 

appointments (58 percent) were women and 52 (41 percent) were men. Of these, 84 

(66 percent) were from Latin America. They received 62 internships, 35 predoctoral 

Fellowships, and 29 postdoctoral Fellowships. (There were 241 academic 

appointments in FY 2019 and 146 in FY 2020.) The Institute hosted one virtual field 

course in FY 2021 compared to nine in FY 2020, and 16 in FY 2019; and 

• STRI’s 2021 scientific contributions included 412 publications by STRI-affiliated 

scientists: one book, nine book sections, 17 online data sets, 383 journal articles, 

and one report. (There is also one blog post in the results.) 

Taken together, this brings the total number of STRI publications in the Smithsonian 

Research Online bibliography up to 15,230. 

Scientific Directions 

The long-term research conducted by STRI scientists and collaborators is an 

essential contribution to the Smithsonian Institution’s Strategic Plan. STRI’s strategic 

direction is closely aligned with that Strategic Plan, including its core focus on driving large, 

visionary, interdisciplinary research and scholarly projects (SI goal 5); strong support for 

catalyzing new conversations and addressing complex challenges (goal 2); engaging 21st 

century audiences (goal 4); and preserving natural and cultural heritage (goal 6). 

More broadly, STRI has invested for the long term in several core research areas 

which combine fundamental science to focus on the most complex ecosystems on the 

planet, with critical applied science supporting decisions around climate and global 

environmental change. Two such exemplary programs include: 

• 30x30 on Land: Tropical Forests and Climate Change. STRI leads two connected 

76 
 

partnerships, each working to answer fundamental questions about global forests, 

the world’s largest terrestrial carbon sinks: Agua Salud is a landscape-scale 

experiment focused on the science of rebuilding tropical forests from degraded 

lands, providing state-of-the-art data on the carbon capture capacity of degraded 

lands, watershed-level impacts of reforestation on flood control and water-holding 

capacity, and economic incentives to engage landowners. ForestGEO, with more 

than 80 partners in 27 countries, is the world’s largest research program focused 

on the future of mature forests undergoing climate change. Together, these two 

programs address the two most critical research questions linking forests and 

climate: “How can we build forests back to store carbon, protect water, conserve 

biodiversity, and support people?” And “How will the forests’ capacity to provide 

these services change as climates continue to change?” These partnerships 

connect federal agencies (such as the National Science Foundation [NSF], United 

States’ Geological Survey [USGS], and the Department of Energy) as well as units 

within the Smithsonian. 

• 30x30 at Sea: Tropical Reefs, Marine Protection, and Climate Change: STRI’s 

marine programs focus on 1) establishing ongoing and future impacts of climate 

change on near-shore tropical habitats (from reefs to mangroves to sea-grasses); 

2) unlocking the potential of the most resilient reef communities in the world to 

support tropical reef restoration and conservation; and 3) linking the establishment 

of tropical Marine Protected Areas to the biology of large, migratory, marine 

animals. This work led directly to the establishment of the Eastern Tropical Pacific 

Marine Corridor by Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ecuador in 2021. STRI’s 

strategic location, with facilities near both the Caribbean Sea and the Eastern 

Tropical Pacific Ocean, creates unmatched opportunities for this comparative work. 

This FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $533,000 for necessary pay 

and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

STRI is the only major research center to locate modern scientific instrumentation 

and facilities at the edges of tropical forests and coral reefs. STRI staff lead internationally 

recognized research programs and assist scientific visitors with obtaining visas, collecting 

permits, transportation, housing, computing, and library needs. STRI staff are also 

mentors for students from universities across the United States and around the world. 

Panamanian staff and the support of the Government of Panama, including rent-free use 

of multiple properties, have fostered Smithsonian research in Panama for more than a 

century and STRI has been an exceptional ambassador of goodwill for the United States 

in Panama and throughout Latin America. As part of its core mission, STRI will continue 

to enhance the Smithsonian’s scientific platform for long-term research on biodiversity, 

ecosystems, and the impacts of environmental change. This will be accomplished through 

novel research, educating the next generation of scientists, and disseminating scientific 

findings to its global audiences. 

Policy makers and scientists need long-term data on fluctuations in the primary 

77 
productivity of forests and reefs around the globe, as well as information on changes in 

the abundance and distribution of biological diversity. STRI provides that information like 

no other part of the U.S. mission. In addition, the Institute shares knowledge, experience, 

and expertise with the next generation of tropical scientists. STRI typically hosts more 

than 800 pre- and postdoctoral students each year, half of whom come from the United 

States. For many, their experience at STRI is their first real opportunity to be scientists. 

Furthermore, the Institute also supports education, working with primary school science 

teachers to inspire wonder and critical thinking skills in the classroom. In Panama and 

through digital partnerships with school districts in the United States, STRI explains field 

and laboratory science and makes environmental research readily accessible to teachers 

and students. 

ENABLING STRI’s MISSION THROUGH ORGANIZATIONAL EXCELLENCE

STRI continues to advance the vision detailed in the decadal plan for upgrading its 

facilities, some of which date back to the pre-World War II era of Panama Canal defense. 

STRI is also developing its Coibita facilities as required by its benefactors. In addition, the 

Institute offers important facility resources for federal agencies and universities. For 

terrestrial research, STRI serves as the headquarters for ForestGEO. For coastal areas, 

the USGS partnered with STRI to establish seismic monitoring equipment on BCNM as 

part of its Caribbean Tsunami Warning System. Moreover, the Continuously Operating 

Caribbean GPS Observational Network (COCONet) project, funded by the NSF, has 

partnered with STRI to develop large-scale geodetic and atmospheric monitoring 

infrastructure in the Caribbean. STRI’s two marine facilities in the Atlantic (Bocas del Toro 

and Galeta) and two in the Pacific (Naos and Coibita Island) permit scientists to move 

between experiments in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea in a few hours. 

This recurring two-ocean theme in marine science at STRI has resulted in landmark 

studies of the evolution and ecology of tropical marine species and communities, as well 

as research funded by the NSF and the National Institutes of Health for the ecologically 

guided discovery of new pharmaceutical compounds. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salaries and 

programmatic expenses for a small percentage of STRI employees involved in research, 

public outreach, and fund raising. Donor and sponsor-designated funds support 

discretionary research needs and a variety of specific programs, projects, and positions, 

including donor-designated support for an endowed chair for the director of STRI, an 

endowed staff position in tropical paleoecology, an endowed chair for the director of 

ForestGEO, and private funds to support the Institute’s Agua Salud program that studies 

carbon sequestration and tropical reforestation, as well as a 10-year staff position in 

terrestrial microbiology. Funding from the Rohr Foundation, board members, and an 

emeritus scientist has enabled STRI to fund six new postdoctoral Fellows. 

While revenue from the private sector has remained steady through the pandemic, 

STRI has experienced a significant loss of earned revenue due to temporary closure of all 

facilities and the cancellation of most courses due to the shutdowns brought about by the 

COVID-19 pandemic. This gap in earned revenue has required STRI to make painful budget 

cuts and realign its expenses to maintain financial stability during the ongoing closures. 

78 
ARTHUR M. SACKLER GALLERY/FREER GALLERY OF ART 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 45 6,461 4 791 57 9,486 0 124 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 45 6,689 4 2,042 62 14,223 0 244 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 46 7,058 4 2,103 64 14,650 1 650 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

On May 9, 1923, the Freer Gallery of Art quietly opened its doors to the public as 

the first fine arts museum on the National Mall, embodying the dream of Charles Lang 

Freer to make his collection of nearly 10,000 Asian and American works of art available 

to the nation. Almost 65 years later, on September 28,1987, the Arthur M. Sackler 

Gallery opened to complement the Freer, adding another 1,000 works of Asian art and 

more than 40,000 square feet of public space to the existing building. 

The Freer and Sackler Galleries that, together, constitute the National Museum 

of Asian Art, now house one of the world’s finest collections of these precious cultural 

artifacts and objects. Some 44,000 objects range from the Near East, through South 

and southeast Asia, to East Asia, and from the Neolithic period to the 21st century. 

Connected physically and unified administratively, the Galleries are dedicated to 

increasing our understanding of the arts and cultures of Asia through a broad portfolio of 

exhibitions, publications, conservation, research, and education. 

Based on broad consultation, and fully aligned with the Smithsonian’s overall

Strategic Plan, the Galleries’ new strategic plan, adopted in June of 2019, charts a path 

forward that is as faithful to our past as it is ambitiously future-oriented. The vision, 

values, and goals that it sets out promise a more creative, engaged, and efficient 

Museum; one that celebrates Asian art and addresses essential questions about 

culture. Above all, it aims to do full justice to the extraordinary art it houses and the 

public trust it holds. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $369,000. The increase 

includes $229,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff 

funded under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 1 FTEs and $140,000 to 

enhance Visitor Engagement support. 

79 
MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The Galleries will advance both Institution-wide and internal goals by continuing 

to execute their 2020–2025 strategic plan to guide operations, planning, and decision 

making. The plan’s four goals are both practical and ambitious. They are as follows:

• Goal 1: To expand, preserve, and celebrate our collections; 

• Goal 2: To identify, attract, and serve new audiences through both our 

physical and digital spaces; 

• Goal 3: To foster an object-inspired understanding of the arts communities, 

cultures, and societies of Asia; and 

• Goal 4: To build a Museum culture that is creative, collaborative, transparent, 

and resourceful. 

In FY 2023, the Galleries will: 

• celebrate the centennial of the Freer Gallery through a series of exhibitions, 

public programs, and events, the centerpiece of which will be our gala week 

in May of 2023; 

• ensure the integrity of our collection by enhancing the Galleries’ excellence in 

conservation and scientific research; 

• implement a digital plan that extends our reach and impact to national and 

international audiences; 

• raise our local, national, and international profile through a coordinated 

campaign of communications, partnerships, and programming to attract 

audiences interested in understanding and celebrating Asian art and culture; 

• better address visitor needs; 

• build substantive and funded collaborations with selected Smithsonian 

museums, universities, and other non-profit partners to broaden our expertise 

and impact in fostering an understanding of Asian arts, cultures, and 

societies; 

• strengthen relationships with Asian and Asian American communities, 

including organizations that represent them, by enhancing our outreach and 

programming through formal partnerships and informal collaborations; 

• launch a paid internship program for both undergraduate and advanced 

standing (postgraduate) students, a first for the Museum; and 

• advance a robust fundraising strategy to support the Galleries’ priority 

programs. 

The Museum will monitor progress on these focused plans and other daily 

operations through its cross-departmental implementation team. This team provides 

regular oversight of action plans and tracks progress on key performance indicators. 

These metrics allow the Galleries to take advantage of emerging opportunities and 

adjust to revenue fluctuations while also providing the focus needed to ensure that the 

four goals of the strategic plan are achieved. 

80 
In addition, the Museum has a longstanding commitment to education, 

scholarship, and research, which will continue to be advanced by sharing knowledge 

with our student audiences through deep digital engagement and online programming 

that bring our collections and research to the public. 

In FY 2023, the Galleries will pay special attention to programming, visitor 

services, communications, research, and advancement. The Museum will also increase 

its commitment to visitor accessibility by: 

• holding the centennial year celebration in 2023; 

• building upon audience research, including the results of the study supported 

by a grant from the Smithsonian’s Asian American Pacific Islander Center, to 

help the Galleries’ leadership better understand how the Museum is viewed 

by Asian American communities; 

• capitalizing on a digital-first approach that puts the Galleries at the forefront of 

the Smithsonian’s open-access effort by executing the Museum’s digital 

strategic plan that was developed with an Institution-wide team of digital 

experts; 

• planning for a new Center for Asian Art Conservation, Research, and 

Education that builds upon the Museum’s unrivalled expertise in Asian art 

conservation, and both broadens and deepens the Galleries’ impact as a 

leading educational resource for visitors, both in person and online; 

• continuing to respond to ongoing public health situations through the 

introduction of a hybrid work environment for Museum staff; 

• transforming the Galleries’ current laboratory into an active site of 

participation in and collaboration on conservation and scientific research. By 

expanding its digital reach, the Museum will engage current and new 

audiences more deeply in conservation work, sharing knowledge, and 

stimulating new ideas; and 

• continuing to implement digital solutions which infuse interactive features and 

functionality into core activities and better serve the needs of internal and 

external users. 

The FY 2023 exhibition schedule and complementary public programs will offer 

opportunities for audience engagement with both historical and contemporary topics 

and provide access to some of the finest works of Asian art. 

As the Galleries continue to build a museum culture that is creative, 

collaborative, transparent, and resourceful, staff will assess and enhance their own 

development, the efficacy of their organizational structure, and oversight of internal 

controls by: 

• maintaining fiscal discipline in support of the Museum’s strategic plan and 

taking advantage of opportunities for investments in infrastructure and new 

partnerships; 

81 
• recruiting new talent in the areas of curation, research, visitor services, and 

administration. In FY 2023, the Galleries’ staff will work with colleagues to 

ensure their successful transition to the Smithsonian and to provide the 

mentorship and resources they will need to advance our mission. This 

infusion of new thinking, talent, and enthusiasm will also allow Museum 

leadership to assess operations and ensure that the Galleries are nimble, 

collaborative, and well-positioned to meet the challenges of the next century; 

and 

• dedicating funds for leadership and supervisory training to equip managers 

and supervisors with the information, skills, and tools needed to make 

effective decisions and better serve the visiting public. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $369,000. The increase 

includes $229,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded 

under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 1 FTEs and $140,000 to enhance 

Visitor Engagement support. 

Visitor Engagement (+$140,000, 1 FTE) 

The budget request includes an increase of $140,000 and 1 FTE for a visitor count 

management system to provide the analytics we need to deepen our understanding of our 

visitors’ journey through our galleries; and improved visitor wayfinding including signage and

maps printed in multiple languages. The recent COVID environment has made this need 

ever more pressing as volunteers have heretofore formed the foundation of our pool. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust and donor/sponsor-designated 

funds are generated from memberships; revenue sharing from Museum shop sales and 

the Smithsonian Channel; participation fees from traveling exhibition venues; special 

events; unrestricted and restricted gifts and grants; and endowment income. The Freer 

and Sackler Galleries depend to a large extent on nonappropriated income sources to 

provide the quality of exhibitions, programs, and publications expected by visitors and 

scholars, both online and on site. 

82 
CENTER FOR FOLKLIFE AND CULTURAL HERITAGE 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 

17 3,565 10 1,359 5 928 2 173 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 17 3,637 11 1,460 5 940 5 1,420 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 17 3,938 12 1,681 7 2,200 4 1,725 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage (CFCH) is a Smithsonian 

research and education unit with the mission to increase understanding of the 

diverse, community-based cultural traditions found in the United States and around 

the world, aid their preservation, and strengthen the public’s appreciation for our 

shared humanity. For more than five decades, the CFCH has accomplished this 

mission through scholarly research, public presentations — most dramatically 

through the Smithsonian Folklife Festival — and widely distributed publications, as 

well as through Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, documentation, and the Ralph 

Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections and various other cultural heritage and 

sustainability projects. The Center has also developed a robust website and digital 

outreach presence that reaches an audience of hundreds of millions. The CFCH 

collaborates closely with Smithsonian museums, cultural and educational centers, 

and other federal partners — especially the Library of Congress’ American Folklife 

Center and the National Endowment for the Arts’ Folk and Traditional Arts program, 

in addition to hundreds of organizations in the United States and around the globe. 

The CFCH is recognized as a national and world leader in the cultural heritage 

field. The award-winning Smithsonian Folklife Festival is a model for presenting living, 

community-based cultural heritage in the United States and other nations. The CFCH 

has repeatedly produced large, public educational events similar to the Festival and 

featuring cultural performances and demonstrations for presidential inaugurals, the 

opening of national museums and monuments such as the National Museum of 

African American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, 

the World War II Memorial, and the Olympics. 

In the field of fine arts, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings has garnered critical 

acclaim, including 10 Grammy Awards, 30 additional Grammy nominations, and 26 

Independent Music Awards for tradition-based musical recordings. Recognition of the 

CFCH’s excellence includes Academy and Emmy Awards for documentary film, and 

awards from various educational organizations. Center staff have authored important 

books, been elected to national academies, led professional associations, and 

83 
 

received top national and international honors. CFCH staff lecture at universities and 

museums and annually mentor more than 130 interns and Fellows from the United 

States and other nations. The CFCH consults with the U.S. Department of State on 

international cultural heritage policies and has partnered with the U.S. Agency on 

International Development (USAID) on many projects to encourage cultural 

enterprise and development. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $301,000. This includes 

$101,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded 

under this line item and an increase of $200,000 fixed cost toward the Folklife 

Festival security and other necessary costs, as justified in the Fixed Costs section of 

this budget submission. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The CFCH accomplishes its mission through high-quality scholarship, 

educational productions, and project implementation involving other Smithsonian and 

external partners. Toward this end, federal appropriations provide base-level support 

for research and education, archival and collections care, and Festival production, 

while also leveraging support from U.S. federal and state agencies, foreign nations, 

foundations, and philanthropic sources. Federal collections support is vital for 

research and educational purposes, and for Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 

which generates $3 million annually in earned revenue to support 20 staff salaries 

and operations from the proceeds of distributing and licensing music in the 

collections. Federal funds represent an investment that annually leverages about 

three times its value in nonappropriated funds and helps the CFCH reach an 

audience of more than 300 million a year, thereby also increasing public 

understanding of grassroots cultural traditions in the United States and abroad. 

The CFCH’s original signature production, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, 

could not be held on the National Mall in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but 

the Center replicated its success from 2020 by pivoting to an online presence that 

offered virtual crafts and cooking demonstrations, panel discussions, and musical 

performances. In 2022, the Festival plans to return to the National Mall for its twoweek run, overlapping Independence Day celebrations with two major programs: the 

first will explore how cultural traditions are addressing environmental conservation 

and sustainable practices while enhancing innovation, civic engagement, and 

economic development. The second program will feature the folklife of the United 

Arab Emirates. There will also be special concerts and presentations on Afghan 

music and artistry featuring recent immigrant and refugee artists. In 2023, the Festival 

will present several programs, including one on the culture of the Ozarks, another on 

living religion in the United States, and a third on immigration and migration. The 

CFCH will build on the Smithsonian’s overall digital strategy to expand its reach, and 

apply lessons learned from digitally adapting to the pandemic, by offering more 

Festival programmatic content online in an increasingly accessible way, extending its 

impact well beyond the two-week physical production on the National Mall. 

84 
In addition, the CFCH is training young students in the art of fabrication. The 

goal is to contribute to their employability, pursuit of higher education, and civic 

participation. In 2019, the Festival launched a Tech-Teach Fabrication Skills 

Internship program designed for Washington, DC-area high school students 

interested in drafting, carpentry, welding, metal work, safety precautions, and other 

elements of technical production. Students work closely with industry professionals, 

experienced Smithsonian staff, and each other in a collaborative learning 

environment at the Folklife Fabrication Shop in Lanham, Maryland. As part of their 

work, the last group of students contributed to the installation of structures for the 

2021 White House Holiday Celebration. 

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings — the Center’s most broadly distributed 

signature product — extended its impact with the continued success of several 

recently produced music boxed sets. The most elaborate was The Smithsonian 

Anthology of Hip Hop and Rap, a major collaboration of Smithsonian Folkways with 

the National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) and the 

hip-hop community. With its nine CDs containing 129 tracks and a well-illustrated, 

300-page book, it generated enormous attention and is on its way to become a 

signature publication, setting the standard for the field, much like prior Smithsonian 

anthologies of jazz and folk music. Additional boxed sets included Jazz Fest: The 

New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, The Social Power of Music, and the Grammywinning Smithsonian Folkways Collection tribute to Pete Seeger. Other releases 

reflected the diversity of the collection, with recordings from artists such as Lucinda 

Williams and Nobuko Miyamoto’s 120,000 Stories — music illustrating the experience 

of Japanese Americans and Asian Americans more broadly. Industrial Strength 

Bluegrass from southwestern Ohio — a collaboration with Miami University and its 

Appalachian Studies Center — won “record of the year” from the International 

Bluegrass Music Association. Collaborations with the Smithsonian Latino Center 

have produced the Tradiciones/Traditions series, including a new recording by the 

Latino urban contemporary group Quetzal. In addition, Songs of Our Native 

Daughters, the influential offering in the African American Legacy series produced 

with the NMAAHC, formed the basis of a new television documentary for the 

Smithsonian Channel. Folkways will expand on this recent track record with some 15 

new releases in the coming year. 

Folkways will also continue to extend its reach to millions more listeners, 

distributing 65,000 tracks of audio recordings to teachers, students, scholars, and the 

public. It will continue to expand its collaboration with private partners to deliver the 

entire Folkways collection to more than 560 libraries throughout the North American 

continent and beyond. 

A third major program, the Smithsonian Cultural Sustainability Initiative, will 

invigorate the Center’s commitment to community engagement, cultural 

documentation, and support of cultural vitality. The community-based work of the 

initiative will feed the Center’s public programming through Folklife Magazine stories 

and future Festival programming while producing replicable tools and models for 

85 
sustaining language and cultural practices. In addition, the Language Vitality Initiative 

partners with indigenous and minority language communities in the United States and 

around the world to support language skills transfer, technology adaptations, 

relationship building, and advocacy for bilingualism. The African American Craft 

Initiative seeks to expand the visibility of African American artisans and establish 

equitable access to resources. The CFCH is also working with the U.S. Department 

of State and other agencies to address the urgent need to sustain cultural heritage 

while improving livelihoods in Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Armenia, Bosnia and 

Herzegovina, and Tunisia. 

By building on their research and community-responsive collaborations, 

curators and research staff will continue to publish books, articles, and digital 

features, and make professional presentations at gatherings of specialists. They also 

will continue to serve in an advisory capacity for other Smithsonian units and external 

agencies and in leadership roles for academic and professional societies. CFCH 

curators will continue developing the traveling exhibition World on the Move: 250,000 

Years of Human Migration, produced in collaboration with the American 

Anthropological Association, and preparing for the opening of the Smithsonian 

exhibition Music HerStory: Women and Music of Social Change. 

The Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections contain the written and 

audiovisual documentation of more than 50 years of Festival research and planning, 

the recordings of Folkways and 18 other labels, and a rapidly expanding digital 

footprint. In FYs 2018–2022, its major accomplishments have included the complete 

renovation of the Center’s archives repository with expanded off-site storage, the rehousing and enhanced tracking of collections, the increased digitization of 

audiovisual media, and the processing of materials from the Arhoolie Records 

collection as well as several new record labels. The Center will make these vast 

collections accessible to source communities and the public while ensuring their 

continued availability as a “working archive” for CFCH staff who use them for ongoing 

productions. 

Finally, the CFCH continues to play a strong role in realizing the Smithsonian’s

Strategic Plan. It is a key collaborator with many museums and units for “One 

Smithsonian” initiatives such as the annual Mother Tongue Film Festival. In keeping 

with its decades of community-based consultation and collaboration, the Center 

enshrined its commitments to culturally respectful collections management in its 

Shared Stewardship of Collections Policy (adopted in 2019) and is actively 

contributing to the Secretary’s call for an Institution-wide policy on Shared 

Stewardship and Ethical Returns in FYs 2021–2023. The CFCH led the Smithsonian 

Year of Music in 2019 and is working with conservation scientists and educators on 

the 2022 Festival program. The Center also works with the National Museum of 

American History on the American Women’s History Initiative and one of its staff is 

collaborating with Smithsonian Libraries and Archives to curate an exhibition on the 

history of women in music. In addition, the CFCH plays a leadership role with 

programming for the Smithsonian Channel and regularly contributes stories to 

86 
Smithsonian magazine. As the Smithsonian and the nation prepare for the 250th 

anniversary of U.S. independence, the CFCH expects to play a major organizing and 

coordinating role in those efforts as well. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salaries and 

benefits for approximately one-quarter of the CFCH’s personnel, and revenues from 

Folkways Recordings pay about one-third of all staff salaries and expenses. Donor 

and sponsor-designated funds cover costs related to specific projects such as the 

programmatic components of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, some research 

efforts, and several other educational programs. 

87 
 

COOPER HEWITT, SMITHSONIAN DESIGN MUSEUM 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 36 5,190 19 2,567 33 4,878 1 120 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 37 5,417 23 3,150 26 5,350 1 150 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 38 5,687 25 3,450 26 5,600 1 150 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (CHSDM), in New York City, is one 

of two Smithsonian museums located outside Washington, DC. Unique among its peers 

at the Institution, CHSDM is the only museum in the nation dedicated exclusively to 

historic and contemporary design. Its collection is international in scope and 

encompasses 215,000 objects, representing 30 centuries of design from China’s Han 

Dynasty (200 B.C.) to the present. The Museum presents compelling perspectives on 

the impact of design on daily life through educational programs, exhibitions, and 

publications. After a major renovation, CHSDM reopened in 2014 and changed the way 

the Museum inspires, educates, and empowers people through design. 

As an influential design authority in the United States, CHSDM’s programs and

exhibitions demonstrate how design shapes culture and history — in the past, present, 

and future. To achieve the Institution’s strategic goal of Understanding and Impacting 

21st Century Audiences, the Museum will continue its dynamic exhibition programming 

and active roster of educational and public programs, as well as expand the number of 

programs offered virtually and in venues outside the New York metropolitan area in 

2023. Together, these programs will help CHSDM engage larger, more diverse 

audiences, and fulfill its mission to serve as a catalyst for design education throughout 

the nation and worldwide. 

The Museum also devotes considerable resources to ensure the advancement of 

knowledge in the humanities by fostering a greater understanding of the role of design 

in everyday life and its impact on shaping the built environment of the past, present, and 

future; and to encourage the “by-products” of design thinking — such as creative 

problem solving and teamwork — in other disciplines and areas of life, through 

interactive, engaging, in-person and online experiences. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $270,000. The increase 

includes $170,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff 

funded under this line item and a programmatic increase of 1 FTE and $100,000 for 

collections and digital support. 

88 
MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In FY 2023, CHSDM will continue to transform the Museum visit from passive to 

participatory with the most innovative, educational, immersive, and interactive 

exhibitions for the public, focusing on the design process. The Museum will present 

exhibitions such as Design & Healing: Creative Responses to Epidemics, which will 

focus on the innovative design work that has been done in response to epidemics in the 

past and the present; Designing Peace, which will explore how design can address 

some of our most vexing issues in society; and exhibitions featuring the work of 

designers Hector Guimard and Dorothy Liebes. 

By building on the success of features such as the “interactive pen,” the Museum 

will continue to explore enhanced visitor experiences through the Interaction Lab, a new 

kind of research and development space where we are reimagining the museum 

experience for the 21st century. With exhibits designed to keep pace with emerging 

technology, we are bringing a holistic, interactive design methodology to CHSDM’s 

visitor experience. 

CHSDM resources will continue to support our strategic goal to Enhance 

Disciplinary Research, thus ensuring the advancement of knowledge in the humanities 

through exhibition-related and collections-oriented scholarly research to create the most 

innovative and educational exhibitions for the public. 

To achieve the goal of Preserving Our Natural and Cultural Heritage, the 

Museum will continue to acquire objects for its internationally renowned permanent 

collection. With the digitization of the collection completed, CHSDM continues to expand 

its online programs and channels for all exhibitions. The Museum will continue its more 

than 30-year partnership with the New School/Parsons to support an on-site graduate 

program focused on the history of design and curatorial studies, which will give students 

and scholars access to objects in CHSDM’s collections. 

In addition, CHSDM will inspire, educate, and empower audiences through 

design by offering educational programs and content in a variety of formats. The goal of 

all the programming is to deliver content relevant to the individual program participant’s 

level of understanding of design and design thinking. The Museum will engage intergenerational audiences that include students, educators, emerging designers, design 

professionals, and the general public, through beginning, intermediate, and advanced 

programs in design. Programs will focus on using objects in the collection or on view in 

an exhibition as points of inspiration and reference. Visitors will be encouraged to view 

design with the broad goals of developing practical, creative problem-solving and critical 

thinking skills that can be applied to any field. The Museum will also continue its 

traditional offerings such as design field trips, family programs, docent-led tours, and 

public programs. CHSDM is committed to making its programs and content virtually 

accessible. Furthermore, the Museum will continue to make its educational 

opportunities available to a much broader audience through online platforms such as 

the SI Learning Lab. 

89 
 

The Museum will also continue leveraging its world-renowned design collection 

to offer nationally recognized professional development workshops in design thinking for 

K–12 educators across the country. 

To advance the Smithsonian’s strategic goal of Enabling Cost-Effective and 

Responsive Administration, CHSDM will enhance its reputation, and that of the 

Institution, by continuing to secure significant media coverage across national and 

international print and digital platforms such as The New York Times, The Washington 

Post, and The Wall Street Journal, as well as general interest publications and those 

relating to all fields of design, and increase the Museum’s social media presence. 

CHSDM will maintain and cultivate substantive relationships with the public, its existing 

membership community, state and local governments, children, educators, business 

leaders, and designers. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $270,000. This 

includes $170,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing 

staff and an increase (1 FTE and $100,000) for digital support. 

Digital Support (+$100,000, +1 FTE) 

The digital project manager will be responsible for ensuring that the digital projects 

are on schedule and facilitating clear communication between the many cross-department 

stakeholders responsible for the success of each project. Projects may be developed for 

individual exhibitions, public programs, publications, or in conjunction with the Museum’s 

Interaction Lab. CHSDM is known for innovative digital initiatives, which require a great 

deal of internal project management to complete tasks in a timely manner. The position 

will play a crucial role in supporting the entire complex technical needs and executing the 

digital team’s comprehensive roadmap. This will enable the Museum to continue its 

innovative digital work, which will make offerings more accessible and discoverable to 

audiences locally, nationally, and internationally, and allow our collections and scholarship 

to serve as an ongoing resource to educators, students, and design enthusiasts. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — Nonappropriated resources support 

65 percent of the Museum’s operating budget. General trust funds are generated from

memberships, Museum shop sales, admissions, special events, and unrestricted 

contributions. General trust funds support salaries and benefits of administrative 

personnel, development and business activities, and other program-related costs. The 

Museum also raises funds from private sources to support research, exhibitions, public 

programs, and administrative functions. This includes securing contributions for new 

exhibitions, educational initiatives, and public outreach. Donor/sponsor-designated 

funds are essential to support exhibitions and educational initiatives. In addition, 

significant endowment gifts support research, exhibitions, public programs, and 

administrative functions. 

90 
HIRSHHORN MUSEUM AND SCULPTURE GARDEN 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 31 5,007 6 1,835 18 5,572 0 45 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 33 5,339 7 1,850 24 10,000 0 25 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 34 5,699 7 1,850 24 8,000 0 25 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden is a leading voice for contemporary 

art and culture, providing a national platform for the art and artists of our time. The 

Museum seeks to share the transformative power of modern and contemporary art with 

audiences at all levels of awareness and understanding by creating meaningful, personal 

experiences in which art, artists, audiences, and ideas converge. The Hirshhorn 

enhances public understanding and appreciation of contemporary art through 

acquisitions, exhibitions, education and public programs, conservation, and research. 

As the national museum for modern and contemporary art, the Hirshhorn is home 

to a collection of more than 12,000 artworks and objects which cover the broad sweep of 

visual culture of the last 150 years. Our extensive collection aligns with the Institution’s 

goal to Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage. While the initial collection was a gift 

from the Museum’s founder, Joseph Hirshhorn, our collections acquisition efforts are 

ongoing. Our acquisition program focuses on artworks at the forefront of contemporary 

art, and the Museum has increased its efforts to prioritize greater diversity in its collection. 

For instance, nearly one-fifth of recent acquisitions in the last five years were created by 

Black artists. The collections care and conservation of the Museum’s extensive holdings 

receive a substantial portion of the Hirshhorn’s resources and enables staff to showcase 

artwork at the Museum, online, and through an active loan program with other institutions. 

During FY 2021, the Museum transitioned from in-person to online programs and 

digital-native content as the primary means of connecting with audiences. The closure of 

physical spaces required by the COVID-19 pandemic provided an opportunity to highlight 

the time-based media and video works within the Hirshhorn’s collection. Staff curated 

novel, digital-native exhibitions available to visitors through the Museum’s website and 

social media channels, while also looking forward to the building’s reopening and 

preparing thoughtful and well-researched physical exhibitions. 

The Museum contributes to the strategic goal to Understand and Impact 21st 

Century Audiences with a wide range of educational and public programs that serve 

91 
diverse audiences and encourage viewers to learn about various fields of contemporary 

culture. The Hirshhorn leverages the lessons learned from ARTLAB+, the award-winning 

digital media studio that connects teenagers from local, underserved communities with 

artist mentors, to better serve diverse audiences with youth and family programming. 

The Museum also pursues the goal to Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive 

Administration by constantly improving its financial and administrative management tools 

and procedures. The Hirshhorn strives to cultivate a staff culture that is efficient, 

collaborative, committed, innovative, and diverse. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $360,000, which will provide 

$220,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff, and a 

programmatic increase of 1 FTE and $140,000 for efforts to strengthen the Museum’s 

collections management systems, online presence, and digital engagement. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

Efforts to support Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research continue as the Museum 

develops public forums on the intersections of art, design, technology, and education, 

featuring international subject-matter experts and an interactive online component, 

extending digital audience engagement far beyond the walls of the physical Museum. The 

Hirshhorn will expand its online and on-site programs dealing with the role of technology 

and new media in contemporary art, museum culture, and digital education. 

The Hirshhorn’s proposed exhibition schedule for FY 2023 builds upon the mission 

to expand access to the arts and increase public understanding of, and engagement with, 

the international scope of modern and contemporary art in all its diversity. FY 2023 will 

feature exhibitions and major events highlighting the best of emerging, international 

contemporary art. This will include: 

• Put it This Way (opening in July of 2022 and continuing throughout FY 2023), an 

exhibition devoted to the work of women artists in the collection of the National 

Museum of Modern Art. Encompassing a wide range of media, subject matter, 

sensibilities, and approaches, the exhibition will engage with the complexities and 

contradictions of the idea of “women artists,” deepening and broadening that overly 

simplistic categorization. Titled after a 1963 painting by American Pop artist Rosalyn 

Drexler, the exhibition will bring together more than 50 years of work drawn 

exclusively from the Museum’s holdings, highlighting new acquisitions alongside 

masterworks. 

• John Akomfrah’s acclaimed six-channel video work, Purple (beginning in October of 

2022). This film captures ecological features around the world — from the Arctic to the 

South Pacific — which are at risk of or are disappearing due to changing climates. 

Wrapped in the gentle arc of the Museum’s curved walls, the installation will allow 

visitors to experience remote landscapes within a panoramic exploration of vulnerable 

environments. Set against current conversations regarding gender, power, and 

92 
recognition in our society, the exhibition celebrates the depth, breadth, radicality, and 

rigor of art made by women while calling attention to the ways that gender itself can 

be understood in relation to the making and presentation of art — both irrelevant and 

irrevocable. 

• Avant-Garde Chinese Photography, 1993–2004 (opening in the fall of 2022), which 

will include a sweeping selection of contemporary Chinese photography. The 

exhibition includes works by more than 20 photographers, which they created 

between 1993 and 2004, a vibrant period that put Beijing on the map as a nexus of 

experimental art. Evocative of the rapidly changing society from which they emerged, 

these photographs are ambitious in scale and impact, and they resonate with 

possibility in the face of an unscripted future. 

In support of the strategic goal to Expand Digital Technologies, the Museum’s 

website will engage with local and remote audiences regarding exhibition offerings, 

upcoming public programs, and information about collections and artists. Featured 

content includes audio and video from public programs, interviews with artists and 

curators, and searchable access to the Museum’s collections. The Hirshhorn’s 

communication and marketing efforts will diffuse deep knowledge of contemporary art 

and culture, not merely describe activities and exhibits in superficial terms. In addition, 

the Museum continues to publish original catalogues to complement exhibitions, along 

with other books that examine modern art, design, and cultural shifts of the early 21st 

century. 

Using Hirshhorn Eye! (Hi! for short), a revolutionary, in-gallery art guide that uses 

image recognition to scan art and instantly provide access to exclusive artist videos and 

inside information, staff have increased interaction between visitors and the digital resources 

of the Museum. Hi! content is updated regularly in coordination with rotating exhibitions. In 

FY 2023, the Museum will continue to create and deliver content that builds on the in-gallery 

exhibition learning aids. In addition, the innovative Hirshhorn Eye! technology will provide 

more in-depth content in the recently released Collections Catalogue. By scanning highquality photographs, readers will be linked to artist interviews, additional viewpoints, and 

related content that could not be included in the published book. 

The Hirshhorn will support the Smithsonian’s strategic goal to Understand and 

Impact 21st Century Audiences through a range of public programs geared toward visitors 

with varying levels of art experience and cultural interests, and by expanding the concept of 

a museum as a learning center. Local artists will lead youth and teacher workshops for K–

12 teachers and students. They will present ideas and inspirations to people of all ages 

through the “Meet the Artist” programs and “In Conversation” interviews and panel

discussions. The Museum will draw upon a wide range of artists, researchers, and experts 

from different and unexpected fields to provide interpretive tours. 

In concert with educational foundation sponsors, the Hirshhorn will reinvigorate the 

ARTLAB+ program to create an environment where local teenagers can attend workshops 

to explore digital media. The Museum will re-launch the “Gallery Guides” program, which

93 
brings advanced art students into the galleries to aid visitors’ critical experience with art on 

display, and which develops the students’ own education objectives and teaching skills.

The Hirshhorn will also launch pilot programs to reach additional audiences such as 

preschool-aged children, families, and underserved audiences through increased 

accessibility programs offered in Spanish and American Sign Language. 

The Hirshhorn will Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage by continuing 

collections research in the Museum’s state-of-the-art Conservation Lab and collections 

storage space. The upgraded spaces have improved natural light to enhance collections 

management and conservation activities. In addition, the Hirshhorn will further research 

and preserve time-based media (such as film, digital video, and audio artworks) by 

integrating the work of conservation and exhibits to provide leading-edge presentation and 

responsible stewardship of the analog and digital time-based media. The Museum will also 

continue to photograph and catalogue the permanent collection to make the collection more 

accessible via search features on the Hirshhorn’s website.

Under the strategic goal to Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration, 

the Museum will merge the functional with the artistic by including artists and designers in 

discussions with Smithsonian Facilities staff. This will involve a revitalization of the 

Sculpture Garden and repairs to the building envelope. These projects will enable the 

Hirshhorn’s physical plant to support the Museum’s mission and its expanded programming 

and collections, as well as enhance the visitor experience and address critical infrastructure 

needs. The new Garden will create an area for large-scale contemporary works and 

performances within intimate spaces where visitors can enjoy the Museum’s modern 

masterpieces. 

Finally, the Hirshhorn’s senior leadership will continue to improve long-range 

program planning reviews to enhance resource allocation, funds management, and more 

effective cost sharing with outside organizations in support of major exhibitions and 

programs. By identifying and working with partners in the private sector, the staff will 

leverage the Museum’s federal appropriations to the maximum extent possible.

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $360,000, which will provide 

$220,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff, and a 

programmatic increase of 1 FTE and $140,000 for efforts to strengthen the Museum’s 

collections management systems, online presence, and digital engagement. 

Digital Support (+$140,000, +1 FTE) 

This budget request includes an increase of $140,000 and 1 FTE for the hire of an 

information technology (IT) specialist/webmaster. The addition of a webmaster will support 

the Hirshhorn’s ability to feature time-based media artworks in the physical Museum 

galleries, as well as efforts to build the virtual Museum. This will enhance the Hirshhorn’s

94 
capabilities so staff can participate in digital content production and more effectively 

transform their workflows to reach bigger audiences. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salaries and benefits 

of administrative and development personnel, as well as some programs and public 

relations staff, advancement activities, and exhibition and program-related costs. 

Donor/sponsor-designated funds are essential to support exhibitions, public programs, 

communications, and marketing. 

95 
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN ART 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 32 5,140 2 656 1 320 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 32 5,257 6 2,117 8 2,666 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 34 5,769 6 2,244 8 2,826 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The National Museum of African Art (NMAfA) inspires conversations about the beauty, 

power, and diversity of Africa’s arts and cultures worldwide. The Museum strives to be the 

world’s leading center of scholarly and artistic excellence on the arts of Africa and serves 

local, national, and international audiences on site and online. The NMAfA uses its 

unparalleled collections, exhibitions, educational programs, and publications to foster the 

broadest access, dispel stereotypes, and collaborate with African, diasporic, and global 

communities. The Museum’s activities and programming support the Institution’s goals to be 

One Smithsonian and have a digital-first strategy. 

In FY 2023, the NMAfA plans to continue essential work on exhibitions and programs, 

audience development, and collections/facilities care to fulfill its mission. A key component of 

Museum operations is the creation of temporary and long-term exhibitions of historical, 

modern, and contemporary artworks from its own collection and from other museums and 

private collections. A strategic range of public programs, curriculum-focused educational 

assets, and collaborations with organizational, academic, and community partners will expand 

the NMAfA’s reach to a wide range of local, national, and international visitors and 

stakeholders, both in person and online. 

The NMAfA has, to date, been closed to the public for almost 36 months because of 

the COVID-19 pandemic. Upon reopening, substantial selections from the Museum’s large 

and important permanent collection of Africa’s historical, modern, and contemporary arts will 

remain on view in FY 2023. This includes the ongoing Currents: Water in African Art exhibition 

that features aquatic-themed artworks from the permanent collection; the multi-year exhibition 

Heroes: Principles of African Greatness, which uses interactive technology to engage visitors 

with stories about African men and women who achieved and exemplify greatness through 

varying types of heroism; and the long-term exhibition Visionary: Viewpoints on Africa’s Arts

that offers changing storylines and highlights substantial selections from the Museum’s 

permanent collection of African works of art. 

In FY 2022, the NMAfA launched the exhibition Iké Udé: Nollywood Portraits, featuring 

the work of the Nigerian-born, New York-based artist. Udé explores the school of Nollywood 

films, re-enacting the process of producing a major Nollywood picture and illustrating how 

audiences have a critical role in this process as actors, actresses, producers, and directors 

96 
gain public acclaim through their skills in costume design, effective use of props, lighting, and 

performing on camera. FY 2023 will see the opening of the exhibition From the Deep: In the 

Wake of Drexciya with Ayana V. Jackson. Inspired by the Detroit- based Afrofuturist music 

duo Drexciya, photographer Ayana Jackson revisits the history of the trans-Atlantic slave 

trade in this first solo museum exhibition for the artist. The exhibition addresses difficult and 

defining issues of history, race, representation, and the future, and will feature the artist’s first 

video and a selection of full costumes created in collaboration with designers in Senegal and 

Angola. 

The Museum will continue Phase 1 of its renovations of the second-level staff and 

support facilities area to increase visibility and public access to assets, including the 

education program areas, the renowned Warren M. Robbins Library, and the Eliot Elisofon 

Photographic Archives, which are all dedicated to helping the public learn more about African 

art. Phase 1 improvements include a new conference room and lecture hall with technology to 

provide both enhanced on-site and online public accessibility. The renovation plan repurposes 

the current architecture to minimize costs while improving spatial workflow and efficiencies. 

This staged, multi-year renovation project has been designed to permit ongoing access to 

current facilities. 

The NMAfA is also working with the Freer and Sackler Galleries of Asian Art to create 

new, fire-rated storage spaces and modify existing fire-rated spaces to meet current life-safety 

codes. In addition, the Museum has completed three phases of its main storage master plan 

and is using resources from the Smithsonian’s Collection’s Care and Preservation Fund 

(CCPF) to finish more phases of this work. 

Because of COVID-19 concerns, several technology modifications are under way to 

support both on-site and virtual exhibitions and program access. Staff are working to adapt 

exhibition technology that permits touchless capabilities, as well as developing new digital 

technologies to create virtual gallery experiences. The NMAfA is exploring the potential to link 

this technology to the Museum’s webpage and include add-ins such as artist or curator tours, 

other contextual information, and access to a new, online Museum store. Also, to further 

enhance the in-person experience, the NMAfA has begun upgrading all exhibition fixtures and 

lamps with light-emitting diodes (LEDs) throughout the Museum. LEDs have been installed in 

two first-level galleries to date, which makes their lighting more energy efficient and reduces 

utility costs. 

The NMAfA is also continuing to process its award of a $1.5 million five-year 

implementation grant from the Lilly Endowment, Inc. to support the Museum’s Global 

Religions of Africa Initiative. Africa’s global religious practices on the continent and in its 

diasporas engage with verbal, visual, and performing arts and offer strategies relevant to the 

urgent issues of our day. This initiative focuses on educational programming, community 

outreach, and audience engagement through on-site and virtual programs. Endowmentfunded programming will be designed to enhance diversity, inclusion, access, and equity in 

programs and offerings, as well as to better represent voices and communities of faith. The 

grant includes contract support for a project coordinator and four paid internships per year. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $512,000 that provides $182,000 

for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item, 

as well as a programmatic increase of 2 FTEs and $330,000 for digitization and Web support. 

97 
MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The NMAfA contributes to the Institution’s strategic goals to be One Smithsonian, 

catalyze new methods of engagement with larger audiences — including stakeholders 

historically engaged with the Museum as well as new, first-time visitor audiences — and reach 

one billion people globally through increased digital engagement. Through its expanding 

digital strategies, the NMAfA will emphasize enhanced learning styles, languages, and 

accessibility for differently abled visitors. The Museum has also launched a phased Web 

redesign that will address accessibility, offer content in additional languages, and present 

exciting NMAfA content for educators, art enthusiasts, and students from around the world. As 

part of this redesign, the Museum will also offer teacher resources in multiple languages and 

produce more visual content to reach diverse audiences. 

The website redesign continues in support of the FY 2022 and 2023 strategies to 

expand the Museum’s social media presence on multiple platforms to reach a broader range 

of long-term audiences as well as new audiences and stakeholders. New digital stories will be 

developed and shared on the Museum’s website, the NMAfA interface on Google Arts and 

Culture, via the Smithsonian Voices blog, as well as other social media platforms to broaden 

the reach of the Museum’s work and increase its visibility. 

The Museum will also continue digitizing its art and photographic archive collections to 

make them available to the public via the portals on the NMAfA website. This will increase 

public access to its collections through enhanced navigation features via eMuseum and multimedia applications, and by completing additional image and object catalogue records for the 

NMAfA’s public access database. The Museum works closely with the Office of the Chief 

Information Officer to embark on a large-scale, mass-digitization project that will add a 

substantial number of new object records to the online collection database. Conservation and 

registration records are also being digitized and added to the Institution’s database network.

In FY 2022, the NMAfA is conducting a comprehensive audience research study to 

better inform long-term strategies for audience engagement and development. In FY 2023, 

NMAfA will continue to broaden visibility, prepare future programming that attracts more 

visitors, and seek visitor feedback on exhibitions and programs, using visitor comments, 

docent interactions, and surveys of its public programs. 

Collaborative projects initiated by the NMAfA include working with Smithsonian units on 

best practices in program development, internships, and audience assessment. The Museum 

will also participate in a Smithsonian initiative to develop a process for restitution and 

repatriation of colonial-era and looted collections objects. This collaboration will forge 

connections with colleagues at African museums to share information, develop mutually 

beneficial partnerships, and address questions of diversity, equity, access, and inclusion 

(DEAI) in the United States and worldwide. 

The NMAfA will achieve the Smithsonian’s strategic goal to reach one billion people a 

year with a digital-first strategy by expanding its use of digital technologies and focusing its 

resources in several areas: information technology (IT) operations; staff performance and 

accountability; strategic audience engagement via social media; the development of 

curriculum materials to engage K–12 and university students in the arts of Africa; and 

effective relations with the news media. 

98 
Specifically, the Museum’s IT plan has integrated functions for administration,

collections management, exhibitions, and public access. NMAfA leadership has integrated 

these strategic goals and operational plans, in concert with the Secretary’s annual goals, into 

the performance plans for all Museum staff. Finally, the NMAfA will continue to forge strong 

relationships with the media, corporations, foundations, community interest groups, and 

congressional representatives. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $512,000 that provides $182,000 

for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item, 

as well as a programmatic increase of 2 FTEs and $330,000 for digitization and Web support. 

Digitization and Web Support (+$330,000, +2 FTEs) 

This budget request includes an increase of $330,000 and 2 FTEs to support the 

expanding digitization effort across NMAfA disciplines. The positions include a digitization 

specialist and an exhibition 3-D designer who would be responsible for managing the 

digitization of the Museum’s art and photographic archive collections and 3-D design of inhouse exhibitions and permanent collection object rotations. These efforts will increase public 

access to the NMAfA’s collections through enhanced navigation features such as eMuseum 

and multi-media applications. These projects are expected to increase the number of touring 

exhibitions developed by the Museum and promote NMAfA scholarship, thereby advancing 

the Smithsonian’s strategic goals of Expanding Digital Technologies and Understanding and 

Impacting 21st Century Audiences. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support staff salaries, benefits, 

and travel. The Museum raises contributions from individuals, foundations, and corporations 

to support activities and programs such as the newly launched Paid Internships Initiative, the 

ongoing NMAfA Women’s Initiative, and the Global Religions of Africa Initiative. In addition, 

grants, donations, and sponsorships fund special projects like exhibitions, education 

programs, and publications. The Museum has expanded its offerings and increased fund 

raising to support new projects, such as collaborative programs with partner African 

museums, multi-year curatorial residencies, and participation in professional development 

training that increases both domestic and international peer perspectives, welcomes new 

voices, and raises the visibility of art from the African continent around the globe. 

99 
ANACOSTIA COMMUNITY MUSEUM 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 20 2,698 3 654 1 114 0 683 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 21 2,873 3 612 0 25 0 75 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 21 2,949 3 612 0 50 0 100 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

Since its founding in 1967, the Anacostia Community Museum (ACM) has been a 

catalyst to help people in urban neighborhoods to voice their concerns about city life, 

examine their role in society, and encourage local cultural expression. As the 

Smithsonian’s first community museum, the ACM is uniquely positioned as a trusted 

bridge between organizations, academia, government, businesses, and community 

members, which together give voice to untold perspectives and uncover novel solutions 

to the problems of urban living. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $76,000 for necessary pay 

and other related salary costs for existing staff. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In the past two years, the Museum has faced challenges related to the COVID-19 

pandemic and the building’s subsequent closure for more than 18 months. However, 

instead of retreating, the Museum moved programs and exhibits into the community. In 

2021, the ACM was the only Smithsonian Museum to open two new outdoor exhibits 

while our buildings remained closed. These exhibits ushered in a new (and safe) way 

for the ACM to continue to serve the community and share the stories of those who 

continue to fight for positive social change. 

The ACM is in the second year of a five-year initiative, Transforming America, 

that looks at five issues through the lens of racial equity. In 2021, we focused on food 

with the exhibit Food for the People: Eating and Activism in Greater Washington. This 

exhibit looked at people and organizations working to create more equitable food 

access for residents throughout the region. To provide more direct service for people 

experiencing food insecurity, the Museum hosted the Feed the Fridge program. This 

program placed a fridge on the Museum grounds and filled it five days a week with 

prepared meals for anyone in need. During 2021, the fridge fed more than 8,000 

residents of Wards 7 and 8. 

100 
 

In 2023, the ACM will continue to focus on creating engaging and interactive 

experiences for audiences, whether they are online or in person. The Museum will 

enhance its online presence with a defined social media strategy and assign education 

staff to create more on-site and off-site public programs. 

Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research 

Also in FY 2023, the ACM will enhance its interdisciplinary research through the 

exploration of the environment. This is the third year of the Transforming America 

initiative, and it will produce exhibits and programs focused on environmental issues, 

specifically in urban communities. In addition to the Urban Waterways and Women’s 

Environmental Leadership programs, the ACM will create experiences both on and off 

site to reflect the needs of the community and show how different neighborhoods 

interact with their environments on a daily basis. 

Understand and Impact 21st Century Audiences 

The ACM completed an audience survey in 2020 and launched a new brand in 

2022. To continue focusing on the Museum’s audience, the ACM will reach out to 

diverse communities, learn their needs, and co-create content with its audience. In 

addition to in-person program opportunities, the ACM plans to continue its online 

programs and make better use of its collection by digitizing more of its content. 

Pop-up Programming and Exhibitions 

With the success of Men of Change — Taking it the Streets in 2021, the ACM will 

continue to develop exhibits and showcase experiences in the local community. This will 

allow the Museum to continue to connect with the community around the ACM as well 

as be responsive to the needs of the community in real time. By placing exhibits and 

experiences outside of the Museum walls, the ACM expands its audience base and 

helps people rethink the role of community museums. 

Education 

Washington, DC Public School Engagement — The ACM is expanding its 

partnerships and work with Washington, DC public schools and other educational 

institutions to engage middle- and high-school students with ACM exhibitions and 

collections content. This project will develop specific engagement modalities for 

students, including on site, off site, and online. This involves designing programs and 

engaging in Museum-based experiences for both on-site and classroom experiences. 

101 
Preserving Our Natural and Cultural Heritage 

Collections 

The ACM is committed to improving the stewardship of and increasing public 

access to its collections. The Museum’s major priority is to continue to digitize 

collections and develop its online portal to make hundreds of high-quality images and 

records available through the Smithsonian’s Collection Search Center and The Museum 

System (TMS) database. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — The ACM’s financial strength is closely tied to 

its strategic revitalization. Recently, for the first time in more than a decade, the ACM hit 

its fundraising target. In FY 2023, advancement staff will leverage the Museum’s 

success in 2022 to inspire current donors and attract new ones by developing a 

comprehensive fundraising plan. The ACM also sees the activation and communication 

campaign as a key component for fund raising because enhanced and widespread 

awareness of the Museum’s many programs will lead to better connections with 

community partners and local entities for giving and resource sharing. 

102 
ARCHIVES OF AMERICAN ART 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 17 1,987 1 309 18 2,166 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 17 2,023 2 508 17 2,543 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 17 2,097 3 757 17 2,622 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

Founded in 1954, the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Art (AAA) is the 

world’s pre-eminent and most widely used resource for original papers and other 

primary records documenting the visual arts in the United States. By collecting, 

preserving, and making available more than 30 million unique letters, diaries, 

photographs, financial records, sketchbooks, scrapbooks, and the like, AAA 

embodies the Smithsonian’s mission for “the increase and diffusion of

knowledge.” 

To achieve the Institution’s strategic goal to reach one billion people a year 

with a digital-first strategy, AAA continues its ambitious digitization program, 

established in 2005, to provide online access to a significant portion of its holdings. 

By digitizing entire archival collections and fulfilling digitization-on-demand 

requests from researchers, in FY 2023, AAA will make hundreds of linear feet of 

material freely available online and easily searchable. 

In addition, AAA will continue to engage in comprehensive and systematic 

collection assessment surveys to inform the strategic goal of Preserving Natural 

and Cultural Heritage while optimizing its assets. As part of this effort, AAA 

continues to decrease the backlog of unprocessed collections in both audiovisual 

(AV) and born-digital holdings. 

AAA will provide a nimble, cost-effective, and responsive administrative 

infrastructure by regularly assessing and enhancing staff development and 

maintaining conscientious oversight of internal controls. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $74,000 for 

necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this 

line item. 

103 
 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

AAA will achieve the Institution’s strategic goal to Understand and Impact 

21st Century Audiences by representing the American experience and diversifying 

our exhibitions online and in the Donald W. Reynolds Center. As part of this effort, 

AAA is collaborating with the Smithsonian American Art Museum on the exhibition 

Subversive, Skilled, Sublime: Fiber Art by Women, which will open in November 

of 2022, and is working with the National Portrait Gallery to co-curate the 

exhibition Felix Gonzalez-Torres: Angel of History, scheduled to open in the fall of 

2024. These two exhibitions also address the goals of One Smithsonian, with 

collaborative programming and, in the case of the fiber-art exhibition, promoting 

the American Women’s History Initiative. 

In FY 2023, with lessons learned from the Smithsonian’s experience with 

the COVID-19 pandemic, AAA will refine its means of conducting remote oral 

history interviews. Using portable kits funded by the Alice L. Walton Foundation, 

interviews will be conducted remotely and focus on under-represented artists. 

The Archives will reach new audiences through its monthly podcast, Articulated: 

Dispatches from the Archives of American Art, that draws on the breadth and 

depth of AAA’s oral history collection while incorporating multiple points of view 

from external partners. AAA will continue to host virtual events which tell an 

expansive story of art and the American experience while highlighting the 

mission of the Archives to preserve these primary sources and make them 

available to the public. 

In FY 2023, with ongoing support from the Terra Foundation for American 

Art and other funding streams in the private sector, AAA will add an estimated 

150,000 digital image files online. AAA will also develop its internal digitization 

and Collections Information System (CIS) application to ensure proper collections 

documentation and support increasingly complex workflows, as well as provide 

proper logging and accessioning of materials in born-digital formats. These 

efforts will enable AAA to track the life cycle of all materials from pre-acquisition 

to storage and access. In addition, AAA will work with staff in the Office of the 

Chief Information Officer to leverage its investment in the description, digitization, 

and management of its collections by participating in ArchivesSpace, SOVA 

(Smithsonian Online Virtual Archives), the Smithsonian’s Enterprise Digital Asset 

Network (EDAN) architecture, the Digital Asset Management System (DAMS), 

the Smithsonian Transcription Center, and other Smithsonian digitization 

initiatives. 

Also in FY 2023, the Archives will work to process all new collections and at 

least 10 percent of AAA’s backlog, or about 1,000 linear feet of archival collections, 

resulting in new, fully searchable finding aids on AAA’s website. Finding aids will 

provide online access to many previously hidden collections, with a focus on the 

records of art galleries and the papers of women artists. System workflows will 

104 
 

continue to integrate accelerated processing and preservation strategies to diminish 

the current backlog and prevent a new backlog. 

AAA’s audiovisual archivist will conduct a review of its workflows for the 

acquisition, preservation, and description of and access to AV formats. This review 

will drive plans to digitize large quantities of at-risk digital formats and advance 

AAA’s role in the new Institution-wide Audiovisual Media Preservation Initiative 

(AVMPI). 

Furthermore, the Archives will continue to strengthen its collections 

stewardship through its ongoing, comprehensive collections assessment surveys 

for manuscript collections, photographic materials, and at-risk audiovisual and 

born-digital holdings. Reports generated from this data provide valuable 

information about AAA’s holdings, so the Archives’ staff can make informed, 

shared decisions about the best way to allocate resources. AAA will continue to 

take a leadership role in working with the larger Smithsonian archival community 

to initiate and implement Institution-wide collections assessment strategies and 

systems. 

In FY 2023, AAA will support researchers by providing access to its 

collections and microfilm in its Washington, DC and New York City research 

centers, as well as other U.S. research centers. Archives’ staff will offer remote 

reference services through the Web-based “Ask Us” form, and continue to 

digitize legacy microfilm, on demand, with the goal of phasing out the interlibrary 

loan of microfilm reels and increasing the Archives’ revenue stream. 

In addition, AAA will establish a new two-year residency position in FY 

2023 for an entry-level archivist to assist with accessioning, collections 

stewardship and processing, reference services, and digital projects. This 

position will include opportunities for professional development and mentorship. 

Finally, AAA will Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration by 

continuing to implement the strategic goals of the Smithsonian, and by adopting 

national best practices and standards to make the most cost-effective use of 

Smithsonian resources. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support AAA’s 

advancement office, including salaries and benefits. Donor-designated funds support 

specific programs and projects, including exhibitions, internships, production of oral 

history interviews, collections and media processing, and publication of the Archives of 

American Art Journal. In FY 2023, the Archives will continue to work closely with its 

diverse advisory board to position this publication as the leading scholarly journal in 

the field of American art history. During the past seven years, AAA has increased the 

number of outstanding submissions, raised the visibility of the journal, strengthened 

the Archives’ relationship with the University of Chicago Press, and established more 

cost-effective, multi-year contracts for design and printing. 

105 
Also, in FY 2023, the Archives will continue to develop strategies for sustaining 

its digitization program by growing its endowment to support essential staff and 

implementing improved rapid-capture technologies and techniques. Funding from the 

Terra Foundation for American Art, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, the Alice L. 

Walton Foundation, and other donors supports AAA’s ambitious digitization program. 

The Archives will continue to raise money from the private sector for digitization, oral 

history projects, collections management, and general operating expenses. 

106 
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN 

HISTORY AND CULTURE 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 145 33,751 8 1,719 51 18,664 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 148 34,853 15 4,192 52 29,248 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 148 35,767 16 4,401 55 30,710 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The National Museum of African American History and Culture (NMAAHC) was 

established by Congress to document, collect, conserve, interpret, and display the 

historical and cultural experiences and achievements of African Americans. In 2016, the 

NMAAHC, the first environmentally sustainable, “green” museum on the National Mall, 

opened to the public, providing a meeting place for all people to learn about the history 

and culture of African Americans and their contributions to every aspect of American 

life. The Museum seeks to help all Americans and others around the world to 

understand these contributions, and in so doing, stimulate a dialogue about race and 

help foster a spirit of reconciliation and healing. As the only national Museum devoted 

exclusively to documenting and exploring African American history and culture, the 

NMAAHC bridges a major gap in our national memory by creating exhibitions and 

programs which focus on a wide arc of history and look deeply into slavery, 

Reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, the great migrations of African Americans 

during the World Wars, the civil rights movement, and other significant issues of the 

19th, 20th, and 21st centuries. The Museum also celebrates African American creativity 

and cultural expressions through art, dance, theater, and literature. 

The Museum opened to unprecedentedly large crowds in 2016. The building, 

exhibitions, digital technology, and Sweet Home Cafe have all been award-winning 

entities, creating even more excitement, and the shops continue to enjoy large crowds 

despite the COVID-19 pandemic having forced the Museum to temporarily close to the 

public. FY 2023 will mark the continuation and expansion of major initiatives which fulfill 

the mission of looking at American history through the lens of African American history 

and culture: the building of a national collection; continued development of information 

technology (IT) and digitization programs; and the development and continued 

implementation of a robust research and education programming initiative — through 

both virtual and in-person resources. 

107 
 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $914,000 for necessary pay 

and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In FY 2023, as the NMAAHC continues to adjust to the challenges of COVID-19, 

the Museum’s top priorities are to make long-term enhancements to its scholarly 

research, educational outreach, and digital programs. This includes growing domestic 

and international partnerships to further generate support for the Museum; designing 

and developing temporary and traveling exhibitions for display throughout the United 

States; expanding scholarly research in all areas of African American history and 

culture; and developing robust virtual and in-person programming for the public, 

educators, and students. 

In FY 2023, the Museum’s Office of Digital Strategy and Engagement will expand 

the NMAAHC’s global reach, engagement, and impact. The Museum will research, 

design, and develop digital experiences, using emerging technologies that enhance 

interactive educational programs, promote engagement with visitors, and help make the 

collections, exhibitions, programs, and educational resources more accessible to a 

global audience. 

In addition, the NMAAHC will continue to expand its interactive, Web, and mobile 

offerings to provide innovative and engaging digital experiences that deepen the 

connection between visitors and the Museum’s collection through bold storytelling and 

timely and relevant themes for diverse audiences. In 2021, the NMAAHC released The 

Searchable Museum, a multi-year initiative with a goal of making all the NMAAHC’s 

content accessible through an intuitive, responsive, and accessible online platform. The 

NMAAHC will continue to build on the success of The Searchable Museum and its first 

exhibition, Slavery and Freedom, by releasing new exhibitions and related content that 

bring hundreds more digitized objects from the collections online, thereby engaging new 

audiences. Upcoming versions of The Searchable Museum will feature content from the 

NMAAHC’s other permanent exhibitions, starting with Making A Way Out of No Way, 

which will trace the development of Black cultural and community institutions from the 

early 1800s to the late 20th century. New “digital-only” experiences that build on The 

Searchable Museum initiative will also be developed in FY 2023 to further realize the 

Smithsonian strategic goals of Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences, 

catalyzing new conversations that address complex challenges and provide 

opportunities to work as “One Smithsonian,” amplifying the power of the stories we tell, 

and increasing our reach and impact to the public. 

In FY 2023, curators and Museum specialists will continue to acquire artifacts, 

fine art, archival materials, photographs, film, and other media assets for the 

NMAAHC’s permanent collection. Curatorial research will contextualize objects from a 

historical and contemporary perspective, with the aim of addressing complex issues and 

catalyzing new conversations about the African American experience through 

interpretive exhibitions, digital projects, publications, symposia, and public programs. 

108 
Projects currently in development include three publications, Musical Crossroads: 

The Material Culture of Black Music; Movements, Motions, Moments: Photographs of 

Religion and Spirituality from the National Museum of African American History and 

Culture; and Afrofuturism: A History of Black Futures, the latter of which will be 

published in conjunction with a new exhibition scheduled to open in FY 2023 and that is 

tentatively entitled Afrofuturism. The Center for the Study of Global Slavery (CSGS) 

continues to work on the Slave Wrecks Project by supporting research, preservation, 

and community engagement efforts on the slave ship Clotilda in Alabama as well as 

with partners in Mozambique, Senegal, and St. Croix in Africa and the West Indies. The 

CSGS is also developing a traveling exhibition tentatively entitled In Slavery’s Wake. In 

addition, the NMAAHC continues its partnership with the Getty Research Institute to coadminister and process the Johnson Publications Photo Archive of more than four 

million prints and negatives from Ebony and Jet magazines. The portals that will provide 

online access to the collection should be available to the public by early 2024. 

The NMAAHC’s Oral History Initiative continues to capture, preserve, and make 

accessible the oral histories of people with extraordinary stories as well as those 

individuals whose achievements and contributions have had a national and global 

impact. The Museum’s Oral History Initiative is an integral part of the Smithsonian 

Institution’s 175th anniversary celebration, which includes oral histories of staff in long, 

short, and 24-hour formats. These interviews will become part of the nation’s 2026 

celebration of 250 years of American independence. 

Digital Humanities, an interpretive method and type of project that is based on 

the intersection of scholarship, digital tools, and technology, will be incorporated into 

other projects as well, providing new and innovative ways to engage visitors with the 

Museum’s collections and interpretive content. The NMAAHC will develop searchable 

digital records for collection objects, exhibition materials, and their digital surrogates. In 

FY 2023, NMAAHC staff will continue to focus on recent acquisitions and undigitized 

objects to improve the features and functions of the Museum’s collection information 

and cloud-hosted digital storage and delivery systems, as well as online user interfaces. 

These improved systems will be used in connection with the Museum’s digital-first 

strategy to drive visionary, interdisciplinary research and scholarly projects. The Robert 

Frederick Smith Center for the Digitization and Curation of African American History will 

continue to deliver public programming, digitization of community-based collections, 

Fellowship programs, and visitor engagement through the Explore Your Family History 

Center and the Community Curation Program — an online platform that invites 

members of the public to share personal stories through digitized images, video, and 

audio, along with digital media resources from the Museum’s community and 

institutional partners. The NMAAHC will also continue offering online audiences curated 

and community-generated selections of digital collections in the Museum’s cloudcomputing environment. 

The NMAAHC will continue to make all digitized collection records and images 

for unrestricted materials freely available via the Digital Public Library of America and 

will participate in other platforms to make high-quality collection information and images 

109 
from many institutions available with one-stop searching. In addition to serving as a 

resource clearinghouse, the Museum will increase access to the Freedmen’s Bureau 

records by continuing a multi-year effort with the Smithsonian Transcription Center to 

provide searchable, full-text transcriptions of the records and link them to the existing 

genealogical index. This will include working with partners to conduct Transcribe-aThons, where volunteers help transcribe historical documents. 

In addition, the NMAAHC continues to offer compelling, first-class exhibitions and 

engage and inspire diverse audiences. In 2021, the Museum opened a temporary 

exhibition entitled Reckoning: Protest. Defiance. Resilience. This exhibit revealed how 

African American artists stand at the vanguard of movements to promote and describe 

social change and document the struggle that Black Americans have faced in their 

pursuit to enjoy the fundamental rights and freedoms promised in the Constitution. Also 

in 2021, the NMAAHC opened the temporary exhibition Reconstruction: Remaking 

America without Slavery. This exhibition explores how African Americans, in seeking to 

define themselves as free and equal citizens after the end of the Civil War, reshaped 

the nation in profound and lasting ways. The legacies of Reconstruction — its promises, 

successes, and failures — shed light on issues of race, citizenship, and social justice 

which continue to reverberate in American society. The exhibition also included public 

programming, educational initiatives, and a compendium book. 

In 2022, the NMAAHC will present a short reprise of the exhibition Represent: 

Hip Hop Photography, which will highlight images from the Museum’s photography 

collection paired with other pictures and objects that explore hip hop’s relationship to 

important historical figures, social movements, and creative moments. This will be 

followed in FY 2023 by an exhibition that examines African American religious life 

through the framework of contemporary culture that the magazines Ebony and Jet 

helped to document and shape. 

The spring of 2023 will see the opening of the next large-scale temporary 

exhibition, Afro- Futurism: A History of Black Futures from the Past, Present, and 

Beyond. This exhibition will present a deeper dive into ideas of Black identity and 

representation by contextualizing the African American experience through the 

perspectives of science, technology, and futuristic principles. Afro-Futurism will provide 

a template for re-imagining Black futures, unimpeded by the restrictions of racism, and 

will explore the various people, concepts, themes, and artistry which have given voice to 

expressions of such a freer society. Also in FY 2023, the Museum will continue its 

intensive and comprehensive rotation program to replace loans and at-risk objects 

within the inaugural exhibitions. Typically, the NMAAHC replaces between 200–300 

objects per year on a twice-yearly cycle. 

The realities of the COVID-19 pandemic have necessitated transferring all public 

programs to a virtual environment. This allowed the NMAAHC to achieve the goal of 

engaging and inspiring diverse audiences locally, nationally, and around the world by 

presenting an array of lectures, conferences, community resources, staged readings, 

film screenings, concerts, and conversations with renowned scholars, thought leaders, 

110 
musicians, actors, artists, authors, and filmmakers. In FY 2023, the Museum plans to 

present programs digitally and will resume doing so in-person when it is safe for the 

public and staff. In the future, the NMAAHC will continue to make resources available by 

streaming programs — such as those about Juneteenth — and creating virtual tour 

experiences to enable audiences across the globe to participate. The Museum’s 

educators will also continue initiatives for all audiences by expanding digitally-based 

resources which use the NMAAHC collections and exhibitions, offering educator and 

caregiver development opportunities, and providing resources for the classroom and 

home. In addition, the Museum will continue implementing revised and tested visitor 

operations and digital experiences to enhance in-person and online visitor experiences. 

The NMAAHC will further the goal of disseminating information to the public by 

educating people about African American history and culture through media, marketing, 

and social media channels. Media campaigns, audience cultivation and outreach, 

marketing, communications, and social media are all avenues that the Museum will 

continue developing to build and maintain its positive brand. 

Meanwhile, to achieve the strategic goal of Preserving Our Natural and Cultural 

Heritage, the NMAAHC Office of Curatorial Affairs will continue to identify, acquire, 

process, and lend collections while developing and refining the permanent collections. 

The Museum has collected more than 40,000 objects and continues to manage offers of 

new collections and facilitate a robust review process. In FY 2023, the NMAAHC will 

continue to safely handle, display, and store these collections while supporting a wide 

array of Museum programming. 

The NMAAHC will achieve the goal of improving the stewardship of the national 

collections by continuing to improve the Museum’s infrastructure and offices, work 

spaces, and collections and other storage spaces. The NMAAHC continues to make 

significant progress to enhance its collections-storage spaces with compact furniture 

and reorganization activities, and regularly coordinates with the National Collections 

Program and Collections Care Initiative. The Museum also continues to develop and 

execute collections plans and internal standards to house, preserve, and organize 

collections in storage, promote a safe work environment, and facilitate access. 

The NMAAHC Office of Strategic Partnerships (OSP) will further the strategic 

goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences by delivering far-reaching 

and transformative support for African American and African Diaspora history and 

culture organizations regionally, nationally, and internationally. The OSP connects with, 

and builds awareness about, the work of its collaborating institutions and provides 

access to training and resources in support of leaders and best practices. In FY 2023, 

the NMAAHC will continue its Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) 

History and Culture Access Consortium, a five-year initiative to address issues facing 

HBCUs and their affiliated museums and archives. This initiative will strengthen the 

long-term institutional stability of these vital cultural organizations. The resulting 

community of best practices will focus on skill-based training for traditionally underrepresented professionals, executive leadership training, and collections inventory and 

111 
digitization. The initiative will culminate in 2026 with a travelling exhibition, aligned with 

the U.S. semi-quincentennial, to highlight the essential role HBCUs have played to 

advance American history and identity. Additionally, the NMAAHC will execute a series 

of virtual and in-person training sessions for museum professionals to strengthen fieldwide practice in ethical interpretation, environmentally-centered community 

engagement, and successful global partnerships. 

To meet the goal of improving the Smithsonian’s information technology systems 

and infrastructure, the NMAAHC will continue building its cloud-based computing 

environment to create a more cost-effective, flexible, scalable, and secure infrastructure 

that supports technical innovations. The Museum will also seek to develop digital-first 

and digital-only initiatives, using low- or no-cost open-source technologies, to enable 

rapid prototyping while minimizing costs. 

Finally, the NMAAHC will achieve the strategic goal of Enabling Cost-Effective 

and Responsive Administration by continuing to develop its organizational structure and 

make organizational and staffing revisions to accomplish program goals. The Museum’s 

safety and facilities program will continue to incorporate post-COVID-19 pandemic 

health and safety protocols, emergency operations procedures, staff communications, 

disaster management, and related consolidation plans. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salary and 

benefit costs for the Museum director and other program-related costs. Donor/sponsordesignated funds support salaries and benefits for development staff; costs associated 

with fundraising goals, collections acquisitions, digitization, and educational initiatives; 

publications and special events for exhibition openings; costs related to specific 

programs and projects, including educational programs, advertising, production of 

fundraising proposals, and member- and donor-related special events; as well as 

outreach activities. 

112 
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN HISTORY 

KENNETH E. BEHRING CENTER 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 160 26,581 20 2,946 51 5,831 0 190 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 160 27,331 19 2,111 50 15,585 0 850 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 163 28,742 19 2,228 50 12,354 0 1,500 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The National Museum of American History (NMAH), Kenneth E. Behring 

Center, has the unique and cherished role as the only Museum in the country 

dedicated to telling the full history of the United States. Through incomparable 

collections, rigorous research, and dynamic public outreach, the NMAH seeks to 

empower people to create a just and compassionate future by exploring, preserving, 

and sharing the complexity of our past. Learning U.S. history helps people 

understand that today’s world is the result of myriad choices and actions made by 

individuals and communities across time and place. Increasingly, we understand that 

knowledge of the past is not a luxury. It is essential for the civic health of our country 

and for our democracy to survive. 

The Museum is honored to steward the nation’s premier history collections, 

consisting of more than 1.8 million objects and more than three shelf-miles of 

archival collections. Our artifacts form a fascinating mosaic of American life and 

make up the greatest single collection of American history in the world. The NMAH 

manages a nearly 800,000 square-foot building on the National Mall in Washington, 

DC as well as collections primarily stored and cared for at the Museum Support 

Center and the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland, and at the Pennsy 

Drive Building in Landover, Maryland. 

At the heart of the Museum are the employees who care for its audiences, 

collections, resources, messages, buildings, and scholarship, all in service to the 

people of the United States and their ongoing education. Collectively, the staff create 

a series of forums, both virtual and in the Museum, where millions of people engage 

with one another and with inspiring and challenging stories from U.S. history. In our 

galleries and online presence, we have connected generations of Americans to 

deeply researched history via an exceptionally broad range of primary sources and 

material culture. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while only approximately 570,000 

people were able to visit the Museum in the seven months it was open to the public 

in 2021, more than 10 million people interacted with the Museum that year through 

online channels (e.g., via websites, social media platforms, the YouTube channel, 

113 
and e-news). The NMAH has shared its work in Rapid Response Collecting related 

to the COVID-19 pandemic, Black Lives Matter, and other protests, as well as the 

January 6th Capitol attack, through proactive news media outreach and educational 

offerings. The Museum’s exhibitions, collecting, research and digital work are also 

covered extensively through media campaigns, which in FY 2021 reached a 

potential audience of 5.75 billion with coverage across all national networks, wire 

services, U.S. and international newspapers and their digital outlets, as well as 

radio, podcasts, and blogs. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $1,411,000. The increase 

includes $1,051,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff 

funded under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 3 FTEs and $360,000 to 

expand digital access and technologies. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In FY 2020, the Museum completed its 10-year strategic plan (for 2020–2030), 

which will guide the NMAH through to the 250th anniversary of the United States in 2026 

and beyond. The plan is organized around the Museum’s vision to become the country’s

most accessible, inclusive, relevant, and sustainable public history institution. To fulfill 

that role by 2030, the NMAH will serve an audience that reflects the full racial, class, 

gender, ethnic, and geographic demographics of the United States. New, state-of-the 

field interpretative and collections plans have been crafted and approved to advance the 

Museum’s overarching strategic plan. 

The NMAH’s vision is a timely reflection of its status as the Smithsonian’s flagship 

history museum, given the congressionally authorized creation of the Smithsonian 

American Women’s History Museum and the National Museum of the American Latino, 

whose goals are inextricably tied to the current mission and work of the NMAH. The 

Museum has already established the groundwork for these two new Museums through 

its participation and partnerships with the Institution’s American Women’s History 

Initiative (AWHI) and the Smithsonian Latino Center. The NMAH will continue these 

collaborative efforts with the new Museums and ensure that our combined mutual 

resources serve audiences in the best possible manner. The fiscal impact of these new 

Museums on the NMAH will be reflected in future budget considerations. 

This groundwork is evidenced by the Museum’s recent and upcoming slate of 

public projects that advance the NMAH’s commitment to women’s history in innovative 

ways. Girlhood (It’s Complicated) tackles the long and complicated history of girls from 

all backgrounds, races, and classes, and what it has meant to grow up female in the 

United States, from the 1790s to the present. It will remain open until January of 2023 

and then travel across the country. The exhibition mines the Museum’s rich collections 

and covers key topics such as education, wellness, work, fashion, and girls’ involvement 

in American political and social movements. Through bold murals, Picturing Women 

Inventors highlights the distinctive motivations, challenges, and accomplishments of 

exceptional 20th- and 21st-century inventive women who are diverse both personally 

and professionally. In addition, the AWHI funded the podcast Collected, the first season 

of which launches in 2022 and focuses on Black feminism. 

114 
The NMAH’s connection with the National Museum of the American Latino is 

highlighted by ¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues/En los barrios y las grandes 

ligas, an exhibition that opened in 2021. It takes audiences on a bilingual journey into the 

heart of the nation’s pastime, vividly conveying how generations of Latin Americans have 

helped make baseball the game it is today. Their inspirational stories gesture toward 

larger themes in American history that connect us all, on and off the baseball diamond. 

The Museum is also providing the Smithsonian Latino Center with space and assistance 

to open the Molina Family Latino Gallery at the NMAH in 2022. This 4,500-square-foot 

space will center the U.S. Latino experience within America’s historical narrative via a 

series of changing exhibits, the latest in digital technology, and robust educational 

programs designed for multi-generational audiences. The Molina Gallery will be the first 

physical space at the Smithsonian primarily dedicated to showcasing the contributions of 

the Latino community in shaping America’s culture. 

For both Girlhood and ¡Pleibol!, the Museum has mounted digital advertising 

campaigns to reach audiences as outlined in a strategic plan, including Spanishlanguage outreach to bring audiences to the NMAH website and other online digital 

content. 

In 2021, the Museum issued a tactical plan for achieving the strategic plan’s vision 

by promoting collaboration, efficiency, and communication to help the NMAH understand 

and pursue its goals. The Museum will use both the strategic and tactical plans as living 

documents to measure success and share results with staff, stakeholders, and the 

public. Moreover, the NMAH’s efforts align with the Smithsonian’s Strategic Plan and 

performance objectives as part of the One Smithsonian ethos. The tactical plan factors in 

the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the Museum to close to the public 

for more than one year, excluding an eight-week period in the fall of 2020 when the 

Museum briefly reopened. The NMAH drew from the lessons learned out of this 

experience to use technologies and work in different ways to reshape how the Museum 

can interact with audiences in the future. For example, the NMAH developed a Live 

Remote Assistant program that allows volunteers to assist visitors via a videoconference 

link. The Museum’s visitor experience team also helped develop an Institution-wide 

customer service training module for frontline staff and volunteers. This training ensures 

consistent understanding and enforcement of the institution’s safety policies, such as the 

face-covering requirement, and provides strategies for de-escalating difficult 

conversations with visitors about COVID-19 public health protocols. 

The NMAH contributes to the Smithsonian’s goal of Enhanced 

Interdisciplinary Research by telling intersectional stories that engage diverse 

audiences; nurturing community partnerships; and advancing collaborative work 

across disciplinary boundaries. Recent efforts include launching the Center for 

Restorative History (CRH); creating the Center for the Public Understanding of 

American Religion; and completing “Undocumented,” a multi-year collecting initiative 

to chronicle the efforts of undocumented people to shape political change. Other 

related projects involve initiating a cross-disciplinary effort to document the events 

surrounding the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection, and completing 

“¡Eschuchame!,” a collection of oral histories documenting the history of Spanishlanguage television broadcasting. Collaborative, community-based curatorial efforts 

115 
by leaders of the CRH led to the Museum collecting a sign that community members 

in Mississippi had erected to mark the 1955 murder of Emmett Till but that was 

quickly attacked and riddled with 317 bullet holes. This moving emblem of 

contemporary racial violence in the fight over historical memory was exhibited for 

two months in the NMAH’s Flag Hall, the symbolic center of the Museum. 

In addition, the NMAH is investing in its digital future as part of the 

Smithsonian’s goal to Expand Digital Technologies. The Museum is redesigning, 

migrating, and refreshing its public Web platform for the first time in seven years, 

based on the identified needs of the NMAH’s audiences and staff. The Museum is 

also developing a plan to define new digital-outreach goals and objectives, with a 

focus on more efficient workflows, enhanced infrastructure, and better training to 

increase staff capacity. The NMAH continues to improve access to and use of its 

collections through digitization, better and more descriptive cataloguing, and 

increased availability of images in the public domain, which allows people to 

download them in high-resolution, for free. The Museum is also partnering with the 

Journal Storage platform known as JSTOR to develop an experimental project that 

will link NMAH collections to scholarly publications. 

In FYs 2020–2022, the COVID-19 pandemic limited staff access to the 

NMAH, which consequently affected its collections stewardship functions and 

required the Museum to focus on what could be done virtually. Digitization efforts 

continued, with the addition of an improved workflow to address the physical and 

technological obsolescence of its audiovisual collections through digitization. New 

approaches for descriptive practices, including the exploration of artificial intelligence 

and batch processing, made more catalogue records available online. The Museum 

also supported the Smithsonian’s foray into open access to its collections by 

identifying objects now in the public domain. 

As part of the NMAH’s priority to align collections stewardship with the 

Smithsonian’s goal of Preserving Our Natural and Cultural Heritage, the Museum 

completed a forward-looking collections plan that enables sustained stewardship 

and advances a more inclusive and accessible national collection. This plan creates 

a shared language and common sense of purpose that will guide decisions about 

the NMAH’s collections’ acquisition, stewardship, and utilization. In collaboration with 

the Smithsonian’s National Collections Program and Smithsonian Facilities, the 

NMAH continues to plan the renovation of the Museum’s East Wing (also known as 

the Public Space Renewal Program — PSRP IV); the development of the Pod 6 

collections storage space at the Museum Support Center; and the collections 

inventory and decontamination projects at the Garber Facility. Most importantly, the 

Museum is exploring preventive measures to enhance the resiliency of the main 

building and protect it from catastrophic flooding. Through these far-reaching, longterm initiatives, the NMAH will promote and enhance the value of its collections, 

complete intensive inventory, digitization, and description projects; increase online 

access; advance cross-institutional collaborations; deploy innovative uses of 

technology; and work toward the transformation of its physical infrastructure — all 

with the goal of preserving the historical memories of the nation for the future. 

116 
The Museum’s new interpretive plan supports the Smithsonian’s strategic 

goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences, providing direction 

and focus to create rich and engaging visitor experiences within the NMAH, in 

classrooms, and on digital channels. The plan recognizes the potential power of the 

breadth of our audiences — from visitors, readers, program attendees, students, and 

teachers to online users, co-creators, community partners, conveners, and artists. 

Through active engagement with a living past, audiences will recognize themselves 

as change-makers and see new connections with their fellow citizens. This sense of 

empowerment and interconnection is fundamental to the Museum’s mission in 

pursuit of its goal to help the visiting public realize “a just and compassionate future.”

In FYs 2022–2023, the NMAH will craft a multi-year strategy to identify and engage 

audiences as part of the Museum’s public outreach efforts. 

In response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NMAH continued to 

prioritize the creation of new digital learning content for adult and student audiences. 

The Museum adapted teacher and student resources to be available live, offered 

workshops and programs teachers and students could participate in live or watch 

later, created Learning Lab collections for audiences to explore online, and printed 

Look !Talk! Play! cards and materials for them to create offline. Throughout the 

2021–2022 school year, the NMAH continued to add thousands of free K–12 

interactive resources to its library and make them available via History Explorer, the 

Museum’s acclaimed website for teachers. Despite teachers’ restricted availability 

and high workload during the pandemic, NMAH educators trained more than 1,000 

teachers in 2021 and collaborated with other Smithsonian units to design and deliver 

a digital summer teacher institute that served hundreds of teachers nationwide. 

In FY 2022, the Museum will conduct its tenth National Youth Summit (NYS), 

with a special focus on the intersection of history and civics that asks, “How do the 

stories we tell about the past shape our democracy of the future?” The NYS is a 

webcast event that brings middle and high school students together with scholars, 

teachers, policy experts, and activists in a national conversation about important 

events in America’s past which remain relevant to the nation’s present and future.

The 2021 NYS focused on gender equity and drew nearly 5,000 young people to 

participate from 34 states and at 12 different Smithsonian Affiliate museums across 

the nation. 

In FY 2023, the NMAH will open several new exhibitions which bring history 

to bear on contemporary needs and concerns. Entertainment Nation explores how 

film, television, music, and sports have served as forums for key national 

conversations about what kind of people we are and who we want to be. 

(Re)Framing Conversations: Photographs by Richard Avedon, 1946-1965 illustrates 

how Avedon’s iconic portraits speak to the complexities of his time and raise 

enduring questions for today. Do No Harm explores a paradox at the heart of 

modern medicine — its amazing inventiveness in saving lives and its sobering ability 

to tolerate, even exacerbate, social inequities in our collective health and well-being. 

Gamechangers uses the Museum’s incredible sports collections to dramatize how 

athletes, inventors, and technology have impacted how we play our games. Gullah 

Basket Weavers highlights the NMAH’s important collection of such crafts and 

117 
explores the evolution of our understanding of African American objects and their 

makers during the last 50 years. 

Finally, the NMAH will Enable a Cost-Effective and Responsive 

Administration by reorganizing the Museum to align its work and human and 

financial resources with its strategic plan. Staff will focus on achieving accountability 

and efficiencies in the Museum’s administrative, personnel, hiring, and governance 

practices which prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion among volunteers, interns, 

Fellows, employees, and the NMAH advisory board. The Museum’s Inclusion, 

Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) Council is working to establish a more inclusive 

and equitable work environment. The Council shares resources through a monthly 

bulletin to offer independent, self-guided enrichment for staff; hosts a discussion 

series on topics relating to workplace inclusion; and is planning an “Ask Me 

Anything” series where members can anonymously answer questions about their 

representation of a marginalized community (to foster understanding in a safe 

space). The Council will also address issues of unconscious bias and racial equity 

and develop a long-term training plan tailored to the unique needs of the Museum 

and its staff. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $1,411,000. The increase 

includes $1,051,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff 

funded under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 3 FTEs and $360,000 to 

expand digital access and technologies. 

Digital Technologies (+$360,000, +3 FTEs) 

The budget request includes an increase of $360,000 and 3 FTEs to expand 

and strengthen the Museum’s Web, social media, and digital media programs; 

support the initial implementation of the NMAH strategic, interpretive, and tactical 

plans; increase the reach, engagement, and impact of Museum collections, research 

and programs through digital outreach; provide technical and cost efficiencies; and 

improve the NMAH’s ability to manage projects, contracts, and core functions to 

expand its production capacity. 

The additional staff will enable the NMAH to listen better to and serve our 

digital audiences and address the growing demand for digital and media-based 

learning opportunities (especially for K–12 students); drive deeper engagement with 

the Museum’s collections and scholarship; reach and serve new and more diverse 

audiences, regardless of geography or income; and maintain and manage the 

Museum’s public-facing digital infrastructure. The NMAH will seek diverse, 

multilingual candidates as part of the ongoing goal to make the Museum more 

diverse, inclusive, and accessible. 

118 
NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust revenue sources include 

space rentals for special events, revenue sharing from business operations, 

honoraria for speaking engagements, and tuition reimbursements. These general 

trust funds support salaries and benefits for NMAH staff who work in administration, 

advancement, public affairs, and special events, as well as other program costs. In 

addition, the Museum receives restricted funding through donor/sponsor-designated 

trust funds (such as gifts, private grants, and endowments) and Government grants 

and contracts. These restricted funds are used to develop, install, and promote new 

exhibitions, fund public programs and educational initiatives, and support visitor 

services, research, travel, and collection acquisitions. These restricted funds are 

vital to complete the renovation of the public spaces in the Museum through the 

fabrication and opening of new exhibits, such as the upcoming 20-year exhibition 

Entertainment Nation, and a temporary rotating exhibition space, both of which will 

be installed on the third floor of the building’s West Wing and are set to open in FY 

2023. The NMAH’s focus will then turn to the East Wing public space renovation. 

119 
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 190 34,891 5 952 24 9,157 0 96 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 190 35,680 3 1,121 28 10,453 0 92 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 190 36,762 3 1,150 30 9,827 0 92 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

By partnering with Native peoples and their allies, the National Museum of the 

American Indian (NMAI) fosters a richer shared human experience through a more 

informed understanding of Native peoples. 

In keeping with its authorizing statute, the NMAI is one Museum in three 

locations: the NMAI-DC on the National Mall, NMAI-NY in lower Manhattan, and the 

Cultural Resources Center in Suitland, Maryland. However, despite having multiple 

sites, the NMAI will focus its resources to support research, exhibits, and programs 

concerning the cultures and histories of Native communities and to present 

contemporary works of art to the public. The online and on-site offerings of diverse 

exhibitions, cultural demonstrations, tribal festivals, educational presentations, and 

scholarly symposia ensure a meaningful visitor experience. Online content based on 

these programs will continue to expand our reach to distant virtual visitors who may 

not be able to come to the Museum in person. Through its exhibitions and public 

programming, the NMAI continues to present the contemporary voices of Native 

peoples to educate and inform the public while countering widespread stereotypes. 

The NMAI will continue to steward the more than one million collection items 

entrusted to the Museum’s care. The collections represent an excess of 14,000 

years of history and more than 1,500 indigenous cultures and communities 

throughout the Western Hemisphere and Hawaii. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of 1,082,000 for 

necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this 

line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

To achieve the strategic goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st 

Century Audiences, the NMAI is directing its resources to: 1) activities that will 

increase visitation; 2) public programming and exhibits that will encompass 

120 
 

information about the indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere and Hawaii 

(as mandated in the NMAI enabling legislation) and demonstrate the presence 

and cultural contributions of contemporary Native peoples; 3) outreach to Native 

communities, tribes, and organizations through programming that includes 

consultations, loans from NMAI collections, online access to collections and 

content, videoconferences, internships, and publications; and 4) amplify the civic 

discourse on issues facing Native Americans by conducting seminars and 

symposia on matters of public interest. Major exhibitions opening or under 

development in FY 2023 include: 

• Shelley Niro — 500-Year Itch, a retrospective exhibition of the Mohawk 

artist, photographer, and filmmaker. The exhibition is being organized with 

the Art Gallery of Hamilton, Ontario, and the National Gallery of Art in 

Ottawa. Niro is a highly celebrated artist whose wry creations address 

issues of history, family, and matriarchal feminism. The exhibition is 

planned for NMAI’s New York facility where it will accompany the recently 

opened, longer-term exhibition Native New York, which also addresses 

Mohawk and Haudenosaunee history and culture. The exhibition will open 

on May 25, 2023, and close in January of 2024. 

• Robert Houle — Red Is Beautiful, a career retrospective exhibition for 

Saulteaux artist Robert Houle, organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario in 

Toronto. Houle is a pioneering modernist painter whose large canvases 

deploy color and gesture to synthesize the traditions of Native heritage 

items with the most advanced ideas about modern painting. His work often 

combines images, colors, text, or other media to create works about 

Native sovereignty and spirituality. The exhibition in Washington, DC is 

part of an international tour and will be on display from May of 2023 

through May of 2024. 

Both exhibitions, in New York City and Washington, DC, will be accompanied 

by illustrated catalogues and a full schedule of educational programming. The 

Canadian consulate will support both projects by sponsoring artist travel and 

promotion. 

The Museum will achieve its education goals by continuing to provide daily 

exhibit and educational programming about Native peoples of the Western 

Hemisphere and Hawaii, thereby providing opportunities to expand public 

knowledge. The seven-day-a-week operation will include interpretive activities, 

film and video presentations, cultural arts performances, demonstrations, and 

resource materials about Native American history and cultural heritage. The 

NMAI will also continue working with Native educators and cultural experts on the 

Museum’s national education initiative, “Native Knowledge 360,” to create model 

curriculum materials. The NMAI will offer an array of virtual and on-site teacher 

professional development resources across the country to support educators in 

the use of these materials to augment their students’ understanding of Native 

American history and culture. To promote learning across generations, the 

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imagiNATIONS Activity Centers in Washington, DC and New York City will 

provide bilingual (English/Spanish) interactive learning spaces to introduce 

aspects of indigenous knowledge or Native science through tangible examples of 

their remarkable accomplishments and contributions to the world. The NMAI is 

also developing related online educational resources to help make the on-site 

centers more accessible for audiences unable to visit the Museum in person. 

NMAI staff will continue to provide on-site and online educational programs for 

groups, schools, and the general public, leading presentations in galleries and 

deploying volunteers in all public spaces and program areas to ensure maximum use 

of all the Museum’s available educational resources to enhance the visitor experience. 

Public engagement efforts will continue to bring the Museum and its resources 

to audiences through both on-site and online venues and via innovative outreach and 

training programs. These contacts will link external communities to public audiences 

through technology and involvement in NMAI activity and exhibit planning and 

programming. 

In addition, the NMAI will continue dedicating resources to expand access to 

the Museum’s collections online, providing digital educational resources and 

developing its website as part of the Smithsonian’s strategic goal to Expand Digital 

Technologies. 

As part of the Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research strategic goal to engage in 

vital arts and humanities research, the NMAI will continue to hire and retain the 

highest quality research staff and collaborate with leading institutions of learning and 

community-based scholars. Museum staff will also disseminate their research to 

Native American communities and public audiences through the Web, exhibitions, 

printed materials, programs, and publications, and will continue to seek collaborative 

opportunities with other organizations, museums, institutions of higher learning, and 

Native American communities. 

Through judicious acquisition, documentation, digitization, inventory, 

preservation, research, security, storage renewal and enhancements, as well as 

through loans to museums across the United States, the NMAI’s staff will 

continue to advance the strategic goal to Preserve Our Natural and Cultural 

Heritage in dialogue with Native communities and cultural experts. The 

Museum’s scholars will also continue to engage the public by increasing digital 

access to collections for Native communities and hosting virtual workshops. This 

includes enhancing the collections by acquiring works which document Native 

experiences and expressive cultures, such as those represented in modern and 

contemporary arts. In addition, the NMAI will continue to loan objects to tribal 

museums and, where appropriate, repatriate sacred objects and items of cultural 

patrimony to their original tribes. 

Furthermore, as another part of the goal to Preserve our Natural and Cultural 

Heritage, the NMAI also maintains the National Native American Veterans’

122 
 

Memorial, which was legislatively authorized and opened on the Museum grounds in 

FY 2021. 

Finally, the strategic goal to Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive 

Administration will be addressed by efficiently and economically designating 

appropriate resources to achieve the mission of the Museum. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salary and 

benefit costs for the Museum director and other program-related costs. Donor/ 

sponsor-designated funds support salaries and benefits for development staff; costs 

associated with achieving the NMAI’s fundraising goals; training of future 

conservators; conservation of objects for exhibits and community loans; publications 

and special events for exhibition openings; costs related to specific programs and 

projects, including the National Native American Veterans’ Memorial dedication, 

educational programs, advertising, and production of fundraising proposals, 

member- and donor-related special events; as well as outreach activities. 

123 
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN LATINO 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 5 1,307 5 775 4 1,130 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 17 8,324 7 1,200 6 3,771 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 28 10,392 6 1,890 4 4,162 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

Public Law (P.L.) 116–260, signed by the President on December 27, 

2020, established the National Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) within 

the Smithsonian Institution. The mission of the NMAL is to give voice to the 

richness and challenges of the Latino American experience, make it possible for 

all people to understand the depth, complexity, and promise of the American 

experience, and serve as a national forum for a collaboration on and celebration 

of Latino American history and culture for educational and social institutions. 

More specifically, the NMAL will be the keystone institution for people in the 

United States and visitors worldwide to learn about Latino contributions to life, art, 

history, and culture in the United States; and will serve as a gateway for visitors to 

view other Latino exhibitions, collections, and programming at other Smithsonian 

facilities and museums throughout the United States. 

In FY 2021, resources from the Smithsonian Latino Center ($807,000 and 

5 FTEs) were realigned to the new NMAL line item, along with $500,000 from the 

Latino Initiatives Pool (LIP) to the new Museum line item and an additional 

$500,000 to the Administration line item for required staff to support the NMAL. 

In FY 2022, NMAL received funding for 12 FTEs and $2,000,000 to begin 

recruiting and selecting initial personnel; form planning and coordination teams to 

develop exhibitions, public programs, education, research, collections 

acquisition, information technology, and capital fund raising; implement a siteselection evaluation process; and develop the capacity for administrative and 

financial management. 

To reflect the new Museum’s status, in FY 2022 management of the LIP 

and $5,000,000 was transferred from the Smithsonian’s Institution Wide 

Programs line item for LIP to the NMAL line item. 

In FY 2023, the estimate includes a requested increase of 11 FTEs and 

$2,000,000 to continue recruiting and selecting personnel, especially in research, 

124 
collections, education, and communication through digital platforms, while the 

Museum planning is under way. The estimate also includes an increase of 

$68,000 for necessary pay for existing staff funded under this line item. 

In accordance with P.L. 116–260, the amounts appropriated pursuant to the 

authorization under this section shall remain available until expended. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

As indicated in P.L. 116–260, the Museum will illuminate the story of the 

United States by featuring Latino contributions, and provide a national resource 

for the collection, study, research, publication, and establishment of exhibitions 

and programs about Latino life, art, history, and culture that encompasses: 

• Latino contributions to the early history of what is now the United 

States of America and its territories; 

• Latino service in the armed forces from the earliest days of the 

American Revolution to current military deployments in defense of 

our freedoms; 

• Latino contributions to the freedom, well-being, and economic 

prosperity of all people in the United States through historical 

movements; 

• the entrepreneurial and charitable activities of Latinos; and 

• the study and appreciation of Latino life, art, history, and culture, 

and their impact on U.S. society. 

As part of the Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research strategic goal to 

engage in vital arts and humanities research, the Museum will begin to hire the 

highest quality research staff and collaborate with leading institutions of learning 

and community-based scholars. The NMAL staff will make research for film, 

video, audio, and photographic content developed for exhibitions available at the 

Museum and eventually to public audiences through the Web, printed materials, 

and collaborative activities with other groups and organizations. 

The NMAL will achieve the goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st 

Century Audiences by establishing a planning and coordination structure to 

develop an agenda and project schedule for defining exhibition emphasis, 

direction, and composition; forming a collections identification and acquisition 

strategy; coordinating collaborative efforts with other museums; and creating a 

strategic public relations plan and initial materials to introduce the new Museum 

to a national and global audience. 

125 
 

The Museum will Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage by 

developing operating plans; purchasing needed equipment, supplies, and 

contractual support; and performing environmental impact and traffic analyses of 

potential building sites. 

The NMAL will achieve the strategic goal to Enable Cost-Effective and 

Responsive Administration by developing annual operating budgets; preparing 

personnel actions and vacancy announcements to hire new Museum staff; 

organizing a capital campaign office; and developing a fundraising strategy and 

implementation plan to identify philanthropic prospects and major gift sources. 

In FY 2022, the Museum entered the early stages of development by: (1) 

forming the NMAL Board of Trustees and meeting on a regular basis; (2) 

selecting a founding director to begin work in early May of 2022; (3) starting site 

selection for the Museum (to be completed by December of 2022); (4) forming a 

Scholarly Advisory Committee to begin meeting in March of 2022; (5) merging 

the Smithsonian Latino Center with the NMAL and adding new staff to the 

existing roster of personnel; and (6) opening the Molina Family Latino Gallery in 

mid-2022 at the National Museum of American History (NMAH), so it can serve 

as the provisional NMAL until the new Museum opens its doors. 

In FY 2023, the NMAL will continue the work of the LIP and further the 

strategic goals of Enhancing Interdisciplinary Research and Understanding and 

Impacting 21st Century Audiences. The LIP provides funding for Smithsonian-wide 

projects that support Latino programs and focus on U.S. Latino contributions to 

science, history, and culture. Pool funds have been used to support exhibition and 

collections development, public and educational programs, research and 

publications, digital content, and Fellowships and internships. 

Projects are selected on a competitive basis, as recommended by a peerreview panel, from proposals that demonstrate cost-effective deployment of pool 

funds, as well as coordination with other Smithsonian resources and external 

funding. Since its creation in 1995, the LIP has provided more than $41.5 million in 

funding to more than 600 Smithsonian programs and projects. 

In addition, the Latino Curatorial Initiative has supported 10 Latino curators 

and eight curatorial assistants at various Smithsonian units. The initiative was 

designed to increase Latino representation and scholarship at the Smithsonian. 

Their areas of expertise include archaeology, archival services, Latino art and 

design, and traveling exhibition support. Furthermore, the expanded funding of the 

LIP has broadened the Smithsonian’s outreach efforts nationwide. This includes an 

increased number of traveling exhibitions, public and educational programs, and 

institutional partnerships. These funds ensure that Smithsonian content is available 

to more visitors throughout the country and the world, including audiences using 

digital platforms. 

The LIP funding will continue to go to Smithsonian leadership and 

professional development programs as well. An example of this is the Smithsonian 

126 
Latino Center’s Latino Museum Studies Program (LMSP), which now boasts a 

national alumni network of more than 300 professionals and scholars, some of 

whom are employed at the Smithsonian. Programs such as the LMSP play an 

important role in creating an extensive pool of qualified museum professionals and 

cultural specialists at universities, museums, and cultural centers, many of which 

also collaborate with the Smithsonian. The LMSP recently expanded to include an 

undergraduate internship supported by The Andrew Mellon Foundation and reestablish predoctoral and postdoctoral opportunities for graduate students and 

scholars. The undergraduate internship focuses on areas of museum work that are 

often under-represented by Latino professionals. Those areas include museum 

conservation, digital humanities, museum education, and exhibition design. 

The Smithsonian is also developing the first exhibition and public program 

space in the NMAH dedicated to the U.S. Latino experience. With a major gift from 

the Molina family and other private donors, along with LIP funding, this 4,500-

square-foot gallery is scheduled to open in the late spring of 2022. The Molina 

Family Latino Gallery will present stories of discovery, identity, migration, innovation, 

entrepreneurship, and success to millions of diverse, intergenerational visitors. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $2,068,000 which 

provides an increase of $68,000 for necessary pay for existing staff funded under 

this line item and a programmatic increase of $2,000,000 and 11 FTEs. The 

program increases are as follows: 

• (+$2,000,000, + 11 FTEs) This increase will support the initial planning 

activities for the new Museum in the areas of exhibitions, public 

programs, collections, and outreach. Extensive programmatic planning, 

in conjunction with facilities planning, will be necessary so that the 

NMAL’s programs and the eventual design of the Museum building are 

compatible and enable the NMAL to achieve its intended mission. 

Planning will encompass the development of strategies for the 

identification, acquisition, and management of collections and archival 

materials for research; physical and thematic design, composition, and 

direction of exhibitions; design of a full range of public programs for 

various audiences; and establishing an outreach program to address 

diverse Museum constituencies, including different ethnic groups, 

schools, families, and cultural and historical foundations. This initial 

planning work is vital because it will establish the foundation for the 

programs and activities the NMAL offers in the future. 

Administrative staff will perform all necessary purchasing tasks to 

acquire supplies, equipment, and contractual services; develop 

budgetary estimates and budget justification material; perform 

accounting functions; process personnel actions, including hiring and 

all other personnel services; and obtain legal advice and opinions. This 

127 
additional staffing will become essential for the smooth functioning of 

operations as the workforce and workload of the new Museum 

increase each year to support the NMAL opening to the public. 

This increase will also establish a fundraising campaign office and 

enable the recruitment and hiring of professional fundraising personnel 

who will develop a strategic fundraising plan and begin cultivating 

donor prospects. The staff for this office will be a mix of federal and 

trust positions and contractors. P.L. 116–260 specifically authorizes 

the NMAL to use appropriated funds for fund raising. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salary and 

benefit costs for the Museum director and other program-related costs. Donor/ 

sponsor-designated funds support salaries and benefits for development staff; costs 

associated with reaching the NMAL’s fundraising goals; training of future 

conservators; conservation of objects for exhibits and community loans; publications 

and special events for exhibition openings; and costs related to specific programs 

and projects. 

128 
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 57 6,983 4 1,040 17 2,632 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 57 7,176 4 3,147 17 3,681 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 59 7,808 4 1,567 17 3,405 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) inspires visitors from 

around the world by illuminating the American experience through powerful 

images that connect people and their stories. 

The NPG strives to bring visitors face to face, literally and figuratively, with 

exceptional Americans and their remarkable stories across time, place, and 

circumstance. The Gallery uses diverse approaches in visual biography to focus 

on changing notions of American identity, and to track evolving ideas about who 

is significant and has an impact on American culture. As a result, the NPG 

aspires to be widely known as the place that sparks thought and conversation, 

one that translates factual American biography into a discussion of contemporary 

issues, and as an institution that includes diverse audiences as active 

participants to help define American identity through portraiture and biography. 

The Portrait Gallery devotes a major portion of its resources to the 

strategic goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences, thereby 

increasing the availability and accessibility of the NPG’s collections through 

exhibitions, public programs, and publications. The exhibitions explore themes in 

history, biography, and art in a way that brings out new meaning and 

understanding of the American experience. The Portrait Gallery’s exhibitions in 

FYs 2022 and 2023 will continue to support the Smithsonian’s American 

Women’s History Initiative (AWHI) by examining the contributions of women in 

shaping America. Highlights of special exhibitions opening in FY 2022 include: 

• Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands — This first large-scale retrospective 

of internationally acclaimed, Chinese-born, American artist Hung Liu features 

more than 50 artworks made by the artist from her time in Maoist China in the 

1960s, through her immigration to California in the 1980s, to the height of her 

career with recent works. Liu sadly passed away only weeks before this 

exhibition opened. Having lived through wars, political revolutions, exile, and 

129 
displacement, Liu’s story presents a complex, multifaceted picture of an Asian 

Pacific American experience. Her portraits offer a personal yet universal look 

at themes of feminism, the freedom of self-expression, history and personal 

memory, migration, and immigration. 

• Watergate: Portraiture and Intrigue — On the 50th anniversary of the 

Watergate break-in, this exhibition from the NPG’s collection brings visitors 

face-to-face with the scandal’s cast of characters. Many of the works featured 

are drawn from the Time collection of the original artwork created for the 

famed magazine. 

• The Outwin 2022: American Portraiture Today — This exhibition is the result 

of the Gallery’s sixth Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition. The triennial 

competition, which is open to all forms of media, including performance art, 

resulted in 42 finalists. The competition focuses on broadening the definition 

of portraiture while highlighting the genre’s relevance in contemporary art and 

culture. 

• Family Ties: Daguerreotype Portraits — Drawing upon the Portrait Gallery’s 

collection, this exhibition reflects the range of familial relationships 

documented by the camera during the Daguerreian era. While they include 

nuclear family groups, they also speak to other meaningful family bonds —

those shared by a young brother and sister; an aunt and a beloved niece; a 

young man and his father-in-law; a caring uncle and his nieces and nephews; 

as well as long-married couples posing for portraits to leave for their children. 

• I Dream A World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Black Women 

Who Changed America (Part 1) — Since the publication of these images 

more than 30 years ago, African American women have gained greater 

visibility on the national stage and in the global arena. Many of the 

remarkable women featured in this two-part exhibition, drawn from Lanker’s 

extensive photographic project of 75 portraits, will be familiar to audiences. 

They include writers, entertainers, athletes, activists, and politicians. The 

personal challenges and powerful journeys undertaken by these remarkable 

women should prove inspirational to all visitors. 

• One Life: Maya Lin — As part of the One Life series, this exhibition will be the 

first visual biography of architect, sculptor, and environmentalist Maya Lin to 

be presented in an art museum. Known primarily for her initially controversial 

and ultimately epoch-making Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial, Lin has 

consistently and provocatively explored how we experience and relate to the 

landscape. Depicting Lin’s upbringing, education, and the challenges and 

triumphs of her impactful career, this exhibition will demonstrate the formative 

influences which led to her significant contributions to art and architecture and 

inspire visitors through the stories of her challenges and accomplishments. 

130 
 

In addition to permanent collection rotations and the conclusion of existing 

traveling exhibitions, the Gallery will continue to travel The Obama Portraits Tour 

to the Brooklyn Museum in New York; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in 

California; the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia; the Museum of Fine Arts 

in Houston, Texas; and the deYoung Museum in San Francisco, California. In 

addition, in FY 2022 the Portrait Gallery will continue its plans to reinstall The 

American Origins permanent exhibition that is now titled Out of Many. 

The combined audience engagement department, consisting of 

communications, new media, and education staff, have furthered broadening 

access to collections by defining overarching goals, strategies that support each 

goal, actionable tactics for each strategy, and key performance indicators to 

measure success. The NPG will make further strides to raise its national visibility, 

as well as to increase local visitorship and engagement. Due to the lingering 

effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gallery will create a hybrid model of 

online offerings and in-person programming. The audience engagement team will 

accomplish these goals through targeted outreach, the Web, and social media 

campaigns. As the NPG shifts to online engagement, the Gallery will serve a 

new, international audience, continue to build off of diverse representation by 

leveraging social media platforms to attract more followers and convert them to 

visitors, and also expand engagement with international media. 

In FYs 2022 and 2023, the NPG will continue to collaborate with its 

innovative learning groups, The Teen Council and the Teacher Advisory Board, 

and use their perspectives and knowledge to extend the educational value of the 

Gallery’s collection both programmatically and digitally. The Accessibility Task 

Force will bring NPG staff up to par with accessibility issues and demands. Other 

popular programs, including after-hours events, curator tours, and exhibitionspecific programs, will continue to anchor the NPG’s educational offerings both in 

person and online. The NPG docent corps remains a vibrant and diverse group, 

well-versed in the collection and trained in inquiry techniques to engage 

audiences, with one-quarter of the docents fluent in Spanish and English and 

able to conduct virtual tours. Explore!, the NPG education space for 18-month to 

8-year-olds (and designed to help young people explore portraiture as art and 

history), will continue to draw more families to the Gallery. 

The NPG’s primary publication projects in FY 2022 are The Outwin 2022: 

American Portraiture Today (in April of 2022), which accompanied the Gallery’s 

triennial exhibition; Kinship (in October of 2022, with Hirmer Publishers), and 

1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions (in April of 2023). These publications 

contribute new research to the field of portraiture and complement their 

respective exhibitions. 

In FY 2022, Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands (published in June of 

2021, with Yale University Press) was named a finalist for the Alfred J. Barr, Jr. 

Award (from the College Art Association), perhaps the most prestigious award in 

131 
art museum publishing. Votes for Women: Portraits of Persistence (published in 

2019, with Princeton University Press) was awarded the Smithsonian Secretary’s 

Research Prize. 

In addition, the publications office has adjusted during the pandemic by 

pivoting to assist various departments, especially curatorial and audience 

engagement, to provide valuable digital resources. In FY 2022, the NPG worked 

to produce even more online content (e.g., One Life: Maya Lin, in the fall). At the 

same time, the department continued to edit and manage hundreds of bilingual 

object labels and education materials. 

The NPG also continues to strengthen collections and will feature 

prioritized acquisitions of portraits of under-represented Americans. The Gallery 

will accomplish this by acquiring customized cold-storage equipment to safely 

house its large and oversized color prints while continuing to address cataloguing 

backlogs, enhancing access to its collections by establishing a digitization 

process for its acquisitions, and digitizing as many collection objects as possible 

under the pandemic restrictions. Digitization efforts will focus primarily on works 

on paper and will load the resulting images and files into the Smithsonian’s

Digital Asset Management System (DAMS), complete with object condition 

reports. Other work includes conservation of paintings and sculpture of notable 

American women, and other paintings requiring treatment, as well as treatments 

for the delicate frames of numerous painted portraits. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $632,000 that 

includes $297,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing 

staff funded under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 1 FTE and 

$200,000 for digital support and 1 FTE and $135,000 for visitor engagement 

support. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In FY 2023, the NPG will continue to concentrate its efforts and resources 

on exhibitions, developing and maintaining its collection, expanding public 

education offerings, and pursuing new research directions. 

The Portrait Gallery plans to pursue the strategic goal of Understanding 

and Impacting 21st Century Audiences in FY 2023 with an ambitious and active 

on-site and traveling exhibition schedule, featuring the following: 

. 

• Portraiture Now: Kinship — Seven contemporary artists explore 

intergenerational relationships, whether among blood relatives or friends, to 

examine the shifting notions of family. The works evoke the mutable aspect of 

the kinships they depict, attending to both internal and external forces that 

affect those relationships. Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Ruth Buentello portray 

the effects of migration and transnational lives, while LaToya Ruby Frazier’s 

132 
photographs of Flint, Michigan depict the impact of industrial neglect on a 

single family. Jessica Todd Harper probes the subtle tensions underlying daily 

interactions between family members. Jess T. Dugan’s work explores her 

relationship with her wife, Vanessa, as they live as a queer couple embarking 

on parenthood. In paintings he describes as a “form of prayer,” Sedrick 

Huckaby addresses the memorialization of family members and loved ones 

who died by gun violence. 

• I Dream A World: Selections from Brian Lanker’s Portraits of Black Women 

Who Changed America (Part 2) 

• Recent Acquisitions/Gala installation — Displaying recently acquired and 

commissioned works, this exhibition includes portraits of the newest 

recipients of the Portrait Gallery’s Portrait of a Nation award: José Andrés, 

Clive Davis, Marian Wright Edelman, Anthony Fauci, and Serena and Venus 

Williams. 

• 1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions — This groundbreaking exhibition 

is the first to address the Spanish-American War — with its invasions of 

Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Guam — as well as the Philippine-American 

War, and the joint resolution to annex Hawaii (as explained through a 

comparative study of portraiture and visual culture). The exhibition will 

address new cultural perspectives which have not been considered in 

previous histories of U.S. expansion. 

• One Life: Frederick Douglass — As part of the One Life series, this exhibition 

will feature the pre-eminent African American of the 19th century and one of 

the nation’s greatest writers, speakers, and intellectuals. Born enslaved, 

Douglass devoted his life to abolitionism and “all rights for all,” a slogan of his 

newspaper, the longest running Black newspaper in the 19th century. He was 

the most photographed American of his time and became an icon through his 

mastery of the arts of writing, speaking, and portraiture. 

In addition to these on-site temporary exhibitions, the NPG will close the 

national tour of the Barack and Michelle Obama portraits at the Museum of Fine 

Arts in Boston, culminating with a homecoming celebration when the works 

return to Washington, DC. The national tour of The Outwin 2022 will launch in 

April of 2023 to four locations and the groundbreaking 1898 exhibition will travel 

to two museum partners in 2024. 

The NPG’s major publication projects in FY 2023 will include completion of 

Kinship and1898: U.S. Imperial Visions and Revisions, both of which will take the 

form of exhibition catalogues. The Gallery will also begin work on the Brilliant 

Exiles and Felix Gonzalez-Torres catalogues in FY 2023. With each publication, 

the NPG will broaden access to the collections through high-quality, printed 

works that reach diverse audiences both nationally and internationally. 

133 
 

In addition, the NPG will continue to Preserve Our Natural and Cultural 

Heritage by providing a fuller picture of the early nation, with further acquisitions of 

18th- and 19th-century portraits of under-represented minorities and women and the 

reinstallation of the permanent collection gallery of art works from 1600–1900. This 

effort includes works from the collection never previously on view. It includes more 

portraits of women and other historically under-represented groups. The Gallery will 

also seek to expand its holdings of contemporary Americans by acquiring portraits of 

leading figures in disability rights, the sciences, business, and the arts. The NPG will 

add to its burgeoning collection of time-based media art works as well as increase 

the number of commissions it authorizes. Furthermore, the Gallery will continue 

working with the Digitization Program Office until its entire collection of both two- and 

three-dimensional works is captured with digital imagery and made accessible to the 

public and researchers via the Web. Moreover, the NPG will care for the physical 

conservation needs of the collection, in all media, and continue to provide state-ofthe-art analysis of works in the permanent collection 

Finally, the NPG will continue to Enable Cost-Effective and Responsive 

Administration through vigorous efforts to recruit a diverse and professional 

workforce. The Gallery will also continue to work with central Smithsonian offices on 

finance and management process improvements. 

As the national museum of American biography, it is vital that the NPG 

remain open, welcoming, and relevant to all Americans, with accessibility programs 

to make the Gallery’s educational initiatives available to all visitors both in person 

and only. Accordingly, a dedicated program specialist will engage the accessibility 

community about the diversity of portraiture, cultures, and art. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $632,000 that includes 

$297,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded 

under this line item, and programmatic increases for $335,000 and 2 FTEs, as 

detailed below. 

• Digital Support — (+$200,000, +1 FTE) The NPG needs a content 

developer and strategist to help create a truly public platform with multiple 

points of entry for our visitors to access a vibrant digital communications 

studio. Such a studio will allow visitors to participate in an open public 

discourse/dialogue on the history, art, and biography of portraiture. The 

content developer and strategist will develop resources which can be used for 

a wide range of digital platforms, including podcasts, handheld technologies, 

websites, social media, and communications, as well as in-gallery 

technologies such as touring aids. This will enhance the Museum’s 

capabilities so they can participate in digital content production and more 

effectively transform their workflows to reach expanded audiences. 

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• Visitor Engagement (Accessibility) — (+$135,000, +1 FTE) As the nation’s 

showcase for American biography and portraiture, the NPG must ensure that 

its collections and programs are accessible and relevant to all Americans, and 

therefore requires a dedicated accessibility specialist to accomplish this goal. 

The program specialist will review the NPG’s accessibility programs; actively 

engage the accessibility community to improve the diversity of and access to 

portraiture, cultures, and art; and help the Gallery reach underserved 

audiences with content relevant to their interests. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support critical 

positions and help defray costs of special events for exhibition openings, loan 

exhibition development, outreach, fund raising, management, and research. The 

NPG must support exhibitions, publications, public lectures, gallery programs, 

symposia, and some collection acquisitions with donor/sponsor-designated funds. 

Private donations are thus critical to the NPG’s planning, programming, and ability to 

deliver on its public mission. It is through a public-private partnership that the Gallery 

achieves its goals and serves the Smithsonian’s mission.

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NATIONAL POSTAL MUSEUM 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 6 1,854 2 421 2 2,868 19 3,332 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 8 2,105 2 444 3 2,572 23 3,525 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 8 2,160 2 455 3 2,640 24 3,200 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The National Postal Museum (NPM), with the world’s largest museum 

collection of stamps and postal artifacts, is dedicated to creating visitor experiences 

that educate, excite, entertain, and inspire. With more than six million objects, the 

Museum is responsible for the Smithsonian’s second-largest collection. The Museum 

dedicates its resources to developing new and innovative ways to explore the vital 

role of the postal system in American life, and to make its vast philatelic and postal 

collections available to all visitors — both in person and online. The NPM uses its 

collections in exhibitions and public programs which educate visitors on the history of 

America, transportation, communication, economics, and commerce. 

The NPM’s new strategic plan (for years 2022–2025) is designed to advance 

the core strategic directions of the Museum for the next three years. Many of the 

strategic objectives will require management to coordinate different departments and 

to enlist Institution-wide cooperation. Specifically, the Museum’s management staff 

have created the necessary processes to ensure the teamwork required for achieving 

shared objectives. NPM senior leadership gave special attention to the plan for digital 

outreach and engagement, because this area will become increasingly important to 

the Museum as it develops new audiences and serves as a focal point for national 

and international philatelic history, collecting, and storytelling. 

Social media is also a useful platform for broadening the curatorial impact on 

philately and postal history. Expanding the research and public output of the 

curatorial department will strengthen the NPM as a global leader in education and the 

knowledge and dissemination of postal and philatelic history. Using the Web to 

highlight our collection’s depth and value will provide better access for the public and 

scholars as well as encourage donations to support the Museum’s important work. In 

addition, the NPM will change how it greets and orients visitors, supports and staffs 

exhibitions, and creates the new programs that will attract and serve diverse 

audiences. 

136 
The NPM will also become a leader in the Smithsonian’s effort to embody 

DEAI (Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion) principles and practices in its 

operations. This commitment will span both in-house activities (from hiring practices 

to staff professional communications) and the outward-looking efforts needed to 

develop and attract new audiences. 

These components of the NPM’s strategic plan shine a light on the strong 

potential of the Museum to dramatically increase its reach and impact and continue 

its role as a known leader in the field. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $55,000 for necessary 

pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The NPM’s primary activities will contribute to the Smithsonian’s vision of 

building on “its unique strengths to engage and to inspire more people, where 

they are, with greater impact, while catalyzing critical conversations on issues 

affecting our nation and the world” through the prism of postal communications 

and philately. These challenges will be met by partnering with other Smithsonian 

museums in support of the One Smithsonian Strategic Plan: serving as a leader 

for conversations about complex issues; extending the digital reach of the 

Museum; understanding and impacting 21st century audiences; contributing to 

large, visionary, interdisciplinary research and scholarly projects; and preserving 

our philatelic and postal heritage while optimizing the NPM’s assets. 

In April of 2022, the Museum will open the exhibition Baseball: America’s 

Home Run, exploring America’s national pastime. Featuring hundreds of U.S.

and international stamps commemorating historic moments and drawing on 

original artwork and archival material from the United States Postal Service’s

(USPS) esteemed Postmaster General’s (PMG) Collection, the display of stamps 

and mail will be enhanced by dozens of objects loaned by other Smithsonian 

museums, law-enforcement agencies, and private collectors. The bilingual, threeyear exhibition will be presented in English and Spanish through a collaboration 

with the Smithsonian Latino Center and will have broad appeal to the public. 

Also in FY 2022, the NPM’s Department of Education and Visitor Services 

(DEVS) will continue to expand pre-K–12 educational programs and create and 

expand exhibit-related learning opportunities for both on-site and virtual learners. 

The Byrne Education Center will continue to support the Museum’s enhanced 

learning opportunities for visiting groups. By focusing on social and emotional 

learning practices, hands-on activities, and civic connections to the Museum’s 

collections, the NPM is uniquely positioned to help learners make personal 

connections to our content. Throughout FY 2023, the Byrne Education Center will 

once again be used by the Museum and the greater Smithsonian community for 

meetings and programs. 

137 
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the NPM is increasing its virtual 

educational programming and resources. With programs targeting early learners, 

students, teachers, and adults, the Museum has cast a wide net and is expanding 

its number of digital followers around the world. In FY 2023, the NPG will also 

focus on initiatives to improve the visitor experience. Since reopening to the public 

in 2021, all floor staff have undergone extensive training to promote inclusivity and 

accessibility, and all our on-site visitors are invited to explore the galleries, using 

printed maps available in 11 languages. Nearly all virtual programs include live 

closed captioning or sign language interpreters, visual descriptions of speakers 

and images, and land recognitions honoring the history and culture of the region’s 

Native American communities. FY 2023 will also include the continued planning 

and design of a family-style bathroom and lactation space, as well as planning for 

the renovation of the first-floor galleries. 

At the NPM, federal resources are dedicated to improving the stewardship 

of the six million objects which represent the national collection of philatelic 

material and postal history. The Museum’s collections team leads efforts to 

preserve and provide access to collection objects on site and online. Since the 

pandemic began, the department has steadily increased and enhanced the 

number of object records available online through various initiatives, including a 

bi-annual publication of new accessions to the Museum’s website, participating in 

the Institution-wide open-access initiative, and reviewing never-before-published 

object records for posting to the website. 

In FY 2023, the NPM collections staff will build on their accomplishments 

by continuing to participate in Institution-wide digitization efforts, carrying out 

exhibition rotations, identifying and consolidating material in storage, processing 

deaccessions, and maintaining normal business operations. Collections will be 

made available to Museum visitors, researchers who contact the team for an 

appointment to see material not on view, and to audiences around the world who 

can see NPM objects via the Museum’s website. 

Also in FY 2023, the collections department will support collections 

management by developing, maintaining, preserving, and making the national 

collection accessible to the public. For example, the team will continue to 

document and add data to the NPM database. The Museum’s conservator will 

carry out conservation treatments on the permanent collection, ensuring that the 

objects are preserved for future generations. And finally, the team will process 

new acquisitions to enhance the NPM’s ability to fully capture philatelic and 

postal history. The department anticipates that FY 2022 will mark the first year 

that the Museum adds material created or “born digitally” to the collection. A 

major initiative to improve accessibility to off-site collections will also remain a 

Museum priority. 

In addition, the collections department will continue to catalogue, image, 

and conserve the loan of the PMG collection of original stamp art. The PMG 

138 
collection, which began transferring to the Museum from the USPS in FY 2012, 

represents one of the NPM’s most important collections. It includes the original 

artwork, as well as rejected designs and preliminary sketches, commissioned for 

more than 3,000 U.S. postage stamps between 1942 and the present. As the 

USPS continues to transfer new PMG material to the NPM, the collections 

department will examine, treat, and re-house the collection as well as process 

related archival collections. 

Finally, in FY 2023, the team will refine collections policies, plans, and 

procedures due for review. Policies and plans include the Museum’s collections 

management policy, its lending policies, its collections emergency plan, and its 

collections stewardship plan. The stewardship plan will guide the content and 

development of the Museum’s collection. The collections department will lead the 

staff in a coordinated and uniform direction to draft this plan, which will allow the 

NPM to gain better intellectual and physical control of its collections and ensure 

that it has appropriate staff and resources to manage them. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — The USPS provides the NPM with an 

annual grant, which supports more than 60 percent of the Museum’s core functions 

and operational costs. These costs include nonfederal salaries and benefits, facility 

maintenance, exhibitions, education, and collection management programs. 

Fundraising initiatives will continue to generate increased support from the private 

sector to develop and support new exhibitions, research opportunities, educational 

and public programs, and special events. 

139 
 

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS INTERAGENCY 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 90 10,938 13 2,184 37 9,181 1 136 3 200 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 90 11,263 13 2,249 37 9,456 1 140 3 206 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 91 11,861 13 2,249 37 9,456 1 140 3 206 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) is the nation’s Museum 

dedicated to the art and artists of the United States from colonial times to the present. It 

is the home of the largest and most inclusive collection of American art in the world, and 

its holdings of more than 44,000 works, spanning three centuries of the nation’s cultural 

development, tell the story of America through the visual arts. The Museum’s programs 

make the collection available to national audiences and beyond, as well as to those who 

visit its two historic buildings in Washington, DC: the Donald W. Reynolds Center 

(DWRC) for American Art and Portraiture (shared by SAAM and the National Portrait 

Gallery) and the Renwick Gallery, dedicated to American crafts and decorative arts. 

To achieve the strategic goal of Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research, SAAM 

curators and research Fellows-in-residence use the collection and other resources to 

develop new insights into America’s cultural and artistic legacy as well as current 

themes and explorations. The resulting knowledge drives collections development and 

exhibitions associated award-winning catalogues and scholarly publications, and 

educational programs. The Fellowship program, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 

2020, cultivates the next generation of professors and curators. SAAM has hosted more 

than 800 scholars who now work at academic and cultural institutions across the United 

States, Australia, Asia, the Caribbean, Europe, the Middle East, and South America. 

The Museum’s peer-reviewed journal, American Art, serves as a primary venue for 

groundbreaking scholarship in the field. In addition, SAAM hosts international symposia 

and seminars on topics of relevance in the field of American art and encourages a 

deeper understanding of American art’s global connections. 

In FY 2023, SAAM will Expand Digital Technologies by offering activities to 

engage users both online and in the galleries. The Museum takes full advantage of the 

latest technologies, with a focus on mobile-optimized websites and applications, video 

production, and social media engagement. Three videoconference centers deliver the 

Museum’s education programs to classrooms around the world. The digitization of 

SAAM’s collections also continues, allowing the Museum to add new assets and media 

to support its vast online resources. 

140 
 

The Museum will achieve its strategic goal to Understand and Impact 21st 

Century Audiences through exhibitions, education, and public programs. An ambitious 

schedule of exhibitions developed in-house and complemented by shows obtained from 

other organizations attracts new visitors and encourages repeat visits. At the DWRC, 

large exhibition spaces, shops, and a renovated restaurant greet visitors with a broad 

range of activities to maintain their interest. The Lunder Conservation Center provides a 

window on preservation of the national collections, and the Luce Foundation Center for 

American Art displays 3,500 collection objects in an inviting, visible storage center. 

SAAM’s Renwick Gallery has additional space for exhibitions, public programs, and 

rotating displays of its permanent collection of American crafts. Multiple traveling 

exhibitions are shared with other museums throughout the United States, enriching 

people’s lives by giving them direct access to their nation’s artistic and cultural heritage.

National education programs directly reach K–12 teachers and students. These 

programs use the latest technologies to incorporate art into social studies, history, and 

language arts. Resident teacher institutes are supplemented by online/on-demand 

courses for the K–12 community. The Museum regularly collaborates with private and 

public organizations to provide teachers with new resources. In addition, students are 

brought into the Museum as often as possible to provide that direct experience with the 

transformative power of great art. The MacMillan Education Center, located in the 

galleries, serves students across the nation and on U.S. military bases worldwide. 

Public programs enhance Museum exhibitions and highlight permanent 

collections with lectures, tours, and gallery talks, as well as craft and sketching 

workshops. The McEvoy Auditorium hosts four of SAAM’s five lecture series and two 

of its five music series, with additional programming taking place at the Renwick 

Gallery or in the Kogod Courtyard. The latter space also hosts programs such as 

family days, heritage months, and art-themed movies. In FY 2021 alone, SAAM 

hosted more than 100 virtual programs and events. 

The strategic goal of Preserving Our Natural and Cultural Heritage is achieved 

through multiple activities. Scholarship and research help set acquisition objectives. 

Gifts of art and private funds raised through advancement activities pay for additions to 

the national collection. Conservators research methods and tools to preserve the 

artwork. The Museum’s Lunder Conservation Center is an important resource for 

conservation training and colloquia of interest to the conservation community and the 

public. Conservation Fellowships ensure that experience and knowledge are shared 

with the larger community of conservation practitioners. 

SAAM also has a robust safety program to ensure a safe and healthy 

environment for Museum staff and visitors. 

The Museum takes a multi-pronged approach to ensuring that Cost-Effective 

and Responsive Administration supports its mission. Information Technology (IT) staff 

implement and maintain the information framework on which so many other efforts 

depend. This includes exhibition space screens and kiosks that provide access to 

information anywhere, on any device. Managers carefully plan, promote, protect, and 

conserve the Museum’s resources. 

141 
The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $598,000 that includes 

$448,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded 

under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 1 FTE and $150,000 for digital 

support and Web support coordination. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

Research on the collections and related American art topics by curatorial staff 

continues in support of exhibitions and the permanent collection, including three new 

exhibition catalogues scheduled for publication in FY 2023. Endowments and multiyear private support have allowed the Museum to hire a full slate of curators with 

specialties ranging from sculpture, photography, and contemporary crafts to media 

arts. The Museum’s award-winning journal, American Art, will publish three issues of 

new scholarship. SAAM also hosts approximately 20 research Fellows every year 

from throughout the country and internationally, thereby increasing the number of 

scholars using the collections. The resulting discoveries and interpretations by staff 

and Fellows help Americans appreciate their diverse cultural heritage as well as 

advance scholarship in American art. Research also feeds into educational programs 

and provides content for the Museum’s website and new media. 

The Museum embraces the Web by making as much of its artwork and 

related data as possible freely available online to the public. Ninety-nine percent of 

SAAM’s collection is now online. The Museum hosts dynamic websites for visitors, 

researchers, and educators, most notably through the popular website at 

AmericanArt.si.edu. SAAM also participates in collaborative digital initiatives with 

other organizations, using powerful tools such as Linked Open Data (LOD). The 

publication of SAAM’s collections data as LOD has established the Museum as a 

leader in promoting semantic Web standards in the museum community. SAAM 

maintains an active social media presence on many platforms — including 

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and our blog, Eye Level — which engages the public 

in conversations about art-related topics. The Museum adds dozens of educational 

videos and live streams to its non-profit YouTube channel each year and makes 

these assets fully accessible regardless of the type of device used. Custom-built 

interactive exhibition components, apps, and videos are used whenever appropriate 

to provide a richer learning experience for visitors. 

SAAM is planning six exhibitions in FY 2023, including: Subversive, Skilled, 

Sublime: Fiber Art by Women; Steel and Sky: Views of New York City; We are Made 

of Stories: Self-Taught Artists in the Robson Family Collection; and Musical 

Thinking: New Video Art and Sonic Strategies. In addition, the Renwick Gallery will 

host an exhibition around its upcoming 50th anniversary, This Present Moment: 

Crafting a Better World, taking over the whole building to showcase 50 years of 

crafts at the Renwick. This will be followed by the Renwick 2023 Invitational, 

showcasing six emerging Native American artists. 

As part of its goal to make as much material as possible accessible to the 

public, the Museum regularly rotates artworks in the permanent collection galleries 

to show the many facets of American art and culture, as well as to encourage return 

142 
 

visits. To supplement this ongoing effort, SAAM is renovating its galleries with new 

installations to showcase additional works of art for our diverse audiences. 

National outreach includes the touring exhibitions African American Art, Kara 

Walker, and William H. Johnson: Fighters for Freedom; Sargent, Whistler, and 

Venetian Glass: American Artists and the Magic of Murano; and Printing the 

Revolution! The Rise and Impact of Chicano Graphics. Interactive exhibition 

components keep pace with proliferating information streams. In addition, whenever 

possible, SAAM loans objects from the national collection to other museums. 

SAAM continues to develop its highly successful distance-learning program with 

staff and 22 volunteers who create content that reaches classrooms worldwide. Three 

videoconference centers, including the MacMillan Education Center, enable the 

Museum to serve more students than ever before. Contracts and partnerships with 

Government agencies such as the Department of Defense, the American Battle 

Monuments Commission, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and Washington, 

DC public schools expand the Museum’s reach to more diverse audiences. In addition, 

the Museum created two weeklong “Smithsonian Summer Sessions,” virtual, 

interdisciplinary experiences to model strategies for learning through art, history, and 

culture, which were attended by 250 teachers from 36 states, Washington, DC, two U.S. 

territories (Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands), and four foreign countries 

(Barbados, Bolivia, Canada, and Mexico). SAAM also turned the “Summer Sessions” 

content into an online course for teachers. 

The safe storage and display of collection objects remain a top priority. SAAM 

continues to develop public interest in and awareness of preservation issues through 

the Luce Foundation Center and the Lunder Conservation Center and their many 

public and professional programs. The Museum is using new tools and instrumentation 

to preserve its collection and has leased cool-storage space to ensure that 

photographic material is preserved in ideal conditions. Artworks will be acquired to fill 

gaps in the collection. Time-based media (that is, works exhibiting a changing 

observable state, such as film, videos, or lights) continue to receive special attention in 

our Time-based Media Lab. Galleries in the DWRC continue to be converted to lightemitting diode (LED) lighting, which is less damaging to the collection and more 

economical in reducing the costs of maintenance and utilities. 

SAAM’s information technology and administrative procedures closely monitor 

resources and processes, resulting in Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration. 

Use of the Museum’s intranet site keeps staff current on the ever-changing procedural 

and regulatory environment. Finally, SAAM conducts continual reviews of work 

processes and conditions to develop safer techniques and materials for both staff and 

the environment, as well as the national collections. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $598,000 that includes 

$448,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff, and a 

programmatic increase of 1 FTE and $150,000 for digital and Web support. 

143 
Digital Support — Lifecycle Coordinator (+$150,000, +1 FTE) 

This budget request includes an increase of $150,000 and 1 FTE to hire a digital 

support lifecycle coordinator who will help handle the increased workload and high 

demand for digital content. This essential position will coordinate and manage a pandepartmental Museum process to implement and track collections digitization, including 

planning and optimization of acquisition and documentation workflows; metadata 

creation and enhancement; artwork cataloguing and artist biographic description; digital 

asset lifecycle management; and harmonization of information and publishing across 

collections management and access systems. Improved digitization of Museum 

collections will mean better public access to and online availability of SAAM’s collection 

for scholars, students, researchers, and audiences around the world. The position will 

support a robust, long-term digitization and maintenance program integrated into all 

levels and core functions of the Museum’s departments. It will improve responsible 

stewardship of SAAM’s digital assets and ensure the Museum’s full participation in the 

Smithsonian open-access initiative. Accordingly, this hire is essential for SAAM to 

achieve its own mission, sustain core functions, and meet the digital expectations of 

audiences in the 21st century. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — Nearly all SAAM’s non-personnel costs, 

including those for exhibitions, educational and public programs, and purchases for 

the national collection, are paid with funds provided by individuals, foundations, and 

corporations. Donor/sponsor-designated funds support specific programs and 

projects. Additionally, trust funds support salaries and benefits for one-third of staff, as 

well as all fundraising activities and related costs. 

144 
 

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY MUSEUM 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 0 500 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 13 7,500 3 805 0 2,593 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 22 9,568 3 703 0 3,191 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

Public Law (P.L.) 116-260, signed by the President on December 27, 2020, 

established the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum (SAWHM) within

the Smithsonian Institution. 

Currently, there is no national museum in the United States devoted to the 

documentation of women’s contributions throughout our nation’s history. On 

December 19, 2014, Congress created a commission to study the potential for an 

American museum of women’s history. The bipartisan commission unanimously 

concluded that the country needs and deserves a national museum dedicated to 

showcasing the historical experiences and impact of women in the United States. A 

comprehensive women’s history museum would document the full spectrum of the 

experiences of women in the United States, represent a diverse range of viewpoints, 

experiences, and backgrounds, more accurately depict the history of the United 

States, and add value to the Smithsonian Institution for the American people. 

For FY 2021, resources from the American Women’s History Initiatives Pool 

(AWHI) of $1,000,000 were realigned to the new SAWHM line item by $500,000 and 

to the Administration line item by $500,000 for required staff to support the new 

Museum. 

In FY 2022, SAWHM received funding for 13 FTEs and $2,000,000 to recruit 

and select initial personnel; form planning and coordination teams to develop 

exhibitions, public programs, education, research, collections acquisition, technology, 

and capital fund raising; implement a site-selection evaluation process; and develop 

the necessary capacity for administrative and financial management. To reflect the 

new Museum’s status, in FY 2022 $5,000,000 was transferred from the 

Smithsonian’s Institution Wide Programs line item for AWHI to the SAWHM line item. 

In FY 2023, the estimate includes a requested increase of 9 FTEs and 

$2,000,000 to continue recruiting and selecting personnel, especially in research, 

collections, education, and communication through digital platforms, while the 

145 
 

Museum planning is under way. The estimate also includes an increase of $68,000 

for necessary pay for existing staff funded under this line item. 

In accordance with P.L. 116–260, the amounts appropriated pursuant to the 

authorization under this section shall remain available until expended. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

Establishing this Museum provides the Smithsonian with a significant new 

vehicle for the collection, preservation, study, and exhibition of programs relating to 

women’s contributions in various fields and different periods of history which have 

influenced the direction of the United States; collaboration with other Smithsonian 

museums and facilities, outside museums, and educational institutions; the ability to 

reach audiences nationwide through digital resources; and the creation of exhibitions 

and programs to recognize diverse perspectives on women’s history and their many 

contributions to the life of our country. 

As part of the Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research strategic goal to engage 

in vital arts and humanities research, the Museum will begin hiring the highest 

quality research staff and collaborate with leading institutions of learning and 

community-based scholars. The SAWHM staff will make research and content 

available at the Museum once it is built, and to communities and public audiences 

through the Web, printed materials, and collaborative activities with other groups and 

organizations until then. As work is done on the physical building, the Museum is 

prioritizing the creation of virtual content and digital experiences to reach audiences 

across the country as part of our strategic goal of Expanding Digital Technology. 

To achieve the strategic goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st Century 

Audiences, the SAWHM will focus on establishing a planning and coordination 

structure to develop an agenda and project schedule for defining exhibition 

emphasis, direction, and composition; plan a collections identification and acquisition 

strategy; coordinate collaborative efforts with other museums; and devise a strategic 

public relations plan for publishing initial materials about the new Museum. This work 

will be guided by a report created in 2022 that examined best practices across the 

Smithsonian and identified ways the SAWHM could better attract diverse audiences 

and support staff. 

The SAWHM will Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage by developing 

operating plans; purchasing needed equipment, supplies, and contractual support; 

and performing environmental impact and traffic analyses on potential building sites. 

The site-selection process is currently under way, which involves gaining insight 

through stakeholder focus groups and a national survey, in-depth analysis of potential 

sites, and consultation with federal agencies and commissions. Additional studies will 

also be needed to assess and plan for future collections and collecting activities. 

The Museum will achieve the strategic goal of Enabling Cost-Effective and 

Responsive Administration by developing annual operating budgets, preparing 

146 
personnel actions and vacancy announcements to hire new staff; organizing a 

capital campaign office; and developing a fundraising strategy and implementation 

plan to identify philanthropic prospects and major gift sources. The Museum has 

already received several major donations, including its first grant from a foundation 

and its first corporate gift. 

The AWHI, first funded by Congress in FY 2018, will heighten the public’s 

knowledge and appreciation of the transformational role women have played in 

constructing our national identity and culture. The Smithsonian Institution, through 

AWHI, will: (1) magnify the contributions of women through exhibitions, programs, 

and educational content; (2) increase the representation of women online by building 

on the Institution’s trusted resources; (3) hire curators committed to amplifying 

American women’s history; and (4) expand the national collection, both online and 

on site, to better portray how women have shaped this country. The Smithsonian 

Institution is partnering with public and private entities to secure funding for its 

outreach and impact. In FY 2019, the Institution established a national advisory 

committee to play a key role in shaping the initiative and securing resources for 

representing the constituencies and stakeholders of the AWHI. The FY 2021 

appropriation included an additional $1 million to expand the AWHI and amplify 

women’s history for local, national, and international audiences. In FY 2021, with the 

blend of federal and nonfederal funds, AWHI hired a director as well as two data 

scientists to provide a more sophisticated analysis of our collections data on 

women’s history. Since its inception, AWHI has awarded over $10 million to 25 

Smithsonian units in support of over 100 projects. 

In October of FY 2020, the AWHI launched the exhibit Girlhood: It’s 

Complicated at the National Museum of American History. The initiative continues to 

fund the development of the traveling exhibit, which will tour the nation from 2023 

through 2025. In FY 2022, the second edition of our book, Smithsonian American 

Women, will be published. This will allow us to share treasures from the 

Smithsonian’s collections with thousands more people across America. In FY 2021, 

AWHI funds supported the Hung Liu: Portraits of Promised Lands exhibition at the 

National Portrait Gallery. The initiative continued its partnership with the Golden 

Triangle Business with the ongoing display of Marker by the artist Rania Hassan. 

AWHI also provided support for the acquisition of several significant new collections 

items. In FY2021, the commissioned acquisition of I Go To Prepare A Place For You 

by artist Bisa Butler went on exhibit at the National Museum of African American 

History and Culture. 

AWHI continued to tell the stories of diverse American women through social 

media. In FY 2021, we jointly won the Gold GLAMi for marketing and promotion for 

our summer 2020 collaboration between the Smithsonian, the National Archives, 

and the Library of Congress, #19SuffrageStories, which used colorful graphics to tell 

19 stories about the suffrage movement drawn from our collections, including tales 

about how groups and individuals who were Black, indigenous, and people of color 

(BIPOC) blazed the trail for equal voting rights. The initiative also continued our 

#BecauseOfHerStory series of animated videos inspired by Smithsonian collections, 

inviting social media audiences to explore stories from the 1930s to 1980s and spark 

147 
connections between the past and present. AWHI-funded curators worked across 

the Institution to make these projects happen. 

In FY 2022, the AWHI will continue to share women’s history to a variety of 

audiences. Our educational output includes a 12-page at-home activity guide for 

Women’s History Month for USA Today in March 2022, featuring objects and women 

represented throughout the Smithsonian’s collections AWHI is also developing

virtual events for early learners for Women’s History Month. The Initiative team will

be working locally with the District of Columbia Public Libraries to host a series of 

programs that pair art and prose by diverse American women authors. In addition, 

we will host an episode of the Smithsonian’s podcast, Sidedoor, and lead a public 

program centered on American Girl dolls and how they empowered girls to both 

make change and spark interest in American History. For classroom use, we are 

developing a set of teaching posters with art and artifacts about LGBTQ+ American 

women. As we move into FY 2023, these efforts will ground our outreach to 

teachers, students, and families. 

Launched in 2019, the Because of Her Story (BOHS) Cohort Internship 

Program is a paid, eight-week summer internship. BOHS interns amplify women's 

stories to tell a more complete American history, reach a diverse audience, and 

empower and inspire people from all walks of life. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, 

the 2021 BOHS program virtually hosted 16 interns from across the country at 

various Smithsonian units. The 2022 program will also be held virtually, featuring 13 

internship projects ranging from “Black Feminist Public History: Roots, Branches, 

and Remedies” at NMAH to “In Fleming’s Footsteps: Recognizing and Documenting 

Gendered Care Work in Astronomy” at SAO.

In FY 2022, the Smithsonian continues to promote research and education 

via online partnerships and expand on our digital work. The Institution continues to 

work on establishing a baseline to guide the representation of American women and 

girls in the Smithsonian’s public digital collections. In addition, the AWHI funded 

digital projects that will provide gender-inclusive descriptions of collections 

metadata, which will increase the discoverability of women and girls in Smithsonian 

collections online. The initiative also hired a contract coordinator to further this work 

on collections metadata. In FY 2021, we added 137,755 words and 60 new articles 

about American women to Wikipedia. Smithsonian images of American women on 

Wikipedia were viewed over 9 million times. This work puts trusted Smithsonian 

resources directly in the hands of the public. Furthermore, AWHI is in the process of 

revamping our website to become the future online home of the Smithsonian 

American Women’s History Museum.

Per H.R. 1923 and the “Circulating Collectible Coin Redesign Act of 2020” 

(public law 116-330), the AWHI has consulted on the U.S. Mint’s American Women 

Quarters program since January 2021, providing subject matter expertise and 

advising on the selection of honorees for the 2022 and 2023 series. In FY 2022, the 

AWHI is excited to continue working with the U.S. Mint and the National Women’s 

History Museum in Alexandria, VA, to select honorees for the 2024 and 2025 

circulating quarters. 

148 
In FY 2023, the AWHI program will continue developing its private/federal 

partnership to make the most cost-effective use of these combined resources. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $2,068,000 which 

provides an increase of $68,000 for necessary pay for existing staff funded under 

this line item and a programmatic increase of $2,000,000 and 9 FTEs. The program 

increases are as follows: 

• (+$2,000,000, + 9 FTEs) This increase will support the initial planning 

activities for the new Museum in the areas of exhibitions, public programs, 

collections, and outreach. Extensive programmatic planning, in 

conjunction with facilities planning, will be necessary so that the SAWHM 

programs and the eventual design of the Museum building are compatible 

and support the new Museum in achieving its intended mission. Planning 

will encompass the development of strategies for the identification, 

acquisition, and management of collections and archival materials for 

research; the physical and thematic design, composition, and direction of 

exhibitions; preparations for a full range of public programs for various 

audiences; and establishing an outreach program to involve a broad range 

of constituencies that include different ethnic groups, schools, families, 

and cultural and historical foundations. This initial planning work is 

essential to establish the foundation for the programs and activities the 

SAWHM will offer in the future. 

Administrative staff will perform all necessary purchasing tasks to acquire 

supplies, equipment, and contractual services; develop budgetary 

estimates and budget justification materials; perform accounting functions; 

process personnel actions, including hiring and all other required staffing 

actions; and provide legal advice and opinions. This additional staffing will 

be vital to the smooth functioning of operations as the workforce and 

workload for the new Museum increase each year. 

This increase will also help establish a fundraising/campaign office, 

including the recruitment and hiring of professional fundraising personnel 

who will develop a strategic fundraising plan and begin cultivating donor 

prospects. P.L. 116-260 establishes the Museum and also authorizes the 

SAWHM to use appropriated funds for fund raising. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salary and 

benefit costs for the Museum director and other program-related costs. Donor/ 

sponsor-designated funds support salaries and benefits for development staff; costs 

associated with reaching the SAWHM’s fundraising goals; training of future 

conservators; conservation of objects for exhibits and community loans; publications 

and special events for exhibition openings; and costs related to specific programs 

and projects. 

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OUTREACH 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 51 9,717 30 5,055 19 4,399 5 1,051 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 51 9,924 30 5,638 22 6,924 4 1,181 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 53 10,525 30 6,032 24 5,342 5 1,097 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

All the Institution’s outreach activities link the Smithsonian’s national collections,

research, and educational resources with Americans from coast to coast. These 

programs aim to: 1) broaden the audiences who share in the nation’s rich cultural 

heritage; 2) enhance widespread, research-based knowledge of science, history, and 

art; and 3) provide opportunities for educators and scholars to further increase and 

diffuse knowledge. 

Smithsonian outreach programs serve millions of Americans, thousands of 

communities, and hundreds of institutions in all 50 states, through loans of objects, 

traveling exhibitions, and the sharing of educational resources via publications, 

lectures and presentations, training programs, and websites. Smithsonian outreach 

programs work closely with the Institution’s museums and cultural and research 

centers, as well as with more than 200 Affiliates and others across the nation. 

This line item includes the programs which provide the critical mass of 

Smithsonian Across America outreach activity: the Smithsonian Institution Traveling 

Exhibition Service and Smithsonian Affiliations (SITES | Affiliations); Educational 

Outcomes and Academic Programs (EOAP); the Office of Educational Technology 

(OET); the Office of Academic Appointments and Internships (OAAI, formerly 

Fellowships and Internships); and the Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press (SISP). 

Smithsonian Associates and the Smithsonian Science Education Center (SSEC), 

which receive no direct federal funding, are also part of this national outreach effort. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $601,000, which provides 

$301,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded 

under this line item, as well as $300,000 and 2 FTEs in exhibit support for SITES | 

Affiliations. 

150 
MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and 

Smithsonian Affiliations (SITES | Affiliations) (43 FTEs and $5,969,000) became 

a single unit in 2018. Its unified mission is to catalyze public engagement and spark 

curiosity and learning by connecting the knowledge, resources, and expertise of the 

Smithsonian with a vital network of cultural and educational organizations. 

SITES | Affiliations makes interdisciplinary connections in science and the arts, 

creating mutually beneficial, reciprocal relationships among and between the 

Smithsonian’s many units and museums and other organizations across the country 

and beyond. SITES | Affiliations expands the reach and impact of the Smithsonian 

and the Institution’s network of collaborators, widely sharing knowledge, resources, 

and expertise. It facilitates strong connections and relationships across the network 

so that staff, partners, and collaborators can all learn from each other and extend 

outreach to the public. 

In addition, SITES | Affiliation’s programs, exhibitions, and services —

including the award-winning Museum on Main Street (MoMS) program — inspire 

national audiences of all ages to broaden their perspective, deepen their 

understanding of critical issues, and become more informed and curious learners. 

This work underscores the importance of using local stories to better understand 

national narratives, provides local perspectives on national and global issues, and 

stimulates lifelong learning. These activities and programs enable people to see the 

relevance of the Smithsonian in their daily lives. 

SITES | Affiliations also promotes innovation and best practices for museums 

and museum professionals. As a unit, we collaborate with a robust network of 

museums and cultural and education organizations across the nation. The reputation 

of the Smithsonian helps them attract audiences, build internal capacity, and expand 

stakeholder support. Together, these efforts combine to increase our collective reach 

and foster conversations on relevant questions of interest to individual communities. 

With its broad appeal, SITES | Affiliations reaches all 50 states with 

exhibitions, programs targeted to adults, families, youth, and classrooms, 

professional development for museum professionals and classroom teachers, and 

loans from Smithsonian collections. In FY 2022, staff will address such topics as the 

diversity of cultural heritage in America, arts, science, and history. This will be 

achieved through more than 30 exhibitions — supported by related programs — such 

as The Negro Motorist Green Book, Narwhal: Revealing an Artic Legend, and 

¡Pleibol! In the Barrios and the Big Leagues / En los barrios y las grandes ligas. The 

new exhibition Spark: Places of Innovation will be developed by the MoMS program 

to examine the relationship between place and creativity and tell the story of small 

towns where innovation flourishes. Crossroads: Change in Rural America, an 

exhibition looking at how small towns are reinventing themselves by focusing on 

history and new opportunities for growth and economic development, will continue to 

151 
circulate with community-based programming. And a lively series of digital programs 

offered by more than 200 Affiliates across the nation will focus on topics such as 

American women’s history and scientific exploration. Other programs will bring 

teenagers together at Affiliate locations to learn how they can understand our world 

and change it for the better. Training for teachers will include classroom resources. 

Professional development for museum professionals at Affiliates will enhance the 

work of their respective organizations. In addition, SITES | Affiliations will help 

diversify future museum workers and supporters through robust internship programs 

for college students at Affiliates nationwide. 

Taken together, these strategies have resulted in the display of more than 

9,000 Smithsonian artifacts in Affiliate locations, including such historic and topical 

items as U.S. spacecraft, First Ladies’ gowns, Civil War arms and uniforms, outdoor 

sculptures, scientifically significant collections, and many more objects. Smithsonian 

scholars have participated in science literacy, American history, cultural diversity, 

and art education programs at Affiliate locations. Professional development 

workshops, internships, and visiting professional residencies have given Affiliate 

staff the opportunity to increase their knowledge and skills in areas such as 

collections management, exhibition planning, and museum administration. In 

addition, the Smithsonian Affiliations’ annual conference creates a forum for 

networking, information sharing, and future planning. Current Affiliate projects build 

on and amplify the core objectives outlined in the Smithsonian’s Strategic Plan.

Through these exhibitions and programs, and in collaboration with museums and 

cultural organizations across the country, the Institution provides an accessible and 

consistent presence beyond the National Mall and other Smithsonian facilities. 

Educational Outcomes and Academic Programs (EOAP) (5 FTEs and 

$678,000) — This outreach function exists organizationally within the Office of the 

Under Secretary for Education. Within the Institution, this function offers many services 

and technical support to other units, ranging from collaborations which help create and 

disseminate content to outreach that broadens access to and engages audiences with 

the Smithsonian’s educational offerings. This level of expertise in research also 

supports education and outreach initiatives across the Institution and closely links the 

outreach measures with outcomes reported to that Under Secretary so the programs 

can be fine-tuned for maximum impact. 

Office of Educational Technology (OET) (8 FTEs and $1,009,000) — The 

Smithsonian is creating new digital services and platforms for scholars, educators, and 

students to better access and use the national collections, research, and educational 

resources. One such platform, the Smithsonian Learning Lab (developed by the OET) is 

a free, Web-accessible toolkit for educators and students that enables everyone to find 

and customize millions of Smithsonian digitized resources for educational use and share 

them with others. Based on research and evaluation with pre-K–12 audiences and 

museum educators, the Lab provides valuable new services aligned to the needs and 

realities of its global audiences. The OET also develops standards-aligned resources for 

classrooms and provides professional development to museum educators and 

152 
classroom teachers to help them get the most out of digital museum resources for 

learning. Within the Institution, the OET uses digital tools to lead the development of 

strategies to connect Smithsonian resources with classrooms across the country. It 

offers services and technical support to other units on the use of technology, content 

strategy, and data-driven decision making to achieve unit objectives. These range from 

collaborations to create and disseminate content to technical modifications to the 

Learning Lab in response to unit requests. Other activities include conducting market 

research to develop new outreach programs and communications to broaden access to 

and engage audiences with the Smithsonian’s educational offerings. The OET’s 

resources in user-centered research and applications also support education and access 

initiatives across the Institution. The OET plays a strategic role to identify and develop 

content sharing partnerships and support them with external education technology and 

classroom support organizations. 

Office of Academic Appointments and Internships (OAAI) (6 FTEs and 

$2,021,000) — Housed under the Office of the Under Secretary for Education, OAAI 

programs provide the central management and administrative responsibility for the 

Institution’s research, Fellowships, and other scholarly appointments. One of the 

Institution’s primary objectives is to facilitate academic interactions with students and 

scholars at universities, museums, and other research institutions around the world. 

These programs administer Institution-wide research support and assist Smithsonian 

museums, research centers, and offices with diversifying and developing additional 

Fellowships and visiting scholarly appointments. 

In particular, the Institution offers Fellowships to provide opportunities for 

graduate and pre-doctoral students, and postdoctoral and senior investigators to 

conduct independent research, with Smithsonian professional research staff 

providing advice and guidance. These appointments allow for more effective use of 

staff, collections, and facilities. 

To achieve the strategic goal of Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research and 

maintain the Smithsonian’s level of expertise in the research community, the 

Institution must continue attracting the best scholars. Accordingly, the Smithsonian 

has increased Fellowship stipends to provide awards comparable to other prestigious 

programs so the Institution can maintain a competitive edge. Smithsonian has kept 

funding for stipends flat, increasing the value of each award, but decreasing the 

number of Fellowships awarded. The Smithsonian is also working to raise private 

funding for the Fellowships and Scholarly Studies Program. The Fellowships help 

today’s young scientists become the next generation’s top researchers. In addition, 

the Smithsonian continues to support current staff with the resources needed to 

develop new research initiatives, collaborate with other scholars, and determine the 

feasibility of proposed projects. 

Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press (SISP) (4 FTEs and $848,000) —

Through the open-access Smithsonian Contributions Series program, continually 

published since 1875, and open-access monographs, SISP advances science at the 

153 
Smithsonian by disseminating and publishing research results of the Institution’s staff 

and their collaborators. Federal funds help produce first-class research in science, 

art, culture, history, and education, with widespread distribution to the public and to 

libraries, universities, and other education and research organizations. SISP 

publishes open-access documents online in digital formats as well as in print, 

covering core subject areas of anthropology, art, botany, history, marine sciences, 

museum conservation, paleobiology, and zoology. In addition, SISP disseminates 

interdisciplinary research, conference proceedings, and scholarly books closely 

related to Smithsonian programming and to the national collections. 

Finally, federal resources enable SISP to increase public access to articles 

and papers authored by Smithsonian staff. The performance objectives advanced by 

SISP’s scholarly publications and its program to increase public access to 

Smithsonian research results are Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research and 

Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $601,000, which provides 

$301,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded 

under this line item, as well as $300,000 and 2 FTEs in exhibit support for SITES | 

Affiliations. 

Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and Affiliations 

(SITES | Affiliations) (+$300,000, +2 FTEs) 

This budget request includes an increase of $300,000 and 2 FTEs to support 

SITES’ landmark MoMS initiative. The MoMS program works with state humanities 

councils to bring traveling exhibitions, educational resources, and programming to 

small towns across America through local museums and other community venues. 

The popular MoMS program continues to enrich the underserved people of rural 

America. The increased funding will support a broad array of educational resources 

each MoMS exhibition uses to reach local communities, engage and inspire more 

people where they live, and create deep and impactful educational experiences for 

youth while catalyzing critical conversations on important issues affecting their lives. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds defray the costs of staff 

salaries and benefits, fund raising, exhibition design and production, publications, 

materials, outside specialists, and contractual services. Donor/sponsor-designated 

funds cover costs related to specific projects and programs. 

154 
COMMUNICATIONS 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 18 2,915 28 3,825 0 7 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 18 2,982 34 4,470 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 20 3,297 34 4,470 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Office of Communications and External Affairs (OCEA) consists of 

four departments and a front office: the Office of Public Affairs (OPA); the Office 

of Government Relations (OGR); the Office of Visitor Services (OVS); and the 

Office of Special Events and Protocol (OSEP). In addition, the OCEA front office 

hosts the Assistant Secretary for Communications and External Affairs and her 

direct reports. 

The OCEA manages the Smithsonian’s brand strategy, coordinates 

marketing, and oversees the Institution’s internal communications. Office 

resources support the Strategic Plan by training staff about the Institution’s 

priorities and objectives, and informing them about important initiatives, thereby 

enabling the Smithsonian to better execute its mission. Accordingly, the OCEA is 

responsible for helping the Institution reach and engage more people with its 

mission. By improving internal communications and more effectively and 

efficiently informing staff of Institution-wide policies, initiatives, and events, the 

OCEA encourages cross-unit collaboration to help the Smithsonian better 

achieve its strategic goals and core mission. 

The OPA coordinates public relations and communications with museums, 

research centers, cultural resource centers, and offices to present a consistent 

and positive image of the Institution. The Office supports the Strategic Plan by 

advancing the Institution’s objectives, connecting people with Smithsonian 

experts, research, exhibitions, and public programs, and by working with a wide 

range of media outlets and social media platforms. The OPA connects to online 

audiences by overseeing content such as Visitor Information, Events, Exhibits, 

and Encyclopedia Smithsonian on the Institution’s central website. The Office 

also provides content on Newsdesk, the Smithsonian’s online newsroom, and on 

central Smithsonian social media accounts. In addition, the OPA works with units 

throughout the Institution to establish and maintain professional communications 

guidelines and consistent standards. 

155 
The OGR is the liaison between the Smithsonian Institution and the 

federal Government. This includes members and staff of the U.S. House of 

Representatives and the Senate, appropriations and oversight committees and 

congressional offices, the White House, the Office of Management and Budget, 

and various federal agencies. This Office supports the Institution’s overall 

Strategic Plan by explaining the accomplishments, relevance, and wealth of the 

Smithsonian’s offerings to the Congress and the Administration. The OGR also 

works with other Smithsonian offices, informing them of federal-sector activities, 

tracking legislation pertinent to them, showcasing their exhibits, programs, and 

discoveries for interested congressional offices, and managing their requests for 

high-ranking Government officials to participate in official Institution events. 

The OVS is the main Office dedicated to designing, orchestrating, and 

improving visitors’ experiences at the Smithsonian. The Office advances the 

Smithsonian’s mission through its activities as the primary point of contact for 

visitors and volunteers. Office resources support the Strategic Plan by 

administering products and services which broaden visitor access to Smithsonian 

public programs and activities. 

The OSEP participates in strategic decision making for advancing the 

Institution’s goals by identifying event opportunities which will help the 

Smithsonian achieve its objectives, and also helps plan special events to extend 

the reach of the Institution and energize its representation. Office staff also serve 

as the principal coordinator of events for the Secretary and the senior leadership 

of the Institution. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $315,000 that 

includes $93,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing 

staff funded under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 2 FTEs and 

$222,000 for visitor engagement. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The OPA allocates resources for national and international media publicity 

and to expand relationships through targeted media outlets. As the Smithsonian 

Office with primary responsibility for communicating with online audiences, the 

OPA manages content on the Institution’s central website, Newsdesk, and on the 

central Smithsonian social media accounts. The OPA works with units throughout 

the Institution to establish and maintain professional communications guidelines 

and standards. The OPA also produces Smithsonian Science, an online blog 

devoted to scientific research, as well as blogs about African American and 

American women’s history, National Air and Space Museum stories, modern 

design, Smithsonian traveling exhibitions, and Smithsonian Folklife magazine, in 

addition to numerous podcasts such as the popular and well-received Sidedoor 

series of programs. 

156 
In addition, the OPA initiates and responds to all media inquiries in a 

timely manner with accurate, concise information, and generates story ideas for 

the media, featuring Smithsonian experts, exhibitions, research, and programs. 

In terms of new initiatives, the OPA also coordinates the Institution’s One 

Smithsonian: Greater Reach, Greater Relevance, Profound Impact Strategic Plan 

and many other programs, as well as appeals for private support. 

The OVS designs and administers systems visitors use to plan and enjoy 

their visits, as well as support systems that enable Smithsonian staff to better aid 

on-site visitors. The OVS administers the Smithsonian Information Center at the 

Castle, the outdoor visitor information kiosks near all museums and galleries, 

Web applications, and selected publications. In addition, the OVS oversees a 

comprehensive visitor feedback system that includes the general Smithsonian 

email address, a telephone call center, comment cards, and surveys. 

The OVS also works with relevant units to deliver products and services 

which help their staff understand and meet the needs of their specific audiences. 

The OVS systematically analyzes visitor behavior, trends, and insights, and 

delivers pertinent findings to museum and research center teams whose projects 

will affect how visitors experience the Smithsonian and get the most out of their 

time in our facilities. The OVS recruits and trains highly qualified, motivated, and 

diverse volunteers to engage with visitors and help Smithsonian staff conduct 

research projects. The OVS also increases retention of volunteers by offering 

personal enrichment, award, and recognition opportunities. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $315,000 that 

includes $93,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing 

staff funded under this line item, and a programmatic increase of 2 FTEs and 

$222,000 for visitor engagement. 

Visitor Engagement (+$222,000, +2 FTEs) 

The budget request includes an increase of $130,000 and 1 FTE to hire a 

research analyst who will help the understaffed OVS conduct visitor studies and 

surveys on a pan-institutional level. The position will allow the OVS to respond to 

requests by Smithsonian museum visitor services staff to design, plan, and 

conduct studies, surveys, and projects to analyze visitor experiences, determine 

visitor trends, and see how visitors use the various systems within the 

Smithsonian. A special emphasis will be on how to handle our growing number of 

elderly and disabled visitors. This hire is an essential first step in making OVS 

staffing levels commensurate with its mission to gather information to examine 

and improve the visitors’ experience at various Smithsonian museums.

157 
The request also includes an increase of $92,000 and 1 FTE to hire a 

public inquiry assistant. The position will assist the OVS with providing timely and 

accurate information to the public via telephone and email inquiries. Specifically, 

this position will enable the OVS to more effectively and efficiently operate the 

Smithsonian’s Call Center and Public Inquiry Mail program by reducing the need 

to rely on volunteers to answer telephone calls and respond to email inquiries. 

This hire will function as an initial point of contact for visitor inquiries about all 

aspects of a Smithsonian visit, including programs, activities, facilities, operating 

hours, and more. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salaries and 

benefits of personnel and other related costs. In addition, these funds support 

dissemination of information, outreach, publications, and general operations. 

158 
INSTITUTION-WIDE PROGRAMS 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 0 23,284 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 0 15,734 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 0 23,934 0 0 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

Beginning in 1993, Congress has approved the creation of the following Institutionwide funding programs: 

• Research Equipment Pool 

• Information Resources Management Pool 

• Latino Initiatives Pool 

• Collections Care and Preservation Fund 

• Asian Pacific American Initiatives Pool 

• American Women’s History Initiatives Pool 

In 1993, Congress approved the Smithsonian’s reallocation of funds to create two 

Institution-wide funding programs: the Research Equipment Pool (REP) to support the 

units’ needs for state-of-the-art research equipment, and the Information Resources 

Management (IRM) Pool to systematically address information technology (IT) needs 

throughout the Institution. The Smithsonian first received funds in FY 1995 to support the 

development of a third Institution-wide program, this one for Latino initiatives, including 

research, exhibitions, and educational programming. In FY 1998, Congress approved a 

$960,000 increase to the IRM Pool specifically dedicated to collections information 

systems. The FY 2006 appropriation included an increase of $1 million to establish the 

Collections Care and Preservation Fund (CCPF). The CCPF provides resources for the 

highest priority collections management needs to improve the overall stewardship of the 

national collections. 

The FY 2016 appropriation included an increase of $400,000 to establish the Asian 

Pacific American Initiatives Pool (APAIP) to explore and share the contributions of Asian 

Pacific Americans to the American Experience. In FY 2018, Congress approved a 

$2,000,000 increase to Institution-wide programs in support of the new American Women’s 

History Initiative (AWHI) Pool. Congress also approved increases to the Institution-wide 

programs in FY 2020, including $100,000 for the REP, $200,000 for the IRM Pool, 

$3,000,000 for the Latino Initiatives Pool (LIP), $200,000 for the APAIP, and $3,000,000 for 

the AWHI pool. In FY 2022, Congress approved an increase of $1,100,000 to the APAIP. 

159 
 

 

 

In FY 2021, Congress approved increases of $1,000,000 each for the LIP and AWHI 

pools. In FY 2022, $1,000,000 was transferred from the LIP to support the new National 

Museum of the American Latino (NMAL) line item of $500,000 as well as an administrative 

line item for $500,000. Also in FY 2022, $1,000,000 was transferred from the AWHI pool to 

support the new Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum (SAWHM) line item of 

$500,000 and the administrative line item of $500,000. In addition, in FY 2022, the 

remainder of the AWHI pool funds ($5,000,000) was transferred to the SAWHM line item 

and the LIP balance of $5,000,000 to the NMAL line item. 

In FY 2023, the Institution requests approval for the following funds: 

• Research Program Initiatives: $3,650,000 

• Digital Support Pool: $3,050,000 

• Education Initiatives Pool: $1,500,000 

TOTAL: $8,200,000 

MEANS AND STRATEGY — RESEARCH EQUIPMENT POOL ($1,300,000) 

The Smithsonian’s ambitious research agenda requires appropriate equipment to 

achieve its goal of Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research. This basic equipment 

infrastructure requires regular maintenance, upgrades, and routine replacement. This pool 

aligns with major initiatives and strategic priorities, including: Our Shared Future: 

Reckoning with Our Racial Past; Our Shared Future: Life on a Sustainable Planet; and Our 

Shared Future: My Hometown. REP funds have enabled Smithsonian museums and 

research centers to undertake groundbreaking research in many areas. For example, 

genomics is offering new opportunities for exploring biodiversity. To be successful, 

biodiversity genomics requires a set of cutting-edge genetic technologies such as nextgeneration sequencing. Similarly, the Institution’s efforts in materials conservation have 

been greatly enhanced by using highly specialized equipment that has enabled 

conservators to better identify the age and provenance of artifacts as well as improve the 

preservation of fragile materials. Investing in equipment and maintenance contracts will 

allow the Smithsonian to better leverage its collections and expertise in these important 

areas of research. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY — INFORMATION RESOURCES MANAGEMENT POOL 

($3,187,000) 

The IRM pool supports network operations and server administration, including the 

Institution’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) financial system. Specifically, the 

requested funds are used for: 

• upgrades and enhancements to the Smithsonian’s IT infrastructure; 

• contractor support in the Network Operations Center; 

• services of Active Directory and desktop migration technicians; 

• network hardware/software maintenance; and 

• delivery of Smithsonian digital assets to the public. 

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MEANS AND STRATEGY — COLLECTIONS CARE AND PRESERVATION FUND 

($8,197,000) 

Collections stewardship is a key component and core priority of the Smithsonian’s 

Strategic Plan. Assembled throughout the Institution’s 175-year history, the national 

collections are fundamental to carrying out the Institution’s mission and serve as the 

intellectual base for scholarship, exhibition, and education. 

Currently, Smithsonian collections total 155.5 million objects and specimens, 

145,700 cubic feet of archives, and 2.2 million library volumes, which include 

irreplaceable national icons, examples of everyday life, and scientific material vital 

to the study of the world’s natural and cultural heritage, covering subjects from art to

zoology. The proper stewardship of the national collections is essential for 

America’s artistic, scientific, and education infrastructure, enabling researchers to 

address such significant challenges as the effects of global climate change, the 

spread of invasive species, and the loss of biological and cultural diversity and its 

impact on the world’s ecosystems and cultures. 

To achieve the strategic goal of Preserving Our Natural and Cultural Resources, the 

CCPF provides essential resources to make targeted improvements in the accountability, 

documentation, care, preservation, storage, and accessibility of the Institution’s vast and 

diverse collections. With this funding, the Smithsonian continues to strategically address 

important Institution-wide collections care needs in a pragmatic and systematic manner, 

based on sound collections assessment data, innovative collections care methodologies, 

economies of scale, and project-driven activities, including collections moves, re-housing, 

and digitization. Smithsonian senior leadership acknowledges that an effective strategy for 

addressing our collections challenges depends on a coordinated, Institution-wide approach. 

Holistic collections-level management has enabled comprehensive improvements which 

benefit the greatest number of collection items and collecting units in an efficient, practical, 

and cost-effective way. 

Collections Physical and Digitization Assessments 

As background, since FY 2012, the National Collections Program (NCP) and the 

Digitization Program Office (DPO) developed and implemented an Institution-wide 

assessment tool — the Collections and Digitization Reporting System (CDRS) — to 

annually assess the state of the collections’ physical condition and their digitization status, 

establish priorities, identify areas where improvements are needed, measure progress, and 

provide a practical framework for the allocation of limited resources. Based on assessment 

results, the NCP has used centralized CCPF resources to achieve targeted improvements 

in the preservation and accessibility of collections in the most efficient and cost-effective 

manner possible. These funds have enabled staff to correct specific collections 

management deficiencies identified in the Smithsonian’s Inspector General audit 

recommendations; enable collections moves from substandard facilities and conditions; 

replace obsolete, substandard storage equipment; support the management and 

preservation of the Smithsonian’s cryo-collections; improve the preservation and 

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management of time-based media, digital art, and audiovisual collections across the 

Institution; and strengthen Institution-wide collections emergency management and 

professional development. By working closely with the DPO, the NCP has also provided 

essential resources to support the collections care activities required for the success, 

efficiency, and competition of many DPO-supported, unit-driven, mass-digitization projects. 

Collections Space Planning 

In FY 2015, the Smithsonian completed a multi-year, Institution-wide collections 

space planning initiative, culminating in the Collections Space Framework Plan (CSFP). 

The CSFP includes recommendations and a 30-year implementation plan for addressing 

current and projected Institution-wide collections space requirements in a strategic, 

integrated, and collaborative manner. The plan is a road map that provides renovation and 

construction strategies to address unacceptable collections space conditions, allow for 

decompression of overcrowded collections areas to make them more physically accessible, 

anticipate future collections growth, and reduce the Institution’s need to lease costly space 

for collections storage. 

The implementation of the CSFP addresses near-term space requirements and 

includes: (1) the decontamination of collections in Garber Buildings 15, 16, and 18, 

including processing, re-housing, and temporary storage in Building 37; (2) the construction 

of Pod 6 at the Museum Support Center to relocate at-risk collections from the Paul E. 

Garber Facility, and several Mall museums, as well as provide essential temporary swing 

and permanent collections space for the National Museum of American History (NMAH) 

East Wing public renewal project; (3) the construction of two new storage modules and a 

hangar next to the Udvar-Hazy Center to support the continued move of the National Air 

and Space Museum (NASM) collections from substandard conditions at the Garber Facility 

and the immediate need for temporary collections swing space during the NASM Mall 

building renovation; and (4) the completion of the Suitland Collections Center master plan. 

That plan supports a phased development of the Suitland and NASM Udvar-Hazy 

campuses to accommodate intermediate and long-term collections space needs. 

In support of this request, the Smithsonian has robust Institution-wide data on the 

national collections, their physical condition, state of digitization, and current collections 

space conditions. When combined, this information provides key tools for improving the 

management, care, and accessibility of the national collections. In FY 2023, the 

Smithsonian will continue to build on collections care initiatives and strategically address 

the preservation, digitization, and storage space needs of collections, based on the results 

of the Institution-wide physical and digitization collections assessments and the collections 

space survey. 

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MEANS AND STRATEGY — ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN INITIATIVES POOL 

($1,700,000) 

To achieve the strategic goals of Enhancing Interdisciplinary Research and 

Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences and documenting the full spectrum 

of the American Experience, the APAIP funds support research, exhibitions, educational 

programs, collections, digital and media projects, and partnerships with local and regional 

cultural organizations. 

Projects are selected on a competitive basis from proposals which demonstrate 

cost-effective deployment of the pool funds, coordination with other Smithsonian resources, 

and successful external fund raising from the private sector. Since its inception in FY 2016, 

the APAIP has provided funding to more than 70 Smithsonian programs and projects and 

has increased the Asian Pacific American presence in the Institution’s presentation of and 

research into the American Experience. In FY 2018, the APAIP supported its first curator 

dedicated to preserving and exhibiting Asian Pacific American history at the NMAH. With 

the additional funding provided in FY 2020 and FY 2022, the pool is now able to support 

more projects and employ two curatorial assistants — one in the NMAH and the other in 

the Center for Cultural Heritage. Pool administrators expect to also support a curator at the 

National Museum of American Indian to focus on Asian Pacific American studies in FY 

2023. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY — LATINO INITIATIVES POOL 

The LIP will achieve the strategic goals of Enhancing Interdisciplinary Research and 

Understanding and Impacting 21st Century Audiences by funding projects that support 

Latino programs and focus on U.S. Latino contributions to science, history, and culture. 

Pool funds have been used to support exhibition and collections development, public and 

educational programs, research and publications, digital content, and Fellowships and 

internships. 

In FY 2021, the Institution transferred $500,000 from the LIP to the NMAL line item 

and $500,000 to the administrative line item to provide administrative support for the new 

Museum. 

In FY 2022, the entire $5,000,000 was transferred from the LIP to the NMAL line 

item to provide additional flexibility in developing the new Museum. The LIP program will 

continue its private/federal partnership to make the most cost-effective use of these 

combined resources. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY — AMERICAN WOMEN’S HISTORY INITIATIVES POOL 

The AWHI pool, first funded by Congress in FY 2018, heightens the public’s 

knowledge and appreciation of the transformational role women have played in 

constructing our national identity and culture. The Smithsonian Institution, through the 

AWHI, will: (1) magnify the contributions of women through exhibitions, programs, and 

163 
educational content; (2) increase the representation of women online by building on the 

Institution’s trusted resources; (3) hire curators committed to amplifying American women’s 

history; and (4) expand the national collection, both online and on site, to better portray how 

women have helped shaped this country. The Smithsonian is partnering with public and 

private entities to secure funding for the initiative’s outreach and impact. In FY 2019, the 

Institution established a national advisory committee to shape the initiative and secure 

resources for representing AWHI constituencies and stakeholders. The FY 2021 

appropriation included an additional $1 million to expand the AWHI and amplify women’s 

history for local, national, and international audiences. 

In FY 2021, the Institution transferred $500,000 from the AWHI to the SAWHM line 

item and moved $500,000 to the administrative line item to provide administrative support 

for the new Museum. 

In FY 2022, the entire $5,000,000 was transferred from the AWHI to the SAWHM 

line item to provide additional flexibility for launching the new Museum. The AWHI 

program will continue developing its private/federal partnership to make the most costeffective use of these combined resources. With the blend of federal and nonfederal 

funds, the AWHI has hired a director as well as two data scientists to provide a more 

sophisticated analysis of how our collections data inform women’s history. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

In FY 2023, the Institution requests an increase of $8,200,000 for the following 

pools. 

RESEARCH PROGRAM INITIATIVES ($3,650,000) 

The Smithsonian requests additional funding to support the innovative and 

emerging research pool of money that is managed by the Under Secretary for Science 

and Research. This pool will continue to foster a research environment that spurs 

scientific innovation and provides the essential financial support needed to execute 

world-class science. Priority is given to high-risk, high-reward activities which build 

technical capabilities within the Smithsonian’s established areas of research. This 

program helps recruit and retain the world’s finest scientific talent, support postdoctoral 

researchers, and develop a diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics 

(STEM) workforce. 

The funding criteria is flexible enough to respond to emerging research 

opportunities which could change our understanding of Earth systems (such as extreme 

ground-level weather events and volcanic eruptions). In the interest of allocating 

resources in the most cost-effective manner possible, the Institution will distribute the 

funds by both competitive and more focused, targeted efforts. We expect to allocate the 

funding in several tracks; for example, internally competitive seed and innovation 

grants, start-up funds for new researchers, and targeted funding to address diversity 

164 
and inclusion will also consider the impact of COVID-19 telework on researchers just 

starting their careers, especially women. 

Examples of current, relevant research include: 

• One Health/Interconnected Health — Better understanding and controlling 

the interactions between human, animal, plant, and ecosystem health will 

improve the sustainability of our planet and society and demonstrate how 

both are impacted by climate change. 

• Biodiversity Genomics — Applying genomic tools to answer questions in 

ecology and evolution, including the exploration of microbial populations 

(that is, microbiota and microbiomes), which play a key role in soils, 

oceans, and interactions in animals and plants, will help explain how these 

organisms are impacted by climate change. 

• Movement of Life — Tracking the migration of animals across landscapes 

and applying wide-ranging technologies (involving chemistry, telemetry, 

remote sensing, and tagging) to monitor the movement of animals over 

their life cycles will reveal how they are impacted by climate change. 

• Endangered Species Research — Studying the fundamental biology of 

species, reintroducing and/or sustaining species into nature, mitigating 

human-animal conflicts, and understanding the factors responsible for 

extinction, including the impacts of climate change, will produce valuable 

data about the health of ecosystems and the effects of human activities on 

wildlife. 

• Invasive Species Research — What makes some species invasive and/or 

pests, while others become rare? How does climate change impact these 

things and affect our current understanding of pest management? 

Smithsonian scientists need vital resources to answer these questions. 

• Astronomy — Studies will be developed to help determine how we will find 

evidence of life on another planet and what physical-chemical processes 

lead to the great diversity among planets in our solar system and beyond. 

DIGITAL SUPPORT POOL (+$3,050,000) 

A pillar of the Secretary’s strategic framework has been the continued 

development of the “Virtual Smithsonian” that will leverage digital capabilities and 

platforms to reach expanded audiences in the United States and around the globe. 

As an influential scientific, cultural, and educational institution, it is essential for 

the Smithsonian to bring people together to share big ideas and conflicting 

perspectives, especially about important topics that touch all aspects of society, such as 

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race relations, a deadly virus, or climate change. The Institution has the unique ability 

and basic obligation to increase public understanding of our universe, our history, and 

our shared future, and to work for the common good in accordance with our mission “for 

the increase and diffusion of knowledge.”

The Smithsonian is celebrating its 175th anniversary by pressing forward with 

comprehensive digital transformation and initiatives focused on key national and global 

challenges. To sustain the change that has begun, the Institution has created a new 

position reporting to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary to lead the transformation and 

provide critical leadership and guidance to Smithsonian units. This new direct report will 

assist units with re-imagining their work by creating content and programming to reach 

our diverse audiences digitally. 

As part of these efforts to expand digitization and open access and increase the 

type and volume of content we make available to the world, the Smithsonian requests a 

Digital Support Pool be included in the Institution-wide line item. 

This funding will provide digital platform and software development, support the 

ramp-up of mass digitization and informatics, and expand 3D digitization infrastructure 

with key developers and program managers. The requested funds will also support the 

central digital transformation function, digital platforms which support sharing collections, 

the open-access initiative, the digitization program, and the Transcription Center that 

draws thousands of digital volunteers worldwide. In addition, the funding will enable data 

science to expand the information management infrastructure and provide appropriate 

staffing to key units. 

Furthermore, this funding will support the logistics and technology for 

Smithsonian researchers to do their work. An example is how the Data Science Lab 

uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to extract information from 

digitized collections, perform research, and assist curators and researchers in looking at 

our objects and specimens in ways that are otherwise not possible, given the massive 

scale of the national collections. Their work includes providing training on software 

development for researchers, developing methods to increase the efficiency of new 

neural networks, and identifying and addressing unscientific bias in existing networks. 

EDUCATION INITIATIVES POOL (+$1,500,000) 

In keeping with the Smithsonian’s Strategic Plan, the Institution requests funding 

to support educational outreach, including programs to address racial equity and 

sustainability issues. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Smithsonian ramped 

up its commitment to expand public access to a wide array of our virtual assets, 

educational tools, and digital platforms. We are helping people navigate distance 

learning, reintroducing our nation’s most revered treasures to a bigger audience, and 

inviting everyone to rediscover the wonder of history, culture, the arts, and the sciences. 

Our curators, scientists, and other experts continue to offer their knowledge, expertise, 

and insights. They have found new ways to engage with visitors and introduce them to 

166 
exhibits and collections. A wide range of these resources can be found on Smithsonian 

Cares, including many webcasts and online events. 

Accordingly, the Smithsonian will include the Education Initiatives Pool in 

the Institution-wide line item to continue providing high-quality educational 

resources to the public, as detailed below: 

• Learning Lab 

The Smithsonian’s Learning Lab is a free, online platform where educators and 

learners of all ages can access millions of digitized resources for teaching and 

learning. Smithsonian educators and experts use this platform to co-create 

content with pre-K–12 teachers around the country. Free tools like the Learning 

Lab help extend the reach of the Smithsonian to communities nationwide and 

make high-quality and relevant content accessible to all. The pool funds will 

support the integration of the Learning Lab with learning management systems 

used by schools (e.g., Canvas) and enable Smithsonian educators to work with 

the nation’s pre-K–12 teachers and co-create content for use in classrooms. 

• Equity and Access 

The Smithsonian is committed to providing equal access to high-quality 

educational resources for everybody. Pool funds will be used to create 

educational materials and tools which make content available in a variety of lowtech and highly tactile formats. They will also help enhance existing tools to make 

content accessible to communities with disabilities and individuals who need 

bilingual content. 

• Distance Learning 

The Smithsonian Institution serves as the nation’s knowledge partner and has 

been engaging in distance learning since well before the pandemic struck, serving 

learners far beyond the walls of our museums and research centers through 

virtual tours, webinars, distance-learning classes for students at America’s military 

bases around the world, recorded videos, podcasts, and more. These funds will 

be used to create new distance-learning resources and add content to existing 

platforms in support of the nation’s distance-learning needs in school, after 

school, and at home. This investment in technology would dovetail with newly 

developed processes to help ensure that online learning environments are ageappropriate safe spaces for young learners and provide high educational value in 

return for the funds spent. 

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SMITHSONIAN EXHIBITS 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS 

& CONTRACTS 

INTERAGENCY 

AGREEMENTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 28 3,266 16 207 0 0 0 0 1 48 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 29 3,498 16 200 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 29 3,627 16 210 0 0 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian Exhibits (SIE) office is a full-service exhibit planning, design, 

and production shop supporting Smithsonian public exhibitions that connect the 

American people and international audiences with the richness of the Institution’s 

content and collections. The SIE is the exhibit resource available to all Smithsonian 

museums, research centers, and Affiliates. In partnership with colleagues throughout 

the Institution, the SIE consistently delivers the highest quality exhibit design, 

interpretive writing, editing, project management, graphic production, fabrication, 

installation, and 3D services to help support the Smithsonian’s mission. 

The SIE achieves the strategic goal to Understand and Impact 21st Century 

Audiences by continuing to focus on planning, designing, and producing exhibitions for 

the Institution. Clients with full, limited, or no design or production capabilities can use 

the SIE for complete or partial exhibition services, including exhibit development, 

design, refurbishing, signage, acrylic casing, cabinetry, model making, crating, and 

artifact mounting. 

The SIE fosters collaboration among units by providing expert consultation, 

especially in the early stages of exhibition planning. With a broad array of skills, the 

SIE exhibit specialists work across the Smithsonian, enabling the creation of more 

compelling exhibits that connect the American people to their history as well as their 

cultural and scientific heritages. 

For clients who seek specialized exhibition-related services, the SIE will 

continue to develop digital interactive and multi-media services and expand its 

expertise in computer-controlled production and automated modeling technologies 

such as 3D scanning and printing. In addition, the SIE will provide opportunities for 

Smithsonian colleagues to take advantage of its state-of-the-art facility, allowing 

trained staff to work with the specialized equipment and produce the needed 

resources. 

168 
The SIE’s Object Storage Facility (OSF) offers secure, climate-controlled 

storage for artifacts during production. The SIE, in its work to advance the strategic 

goal to Understand and Impact 21st Century Audiences, and the Smithsonian’s 

expansive collections, will continue to support exhibitions in the S. Dillon Ripley Center 

concourse, as well as in the Commons, Schermer, and Great Hall galleries in the 

Smithsonian Castle, and throughout the Smithsonian’s many other facilities. 

In addition, the SIE conducts forums for exhibit staff throughout the 

Smithsonian to inspire creativity, innovation, and collaborations which result in cuttingedge exhibitions and technological advances. The SIE is expanding its skills in exhibit 

creation, interpretive master planning, and exhibition development services to include 

prototyping and interactive development for diverse design projects. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes $129,000 for necessary pay and other 

related salary costs for existing staff funded in this line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

As the Institution’s most comprehensive producer of exhibits, the SIE provides 

its Smithsonian clients with first-class exhibition design, interpretive writing, editing, 

content development, production, and installation services. Each year, the SIE plans, 

designs, and produces approximately 100 projects, large and small, for almost every 

office and museum in the Smithsonian. 

In FY 2023, most SIE resources will stay focused on achieving strategic goals 

to Understand and Impact 21st Century Audiences and Enable Cost-Effective and 

Responsive Administration by: 

• serving as a learning center within the Smithsonian, which shares its expertise 

in exhibit planning, design, and production with community partners, exhibit 

colleagues at the Smithsonian, and at the national/international museum level; 

• cross-training staff within the SIE to share expertise and maximize efficiencies 

while also advancing environmental sustainability in exhibits; 

• demonstrating new exhibition design technologies to Smithsonian units; 

• developing and implementing techniques for greater accessibility and inclusivity 

of exhibition elements across the Smithsonian Institution; 

• promoting exhibition excellence, unit sharing of resources, and advancement of 

exhibitions as an interpretive medium throughout the Smithsonian Institution; and 

• leveraging its expertise in working with electro-mechanical interactive 

components and tactile experiences to deepen audience engagement in all 

Smithsonian exhibits. 

The SIE will accomplish these objectives by focusing exclusively on exhibitrelated work, freeing up SIE staff with specialized experience to concentrate on the 

planning, design, and production of museum exhibits. By building on well-established, 

collaborative relationships with other Smithsonian design and production staff, the SIE 

169 
will continue to play a strong role in sharing its expertise with other Smithsonian units. 

These initiatives will result in a more informed and expert staff that can do more to 

maintain the Institution’s leadership in the field of exhibition design and production. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support SIE salaries and 

benefits for project management, design, and exhibit specialists, as well as general 

operations, equipment services, and maintenance requirements. 

170 
MUSEUM SUPPORT CENTER 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 18 1,949 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 18 1,991 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 18 2,044 0 0 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Museum Support Center (MSC) is the Smithsonian’s principal off-site 

collections preservation and research facility. Located in Suitland, Maryland, the 

facility houses more than 77 million objects, or 55 percent of the Institution’s 

irreplaceable national collections, primarily from the National Museum of Natural 

History (NMNH). Other Smithsonian museums using the facility include the 

National Museum of American History, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture 

Garden, the Freer and Sackler Galleries, the National Museum of African Art, the 

National Postal Museum, the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and 

the National Zoological Park. External agencies storing collections at the MSC 

include the Walter Reed Biological Unit (WRBU) and the National Institutes of 

Health. Additionally, the MSC and the National Gallery of Art are partners in 

constructing a new collections storage pod at the Center. 

The collections at the MSC are used to support scientific and cultural 

research for essential Government functions in areas as diverse as climate 

change, environmental disasters, food and transportation safety, border security, 

criminal investigations, forensics, national defense, cancer research, and much 

more. 

The MSC accommodates collections with a variety of state-of-the-art 

equipment: collections in cabinets; mobile shelving for biological specimens 

preserved in alcohol; meteorites in a nitrogen atmosphere; film and genetic 

collections in mechanical and nitrogen-vapor freezers; high-bay storage for 

oversized objects such as totem poles, boats, and large mounted mammals; and 

large mobile racks for storing art works. 

The facility consists of multiple buildings, including a laboratory and 

oversized storage areas in addition to the main building. These facilities house 

laboratories for Smithsonian scientists and other federal agencies, such as the 

WRBU. The laboratories focus on molecular systematics, ancient DNA, 

171 
conservation, and other specialized research. The MSC supports contracted 

maintenance services and required calibration for special collections 

preservation, laboratory equipment, and safety systems, such as environmental 

chambers, freezers, nitrogen systems, reverse-osmosis water systems, and 

oxygen-detection systems. The MSC staff provides project planning and 

construction coordination, collections care, safety and emergency management, 

access and logistical support, as well as administrative and shipping services. 

The increase includes $53,000 for necessary pay and other related salary 

costs for existing staff funded under this line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In support of the Smithsonian’s strategic goal of Preserving Our Natural

and Cultural Heritage, the MSC will be flexible and nimble while improving 

collections storage and services. The MSC will focus on pest management and 

storage of collection materials. Additionally, the MSC will focus on logistical 

support of shipping and collections functions. Shipping and logistics have 

become near-term challenges due to issues with the supply chain, changes in 

international requirements, and rapid growth in the shipping industry. The MSC 

will support other Smithsonian units in navigating these changes as well as new 

challenges to collections management. 

In FY 2023, Smithsonian will continue construction of a new storage pod 

(POD-6) in partnership with the National Gallery of Art. MSC staff will assist with 

the preparations required for large movements of collections and plan to 

integrate new staff and activities into the Pod 6 building as the space becomes 

available. 

172 
MUSEUM CONSERVATION INSTITUTE 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

INTERAGENCY 

AGREEMENTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 22 3,459 0 15 3 525 0 0 0 3 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 22 3,562 0 19 3 714 0 6 0 17 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 22 3,770 0 21 2 446 0 6 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute (MCI), located in Suitland, 

Maryland, is the center for specialized technical collections research and conservation 

for all Smithsonian museums and collections. The MCI combines knowledge of 

materials and the history of technology with state-of-the-art instrumentation and 

scientific techniques to provide technical research studies and interpretation of artistic, 

anthropological, biological, and historical objects. Through its Protecting Cultural 

Heritage and Preventive Conservation programs, and by participating in the 

Smithsonian’s signature Preparedness and Response in Collections Emergencies 

(PRICE) program, the MCI responds to the threats facing cultural heritage in multiple 

and complex ways. This includes: analyzing and consulting on preservation 

environments; developing less invasive and damaging storage, display, and 

conservation techniques; and supporting U.S. agencies and the museum community in 

identifying illicitly trafficked cultural heritage artifacts and objects. For example, the MCI 

works with the U.S. Department of State on a highly successful training program at the 

Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil, which supports 

the recovery of Iraqi and regional cultural heritage artifacts. 

The MCI, as the only Smithsonian resource for technical studies and scientific 

analyses for most of the Institution’s national collections, brings unique analytical 

capabilities to Smithsonian researchers, including a central mass-spectrometry 

instrument core, and advanced technological capabilities for analyzing biomolecules. 

These services are available to Smithsonian units at no charge. In addition to 

responding to requests for consultations from within the Smithsonian, the MCI handles 

requests from affiliates and outside organizations, such as the White House, U.S. 

Congress, U.S. Department of Homeland Security — Homeland Security Investigations, 

U.S. Department of State, and many other federal, museum, and academic agencies 

and organizations. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $208,000 for necessary pay 

and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item. 

173 
MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The MCI will achieve the strategic goal of Enhanced Interdisciplinary Research, 

by collaborating with the Smithsonian’s scientific researchers and research centers and

providing increased technical and research assistance to Smithsonian arts and 

humanities researchers, collections, and museums. The MCI will initiate, facilitate, and 

support the Smithsonian’s collaborative research projects by using biomolecular massspectroscopy, including biological isotopes and proteomics (i.e., the large-scale study of 

proteins; particularly, their structures and functions). The MCI will also conduct basic 

research into the mechanisms of materials degradation and biodeterioration, preserve 

cultural heritage, and harness new technologies. The MCI’s research programs will 

cross boundaries between Smithsonian units as well as support all of the Institution’s

signature programs and Institution-wide stakeholders. In addition, the MCI will support 

the conservation and heritage science fields through publications, hosted symposia, 

presentations, invitation-only seminars, lectures, and its website. The Institute will use 

all these means to disseminate the results of its research programs. 

In FY 2023, the MCI will continue to develop its biomolecular mass-spectrometry 

and proteomics capabilities as part of the Smithsonian’s central research infrastructure. 

Proteomics is an area of rapid growth in biological and medical research that is being 

driven by advances in molecular separation and mass-spectrometry technology. Along 

with genomics, the field has the potential to rapidly acquire data that speeds the 

discovery and identification of organisms, the linking of genotypes and phenotypes, and 

the development of novel biomolecular markers. Proteomics, in tandem with genomics, 

is expanding our understanding of biological and ecological functions. In short, these 

capabilities will allow the MCI to gather more information from Smithsonian collections, 

cultural objects, and biological specimens, and to learn more about their materials, 

origins, and causes of their deterioration, as well as how to better preserve them. 

To achieve the strategic goal of Expanding Digital Technologies, the MCI will 

provide improved digitization support for making Smithsonian research and collections 

accessible in ways that broaden public access to collections, exhibitions, and outreach 

programs. The MCI will conduct advanced research and develop effective and 

economical digital imaging technologies that are appropriate for Facebook, Twitter, 

YouTube, Flickr, blogs, mobile applications, and virtual reality. The MCI will achieve the 

Smithsonian’s goal of reaching one billion people by revitalizing its webpages to engage 

21st-century audiences and highlight the Institute’s large, visionary, interdisciplinary 

research and scholarly projects. The MCI will make its research products and records 

secure and accessible through The Museum System (TMS), and with repositories such 

as the Digital Asset Management System (DAMS), Smithsonian Research Online, and 

Figshare for Institutions, an open platform for publishing and sharing Smithsonian 

research data. 

To achieve the strategic goal of Understanding and Impacting 21st Century 

Audiences, the MCI will provide heritage literature references to professionals and the 

public. The MCI’s technical information office will continue serving the museum and 

174 
cultural heritage management communities, museum studies students, and the public. 

The technical information office answers direct inquiries and distributes general 

guidelines in printed and electronic formats, handling more than 800 information 

requests annually. In addition, the MCI will continue enhancing its digital and social 

media to increase the impact of the Institute’s research and outreach programs. The

MCI, in collaboration with Smithsonian museums and Affiliates, will offer public 

programs to present the results of MCI research, heighten awareness of the problems 

of preserving cultural heritage, and gain information about the nature and scope of 

problems that the Institute’s clients encounter. The MCI will also collaborate with 

Smithsonian museums and Affiliates to offer media events, printed and online materials, 

presentations, workshops, and demonstrations to reach new audiences, especially 

those targeted by the Institution’s newest museums.

Furthermore, to achieve the goal of education, the MCI will engage and inspire 

diverse audiences, with a focus on training higher-education students and 

professionals. The MCI will continue to promote career development for Smithsonian 

conservators and other collections care providers through colloquia, symposia, and 

workshops, as well as distance-learning opportunities. The MCI will continue to offer 

internships and Fellowships for students pursuing careers in conservation and 

conservation science, as well as support diversity programs inside and outside of the 

Smithsonian to attract students from a wider variety of backgrounds and encourage 

them to pursue conservation and conservation science careers. 

In particular, the MCI will participate in initiatives with Historically Black Colleges 

and Universities and other local and national partners to highlight cultural heritage and 

conservation as possible career paths. Through its partnership in Science and 

Engineering in Arts, Heritage, and Archaeology, housed at the University College, 

London, the University of Oxford, and the University of Brighton, the MCI supports 

advanced training for museum professionals who want to learn new methods of digital 

documentation for cultural heritage collections and obtain new tools for evaluating 

museum storage environments. 

In keeping with this goal, the MCI is providing in-kind support and leading a 

partnership with the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage 

program to train local communities in the recovery of regional cultural heritage. In some 

countries, the crisis caused by ISIS has endangered irreplaceable world cultural 

heritage and the local citizenry requires consistent support to recover from the 

destruction and ensure that these treasures are preserved. Currently, an interagency 

agreement with the Department of State and other grants are supporting salvage and 

recovery at the important archaeological site of Nimrud and other major cultural heritage 

sites in Iraq. The Smithsonian continues raising additional funds for operations and 

expanded programs at the Iraqi Institute. Given adequate support, the Institute can 

become a regional center to educate the local population in the preservation of their 

cultural heritage and serve as a goodwill ambassador for the American people. 

175 
To achieve the strategic goal to Preserve Our Natural and Cultural Heritage, the 

MCI will support Smithsonian museums and research centers in their efforts to improve 

stewardship and scholarship of the national collections and disseminate collections 

information to the larger museum community and the public. To this end, the MCI is 

chairing the Council of Conservators and Conservation Scientists that seeks to share 

best practices, current research, and laboratory facilities and equipment across the 

Institution. In addition, the MCI will pursue collaborative conservation treatment projects 

with other Smithsonian units to provide conservation guidance and analytical technical 

consultations to the art and history museums for their more challenging and endangered 

objects. The Institute has a proven track record of establishing scientifically-based 

environmental standards for museum collections, detecting unsafe conditions and 

materials for museum exhibition and storage, and solving biodeterioration problems —

including those that involve buildings and monuments. The MCI is expanding its 

research in preventive conservation by developing new tools and partnerships that aid 

in avoiding deterioration caused by environmental factors. By co-chairing the 

Smithsonian Collections Space Committee’s new preservation environments 

subcommittee, supporting the PRICE team, and chairing the American Institute for 

Conservation Materials Selection and Specification Working Group, the MCI helps 

develop best practices in collections care across the Institution and the U.S. museum 

community. The MCI’s photograph and paper conservation lab will continue to support 

conservation and research for the Smithsonian’s fragile and at-risk photographic 

collections and to assess and remediate collection hazards. 

In addition, the MCI will focus on using less invasive and damaging materials and 

procedures for collections conservation, reflecting the importance of incorporating 

energy-efficient and “green” materials and practices into the Institute’s work. By working 

closely with museum conservators, the MCI will identify special training needs and 

research projects, and develop research and symposia to address the most urgent 

collections preservation needs, such as preventive conservation in museum 

environments (involving light, temperature, humidity, and pollutants), and museum 

hazards (such as pests and pesticides). 

The MCI will support an efficient management infrastructure to achieve the 

strategic goal of Enabling Cost-Effective and Responsive Administration. The MCI will 

use the Smithsonian’s Strategic Plan and its own strategic plan to properly allocate its 

budgetary and human resources, and to secure additional financial resources for its 

high-priority programs. To ensure an effective use of funds, resource allocations will be 

tracked against performance metrics in each of the strategic areas, and against the 

needs and goals of the Smithsonian’s museums and research centers. The MCI will 

encourage staff to participate in budget-performance integration, succession 

management, and leadership development programs. In addition, the MCI will continue 

to implement and communicate efficient, rational, and creative operational and 

administrative practices so staff can advance the Smithsonian mission in a transparent 

manner that reflects the Institution’s status as a public trust. 

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Finally, the MCI will maintain an efficient, collaborative, committed, innovative, 

and accountable workforce through leadership development, evaluation, and support of 

staff, and the recruitment, selection, and development of diverse, highly skilled 

employees. The MCI will promote diversity in working with the Institution’s employees, 

Fellows, interns, volunteers, and vendors while also improving communications with 

internal and external stakeholders in both the public and private sectors. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — Annually, the MCI receives nonappropriated 

resources from gifts and endowments, grants and contracts, discretionary income, and 

business ventures. These sources provide funds for specific programs and projects in 

research, education, and outreach designated by the donor/sponsor, and for general 

activities at the discretion of the director of the MCI. The MCI director’s endowment, 

supported in part by an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation challenge grant, provides the 

salary, benefits, and travel and research funds for the MCI director, with the remaining 

funds going to strengthen conservation science research. 

177 
 

SMITHSONIAN LIBRARIES AND ARCHIVES 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS 

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 106 15,106 11 1,706 6 1,047 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 107 15,956 9 1,321 12 2,302 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 108 16,935 8 1,330 12 2,417 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian Libraries and Archives (SLA) began FY 2022 with the 

appointment of Tamar Evangelestia-Dougherty as inaugural director. FY 2023 

will provide the opportunity for the SLA to continue successful operations and 

implement new initiatives. Under this new leadership, the SLA will develop a new 

organizational structure with redefined priorities to better help the Smithsonian 

meet existing and new challenges in better managing our resources. 

The SLA serves as the institutional memory of a unique cultural 

organization and is responsible for ensuring institutional accountability. The 

SLA’s archival collections document the history of the Smithsonian, from its 

founding in 1846 to the present, and support the Smithsonian community, 

scholars, and the public by acquiring, evaluating, and preserving the records of 

the Institution and related documentary materials. Accordingly, the SLA manages 

the care, storage, and retrieval services for the Institution’s records in a wide 

variety of analog and digital formats. These permanent records are safeguarded 

and preserved in leased, specialized environments in facilities in Washington, 

DC; Landover, Maryland (at the Pennsy buildings); and Iron Mountain in Boyers, 

Pennsylvania. Additionally, research library collections are held in the SLA’s 

network of libraries from the Republic of Panama to New York City. 

The library research collections and the library and archives professionals 

who select, preserve, and interpret the collections for Smithsonian researchers 

and the public play a dynamic role in advancing scientific and cultural 

understanding. Collections acquired and managed by the SLA on behalf of 

Smithsonian researchers provide them with the resources and infrastructure 

needed to communicate with other scholars. The SLA develops policies, provides 

guidance for managing and preserving the Institution’s vast archival collections,

and offers a range of reference, research, and record-keeping services. The 

expert staff who manage and preserve these collections are a crucial resource 

for research and education communities at the Smithsonian, within the United 

States, and around the world. 

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MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The SLA’s core activity for FY 2023 will be to continue to fully integrate the 

staff and services of the combined Smithsonian libraries and archives. Under the 

guidance of a new director of the SLA, the integration strategy will incorporate 

the following areas: 

• Finance and Administration. The unified SLA will leverage and extend 

existing financial resources for maximum value to the Institution. 

Streamlining financial services and providing Smithsonian administrators 

with clear spending plans and allocated resources will clarify SLA 

finances. The SLA administration will develop and sustain a skilled and 

engaged workforce that can succeed and thrive in an ever-changing 

information management environment. It will nurture and foster the 

development of talented archivists, librarians, and staff as well as develop 

an organizational culture of innovation, service, and collaboration. 

• Digital Infrastructure. In addition to envisioning a combined, sustainable 

digital infrastructure to support SLA collections and services, the SLA will 

support expanding modes of research, scholarly communication, and 

public engagement. Key areas will include linked data systems and 

services which will help connect Smithsonian museum collections with 

SLA collections, replace aging collections information systems and 

research data management programs, and enhance digital preservation. 

The SLA will also continue participating in the Smithsonian’s Open Access 

Initiative. 

• Collections and Services. Both library and archives collections have long 

been a core component of scholarly research and knowledge creation. 

The Smithsonian community is supported in the increase and diffusion of 

knowledge by librarians and archivists who select, interpret, and guide the 

staff on leveraging our extensive collections and information available 

throughout the world for the benefit of research and the public. The 

scholarly communications cycle remains firmly based in library and 

archival research collections even while those collections are increasingly 

moving to digital and online environments. However, physical library and 

archives collections will remain an important component of the overall 

Smithsonian culture and means of conducting deeper research. The 

official records of the Institution, under the stewardship of trained 

archivists, provide depth to Smithsonian history as well as fulfill legal 

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requirements. The SLA will build on and establish new processes and 

support structures to ensure we can select, acquire, preserve, and provide 

access to the full spectrum of research materials. With appropriate 

resources provided for collections and staff, the SLA will fully support the 

development of the new National Museum of the American Latino and 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.

• Education and Internships. The SLA will expand its current engagement 

across the Smithsonian’s broader K–12 educational initiatives and 

continue expanding service to the unit-level education departments as well 

as support central Smithsonian education programs. Existing SLA 

internship programs will benefit from central SLA program management, 

and the SLA will expand the diversity of the intern community and seek 

100 percent funding of all internship opportunities. 

• Support a Culture of Excellence, Leadership, and Inclusion in SLA 

Operations. The SLA will build upon the collaborative environment found 

at the Smithsonian to continue to introduce all staff to relevant data sets 

and digital tools and services. The SLA will foster enhanced 

communication between technology staff inside the SLA as well as across 

the Smithsonian. SLA personnel will also renew efforts to streamline and 

develop more effective communication about the array of services offered 

to different stakeholders and create an SLA Workforce Plan to support our 

core functions, as well as address the Institution’s “new normal” working 

conditions and the Secretary’s goals. This will be done by encouraging 

staff and supervisors to reach out and build community across the 

SLA, convening discussions to review SLA knowledge sharing, and 

determining where SLA information should be shared. The SLA will also 

provide central training and resources for all staff in essential work, 

including software and workplace knowledge that supports the “new

normal” environment.

• External Collaborations. The SLA will build on existing national and 

global networks to promote Smithsonian resources for the public and the 

scholarly community. Robust involvement with organizations such as the 

Digital Public Library of America, the Society of American Archivists, the 

Biodiversity Heritage Library, the Coalition for Networked Information, 

Wiki-data information, and others promote SLA collections and services 

and provide a gateway for the Smithsonian to reach a broader community. 

The SLA will build on existing tools (for example, Smithsonian Research 

Online and Smithsonian Profiles) as well as relationships with federal 

agencies and other libraries to address topics such as open science and 

public access to federally funded research and data. 

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EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $979,000. The increase 

includes $579,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff 

funded under this line item; $300,000 for Library subscription inflation, justified in the 

Fixed costs section of this budget submission; and a programmatic increase of 1 FTE 

and $100,000 for digital support. 

Digital Support (+$100,000, +1 FTE) 

The budget funds a Digital and Research Information Management Program. 

This program will have complementary foci: digital preservation services for all 

Smithsonian digital assets regardless of origin, and research information 

management. With the addition of digital preservation services, this new program will 

provide central support for long-term access to and sustainability of these and other 

Smithsonian-created content. The program also will complement existing subject 

expertise in the units and data science and technology infrastructure currently being 

built in the Office of the Chief Information Officer’s Office of Research Computing. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds help defray the 

costs of providing archival and information services to Smithsonian units, support 

outreach (including publications, social media, and public programs), and 

strengthen fundraising efforts. The funds also support the work to manage and 

preserve the collections of the Institution and efforts to provide professional 

conservation expertise throughout the Smithsonian, to other institutions, and to 

the public. In FY 2023, the SLA will continue to raise funds through its own 

advancement efforts. The even deeper cataloguing of collections and compelling 

stories provided by the unified SLA will provide further advancement 

opportunities. The SLA continues to build upon its education program, with a 

special emphasis on creating content for K–12 learners, and includes education 

among its established priorities of acquisitions, conservation, digitization, 

internships, Fellowships, and exhibitions. 

181 
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 107 55,845 15 3,403 0 13 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 107 59,388 15 3,296 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 110 65,895 14 3,249 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) provides vision, leadership, policy, 

applications, services, and oversight associated with managing and operating leading-edge 

information technology (IT) solutions for the Institution’s strategic priorities, as well as for 

the Smithsonian’s many museums and research and cultural centers. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The OCIO will use best practices in the implementation, management, and 

operations of information technology to enhance the “increase and diffusion of 

knowledge” and achieve the Institution’s strategic goals, for Greater Reach, Greater 

Relevance, and Profound Impact. The OCIO collaborates with industry partners, cultural 

organizations, academia, and the public to develop innovative solutions for research 

and digitization challenges, and to realize the vision of creating a virtual Smithsonian to 

serve 21st century audiences. 

The following strategies are cross-cutting and central to the Smithsonian’s 

strategic plan and mission of connecting Americans to their history and heritage, as well 

as to promote innovation, research, and discovery in science: 

• Leverage commercially available and open-source technologies to provide online 

platforms for the Institution to increase public access to digitized collections and 

research data; 

• Use state-of-the-art, secure information systems to modernize financial, human 

resources, facilities management, collections, education, and research 

processes; 

• Replace network equipment, servers, desktop computers, and scientific 

workstations on an industry best practice life cycle to increase reliability and 

improve the security of information systems and the data they contain; 

• Maintain and enhance the Institution’s telecommunications infrastructure to

provide reliable, secure, and cost-effective voice and data communications 

systems in support of the Smithsonian mission; 

182 
• Meet federal requirements for providing timely and accurate financial information; 

• Increase the use of data science and artificial intelligence to drive innovation in 

research and collections management in a cost-effective manner; 

• Invest strategically in creating a standard mass-digitization process that enables 

replicable, cost-effective, high throughput, and high-quality 2D digitization for all 

Smithsonian priority collections. Digitization efforts to implement this process 

have produced digital images for 3.8 million collection objects to date, thereby 

doubling the rate of digitization at the Smithsonian; 

• Develop automation processes to scale up 3D digitization efforts while ensuring 

that 3D data models remain durable over time; 

• Continue to improve and refine the Institution’s IT Security Program; and 

• Expand and refine offerings to support digital content production that addresses 

key Institution priorities such as racial equity and environmental sustainability. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of 3 FTEs and $6,507,000. The 

increase includes $895,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing 

staff funded under this line item; $2,012,000 for increased communication costs, which 

are both justified in the Fixed Costs section of this budget submission. In addition, an 

increase of 3 FTEs and $3,600,000 for the Smithsonian’s IT Security program. 

IT Security — FY 2023 Increase: (+$3,600,000 and +3 FTEs) 

The FY 2023 budget request includes a programmatic increase of 3 FTEs and 

$3,600,000 for the Smithsonian’s IT Security program. This funding request supports 

additional resources to enhance security monitoring and response to implement initiatives 

on additional security logging requirements to defend against ransomware and other 

threats. The funding also supports implementing initiatives on supply chain risk 

management, threat intelligence, data loss prevention, and zero trust architecture; and 

continue to enhance the Institution’s security assessment, risk management, and 

compliance processes. 

The requested increase will enable the Institution to: (1) improve our ability to 

detect and respond to increasingly sophisticated threats; (2) expand monitoring and 

investigation of potentially suspicious activities; (3) enhance our ability identify and 

address risks related to external systems and providers (such as the supply chain; (4) 

detect and prevent the inappropriate disclosure or distribution of personal and other 

sensitive information; (5) defend against major security attacks; (6) improve the 

assessment and management of system risk and compliance; (7) enhance the security 

training and awareness of Smithsonian personnel, contractors, volunteers, research 

Fellows, and other affiliated personnel; (8) integrate security components for better 

visibility into enterprise risk; (9) address Inspector General audit recommendations on IT 

security; and (10) improve compliance with payment card industry data security 

standards. The funding will also increase integration between security components for 

better visibility into enterprise risk. 

183 
These resources are vital to help the Smithsonian effectively detect malicious 

activity; monitor and protect sensitive Smithsonian data; defend the Institution against 

sophisticated threats, investigate suspicious activity; manage risk both internally and from 

the cyber-supply chain; and adapt the Smithsonian’s defenses to the evolving business 

needs of an increasingly widespread work environment. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salaries and 

benefits costs of personnel and other related costs of the OCIO. Donor/sponsordesignated funds cover IT costs related to 3D digitization projects and a portion of the 

biennial Digitization Fair first offered to the public in FY 2017. 

184 
ADMINISTRATION 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

INTERAGENCY 

AGREEMENT 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 196 38,391 201 25,991 14 21,525 1 356 3 336 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 198 39,950 207 29,007 16 12,291 2 425 1 150 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 213 44,188 214 31,117 20 4,083 1 342 0 50 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Smithsonian Institution Administration program provides vision, leadership, 

policy, and oversight associated with managing and operating the Institution’s museums 

and research centers. Administration includes executive leadership provided by the offices 

of the Secretary and Board of Regents; the Deputy Secretary/Chief Operating Officer; the 

Under Secretary for Museums and Culture; the Under Secretary for Science and 

Research; the Under Secretary for Education; and the Under Secretary for Administration. 

Other central activities include human resources, diversity, financial and contract 

management, and legal services. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The Smithsonian will continue to use best practices in management to advance its 

mission for the “increase and diffusion of knowledge” and to achieve the Institution’s goals

while translating James Smithson’s 19th century vision into a modern 21st century reality. 

The following strategies are cross-cutting and central to accomplishing the Smithsonian’s 

mission and also help promote innovation, research, and discovery: 

• Ensure the financial strength of the Smithsonian and provide the Institution with 

effective and efficient financial, contracting, and management support services, 

including reliable financial evaluation, auditing, and reporting. 

• Provide oversight of the Smithsonian budget process as it is developed and executed 

to support the operating and Facilities Capital programs of the Institution, establish and 

enforce budgetary policies and procedures, and ensure that sufficient resources are 

available to enable the Institution to achieve its goals. 

• Establish and maintain a comprehensive enterprise risk-management program to 

identify, monitor, and mitigate risk at all levels. 

• Provide leadership and guidance for Institution-wide collections initiatives, policies, and 

programs to ensure the proper stewardship of the national collections. 

• Support the Institution’s Board of Regents and its committees.

185 
• Develop and implement necessary internal controls as recommended by the Board of 

Regents’ Governance Committee, which involves strengthening non-collections 

property management and meeting increased demands for acquisition of goods and 

services. 

• Provide legal counsel to the Board of Regents and the Institution on issues such as 

museum administration, intellectual and real property, collections management, 

contracts, privacy and cyber security, finance, employment, ethics, conflicts of interest, 

international agreements, and requests for information. 

• Manage human resources, foster diversity, hire a skilled workforce in a timely manner, 

and align human capital with the Institution’s goals and performance objectives. 

Conduct ongoing workforce and performance gap analyses, strengthen training and 

leadership policies and programs, develop succession planning, and evaluate and 

improve assessment tools for human resources performance. 

• Provide leadership and oversight for all policies, programs, and activities of the 

Institution’s museums and research centers by attracting, recruiting, and retaining 

leaders with superior talent. 

• Provide leadership, support, and resources to enable educators across the 

Smithsonian to share the depth and breadth of the Smithsonian’s collections and 

research, connect with diverse audiences, invite dialogue and exchanges, and build on 

and contribute to best practices in teaching and learning. 

• Increase the Latino Center’s public and educational outreach, in collaboration with 

Smithsonian units and affiliated institutions, by developing exhibitions and programs on 

Latino history, art, culture, and scientific achievement; support Latino research, 

collections, exhibitions, publications, online content, and related projects; promote 

professional development opportunities for Latino youth leaders, emerging scholars, 

and museum professionals; continue innovation in new media, including the Latino 

Virtual Museum, social media, mobile applications, and educational games; and 

continue developing a Smithsonian Latino Gallery in the Arts and Industries Building. 

• Support the Smithsonian’s commitment to teaching Americans about their rich heritage 

by increasing the capacity and resources of the Asian Pacific American Center (APAC) 

to produce exhibitions and programs on Asian Pacific American history, art, and 

culture; continue innovative online initiatives that provide educational, programmatic, 

and outreach materials nationwide; and form national partnerships with museums and 

research centers to enrich the Smithsonian’s collections, research, and activities 

relating to Asian Pacific Americans. 

• Establish and maintain partnerships with the various Administration agencies and 

initiatives related to under-represented groups, such as Asian Americans and Pacific 

Islanders, Hispanic Serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, 

the American Association of University Women, and Tribal Colleges and Universities, 

and perform the necessary public outreach to enhance the Smithsonian presence in 

these communities. 

• Coordinate the efforts of the Secretary’s executive diversity committee, Office of Human 

Resources, and the Office of Equal Employment and Supplier Diversity to ensure 

compliance with federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission mandates, 

186 
promote the Smithsonian’s equal employment opportunity (EEO) and workforce 

diversity policies, and advocate for the use of small, disadvantaged, woman- and 

veteran-owned businesses throughout Smithsonian contracting and procurement. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $4,238,000, which provides 

$1,110,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under 

this line item, as well as $78,000 for the annual audit of the Smithsonian’s financial 

statements, as justified in the Fixed Costs section of this budget submission. It also includes 

a programmatic increase of 15 FTEs and $3,050,000 for Institution-wide operations support. 

Human Resources Support (+$1,300,000, +5 FTEs) –– This request funds 

essential positions required to provide the necessary Institution-wide support to ensure 

efficient operations. Specifically, the funds will support our human resources (HR) staff 

required to facilitate internal and external strategic change; adequately address hiring 

timeliness goals; provide high-quality, timely advice and services to Smithsonian units; 

minimize risks; and improve the response time for answering requests for guidance or 

information. The HR office has seen a steady increase in the number of applications 

being received per vacancy announcement, while the size of the OHR staff has been 

steadily shrinking. The new staff and contract specialists will enable the Institution to 

attract high-quality applicants, create a culture of diversity and excellence, and develop 

and retain a thriving workforce. 

The funds would also provide consulting support to develop a competency 

framework and accompanying competency models, which are the keys to implementing 

the Smithsonian’s overall workforce planning strategy.

Office of the Under Secretary for Education (+$250,000, +2 FTEs) — The 

Smithsonian has a long history of being a trusted educational resource. The Institution 

provides authentic and inspiring experiences for teachers and students by drawing on 

the scientific and engineering assets of the federal Government, including scientists, 

laboratories, satellites, museums, and research centers. Accordingly, the Smithsonian 

plans to translate our nation’s treasures and stories through digital technology and 

cultivate the next generation of learners by sharing high-quality educational content that 

can be used as tools to understand and solve real-world problems. The Institution is 

dedicated to being a leader in K–12 education by bringing the research and collections 

of the Smithsonian into classrooms across the nation through comprehensive, 

standards-aligned programming and accessible resources. Educational materials based 

on our science and scholarship can profoundly affect how students and teachers 

engage in 21st-century learning. 

In addition, with the leveraging of private funds, the Institution will continue to 

develop a model for the future of education and museums through a collaboration with the 

Washington, DC public school system. Sharing that work nationwide and abroad while 

drawing on best practices and lessons learned will expand our impact and help us make 

187 
 

the most effective use of our resources. The requested resources will play an essential 

role for administering these programs and serving schools and educators nationwide. 

Diversity Support (+$700,000, +4 FTEs) — Diversity and inclusion are 

emphasized values in the Smithsonian Strategic Plan. To that end, the Smithsonian is 

embedding diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion (DEAI) across our programs and 

services. The Institution is working to make its museums, labs, offices, and boardrooms 

reflect the nation at large. The National Museum of the American Latino and the 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum will be another step to provide greater 

reach on DEAI topics. These funds will support our new head diversity officer with the 

resources required to implement the Equity and Diversity Action Plans in accordance with 

Executive Orders 13985 and 14035. 

The requested resources will also enable quarterly reporting to the Secretary 

support on progress made toward supplier diversity equal employment opportunity (EEO) 

training, EEO complaints, reasonable accommodations, workforce diversity, diversity and 

inclusion initiatives, and advisory board representation. 

Digital Support (+$300,000, +2 FTEs) — The requested resources and staff 

requested will support website modernization and digital transformation efforts. These 

resources will help support a Smithsonian-wide digital strategy designed for the audiences 

we seek to serve and will make our content more accessible, relevant, and impactful. It is 

essential to have the support staff needed to enhance the digital capabilities of the 

Institution so that we can better leverage data and technology to serve the public with our 

digital resources. Specifically, the funds will support our new transformation office and 

make it possible to reach more parts of the country with a strengthened virtual strategy. 

Smithsonian Civil Program (+$500,000, +2 FTEs) — One of the Institution’s top 

priorities is to ensure a harassment-free and safer workplace within the Smithsonian. The 

Institution is committed to improving processes, increasing employee resources, and 

driving transformative change to ensure the Smithsonian is a model place to work and 

visit. To that end, the budget provides funds to build on the Smithsonian’s anti-harassment 

initiatives and ensure the success of the program. 

More specifically, the Smithsonian Civil Program is a resource for all employees 

and affiliated staff. The program provides a safe way for individuals to report incidents of 

harassment, workplace violence, or retaliatory behaviors impacting the workplace. This 

covers incidents involving any member of the Smithsonian community, including any 

affiliated staff or operational stakeholders, as well as employees who are all valued 

members of our increasingly diverse and professional workforce. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salaries and benefits 

of personnel and other related costs. General trust funds are also used to support 

administrative activities, information dissemination, outreach, publications, and fund 

raising. Donor/sponsor-designated funds support costs related to programs and projects 

such as scientific research, family days, and leadership development. 

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OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS 

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 23 4,184 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 23 4,295 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 23 4,426 0 0 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended, requires the Office of the 

Inspector General (OIG) to conduct and supervise audits and investigations 

relating to programs and operations of the Smithsonian Institution (SI) that are, in 

the judgment of the Inspector General, necessary or desirable. Furthermore, the 

Act requires the Inspector General to transmit a budget submission specifying the 

aggregate amount of funds requested for the operations of the OIG, including the 

amount needed to satisfy training requirements, as well as any resources 

necessary to support the Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and 

Efficiency (CIGIE). 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

The Office of Audits conducts audits of the Smithsonian’s existing and 

proposed programs and operations to help improve their efficiency and 

effectiveness. To align its oversight responsibility with available resources, the 

Office develops an annual audit plan by conducting a comprehensive risk 

assessment of the Institution’s programs and operations and seeking input from 

Smithsonian stakeholders and Congress. The audit plan also includes mandatory 

audits, such as the annual financial statements that the OIG oversee The 

Office of Investigations pursues allegations of waste, fraud, abuse, gross 

mismanagement, employee and contractor misconduct, and criminal violations of 

law that impact the Smithsonian’s programs and operations. It refers matters to 

federal, state, and local prosecutors for action whenever the OIG has reasonable 

grounds to believe there has been a violation of criminal law. The Office of 

Investigations also presents any evidence of administrative misconduct to 

Smithsonian senior management for appropriate disciplinary action. 

189 
 

The FY 2023 budget request funds for necessary pay and other 

related salary costs for existing staff funded under this line item ($131,000) 

and support costs for staff engaged in audits, investigations, and other 

activities necessary to accomplish the OIG’s mission. The request includes 

$60,000 for required training and $16,250 to support the CIGIE. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — The OIG does not receive any 

nonappropriated funds. 

190 
 

FACILITIES MAINTENANCE 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 470 115,261 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 470 116,917 0 0 0 0 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 470 119,258 0 0 0 0 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Facilities Maintenance program is responsible for the maintenance and 

repair of about 14 million square feet of owned and leased buildings and 

structures, and 43,000 acres of land. This includes 19 museums, nine research 

centers, three cultural centers, and the National Zoological Park. The 680 

buildings and structures range from historical, one-of-a-kind landmarks and wellknown museums to essential state-of-the-art laboratories that support global 

efforts to save endangered species from extinction and ensure the success of 

long-term and cutting-edge ecological research. The primary role of Facilities 

Maintenance is to identify and manage facility reliability risks that could impair the 

Institution’s operations or the preservation and conservation of our national 

treasures. This broad role can be divided into three smaller, more manageable 

roles: system downtime elimination; risk management; and system (or asset) lifecycle management. The goal is to prevent failures, ensure the full functionality of 

essential systems, and maximize the useful life cycle of equipment and facilities. 

The Facilities Maintenance program maintains all building systems 

(including heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning [HVAC], elevators/escalators, 

electrical and plumbing systems, roofing, interiors, exteriors, and the building 

structure) as well as the grounds maintenance associated with the upkeep of 

Smithsonian sites. The program also maintains systems related to electronic 

security, screening equipment, radio systems, and perimeter barrier equipment. 

The mission of Smithsonian Facilities (SF) is to provide world-class services and 

infrastructure stewardship by building, operating, maintaining, and ensuring a 

safe, secure, and healthy environment to enhance the Smithsonian experience 

for all visitors. Typically, the Smithsonian attracts about 25 million visits a year. 

As new and renovated museum and research center spaces open, 

maintenance requirements rise due to increased square footage, technological 

advances, and the growing number of infrastructure-supporting systems. These 

systems are made up of assets with added functionality, new technology, and a 

new, more complex level of maintenance requirements. 

191 
 

SF benchmarks its maintenance staffing levels with other museums and 

professional organizations to ensure that financial and personnel resources are 

being effectively deployed. These include meeting standards set by the 

Leadership in Educational Facilities (referred to as APPA), the International 

Association of Museum Facility Administrators, and the International Facility 

Management Association. The Smithsonian has won the prestigious Award of 

Excellence from the APPA in recognition of the Institution’s excellence in facilities 

management and its efforts to measure maintenance performance standards and 

staffing levels. 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $2,341,000 for 

necessary pay and other related salary costs for existing staff funded under this 

line item. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

In support of the Institution’s strategic goal to Preserve Our Natural and 

Cultural Heritage, SF continues an aggressive, long-range facilities maintenance 

and repair program, using the reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) approach, 

which is a widely accepted industry best practice that incorporates a costeffective mix of predictive, proactive, preventive, and reactive maintenance 

operations. The Smithsonian’s goal is to reduce its maintenance backlog, 

currently estimated at $1.13 billion, through the coordinated efforts of its 

maintenance and Facilities Capital programs. Proper maintenance funding 

prevents the accelerated degradation of building systems and components that 

would increase the number and cost of major repairs. Through proper preventive 

maintenance and by addressing identified deficiencies in a timely manner, the 

Institution can realize the anticipated useful lifespan of facilities systems and 

avoid the accelerated degradation of its infrastructure. 

Smithsonian Facilities will continue to identify efficiencies in managing 

existing resources to improve its current level of maintenance service in the most 

cost-effective manner possible. In addition, SF will continue to improve electronic 

security systems and physical security measures which protect the Institution’s 

facilities, collections, staff, visitors, and volunteers. 

192 
FACILITIES OPERATIONS, SECURITY, AND SUPPORT 

APPLICATION OF OPERATING RESOURCES 

FEDERAL 

APPROPRIATIONS 

GENERAL 

TRUST 

DONOR/SPONSOR 

DESIGNATED 

GOV’T GRANTS

& CONTRACTS 

FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 FTE $000 

FY 2021 

ENACTED 1,219 240,900 17 3,990 2 291 0 0 

FY 2022 

ENACTED 1,228 250,537 19 3,764 2 298 0 0 

FY 2023 

REQUEST 1,238 262,650 19 3,934 2 305 0 0 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The mission of Smithsonian Facilities (SF) is to provide world-class 

services and infrastructure stewardship by building, operating, maintaining, and 

ensuring a safe, secure, and healthy environment for all visitors. The 

Smithsonian typically receives about 25 million visits a year. 

The Facilities Operations, Security, and Support (OSS) program operates, 

secures, and supports the Institution’s physical infrastructure in partnership with 

Smithsonian program staff. It provides operational security and support services 

for approximately 13 million square feet of owned and leased facilities, including 

19 museums, nine research centers, three cultural centers, and the National 

Zoological Park. 

Resources within the OSS program support facilities operations, including 

activities such as custodial work; fire protection; building system operations; 

grounds care and landscaping; snow removal; pest control; refuse collection and 

disposal; motor vehicle fleet operations and maintenance; security services; and 

safety, environmental, and health services. The program also supports facilities 

planning, architectural and engineering design, as well as postage, utilities, and 

central rent costs. 

MEANS AND STRATEGY 

SF will pursue the Institution’s strategic goal to Understand and Impact 

21st Century Audiences by continuing to develop exhibits and public programs 

for horticulture, architectural history, and historic preservation. 

In support of the Institution’s strategic goal to Preserve Our Natural and 

Cultural Heritage, OSS base resources will focus on meeting the growing 

operational requirements of the Institution’s facilities. SF will continue to 

effectively use resources to operate and secure facilities and grounds, and to 

193 
provide safe, attractive, and appealing spaces to meet program needs and public 

expectations. In addition, SF will continue benchmarking the Institution’s 

custodial staffing and service levels with other museums and professional 

organizations, including Leadership in Educational Facilities (referred to as 

APPA). SF is committed to measuring performance and staffing levels to ensure 

that the highest affordable levels of cleanliness, as well as efficient operations, 

are maintained. 

In addition to providing the best possible level of facilities care, the 

Smithsonian is equally committed to maintaining the highest levels of security. In 

support of that goal, the Institution is continuing a strategic security staffing 

analysis to determine exactly how many security and law-enforcement staff are 

needed at each of the Smithsonian’s major facilities. The ongoing analyses 

include pay levels, training/skill requirements, armed versus unarmed coverage, 

and the appropriate mix of Smithsonian officers versus contract security guards. 

SF also continues its commitment to ensure that Smithsonian employees 

have a safe and healthy workplace by creating a culture that embraces zero 

injuries; provides professional services to promote a culture of health and 

wellness; and ensures that all Smithsonian facilities comply with local building 

codes, environmental regulations, and management best practices. 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The FY 2023 budget request includes an increase of $12,113,000. The 

increase includes $5,173,000 for necessary pay and other related salary costs 

for existing staff funded under this line item, a programmatic increase of 10 FTEs 

and $4,500,000 for security, operations, and support requirements, as well as a 

net increase of $2,440,000 for utilities and other costs, which are justified in the 

Fixed Costs section of this budget submission. 

• Security (+$500,000) — The requested resources fund essential security 

needs. The events of the past few years have certainly demonstrated 

both the challenges and the importance of providing adequate security 

support for our museums, staff, and visitors on the National Mall. Our 

security guards are the front line of defense, and it is imperative that we 

provide the adequate resources to keep our museum doors open to the 

public. In addition, as the physical footprint of the Smithsonian has 

increased and as facilities are revitalized, the Institution’s security and 

law-enforcement needs have also grown. This combination of more 

ground to cover and the demand for greater protection has resulted in a 

steady degradation in the security base budget relative to the Institution’s 

needs. 

Funding is requested for more contract security officers to fund the 

increased contract security rates as recommended in the Smithsonian’s 

194 
recent security staffing analysis for each of its major facilities. These 

requested resources will allow the Smithsonian to provide a higher level 

of security around building perimeters and in interior public spaces such 

as galleries, thus creating a safer and more secure environment for 

visitors, staff, and collections. 

Facilities Operations and Support (+$4,000,000, +10 FTEs) — The 

Institution requests funding to address high-priority operating and lifesafety needs. Contracts for basic facility services, materials, and supplies 

have outpaced any budget growth the Smithsonian has seen. In addition, 

the Institution’s operations and physical footprint have grown, further 

increasing requirements. The needs of our employees have also changed 

to meet new technology standards and other mandated requirements for 

safety and security. 

This funding will enable the Institution to effectively provide the proper 

cleaning and sanitizing services required to approach APPA Level 2 

cleaning. The funds will support much-needed services to manage the 

growth in our physical footprint and begin to address increasing workforce 

requirements. 

Consequently, the request supports the addition of building service 

workers, an interdisciplinary architect/engineer, a program analyst, a 

computer-aided dispatch operator, and safety professionals, as well as 

funds to help cover contract, supply, and material cost increases. 

This request also includes funding for cleaning and custodial services at 

the AIB so it can be reopened to the public. 

NONAPPROPRIATED RESOURCES — General trust funds support salaries 

and benefits, and other related costs. Donor/sponsor-designated funds cover 

costs related to Smithsonian programs, such as horticulture operations, 

architectural history, and historic preservation projects. 

195 
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196 
 

FACILITIES CAPITAL 

FY 2021 Enacted $214,530,000 

FY 2022 Enacted $210,000,000 

FY 2023 Request $265,000,000 

BACKGROUND AND CONTEXT 

The Facilities Capital Program underpins the Smithsonian’s mission and 

represents an investment in the long-term interest of the nation. It provides modern 

facilities, often within our country’s national historic and culturally iconic buildings, to 

satisfy public programming needs, facilitate world-renowned research efforts, and 

house our priceless national collections. 

Under the Facilities Capital Program, revitalization projects make major repairs 

or replace declining or failed infrastructure to address the problems of advanced 

deterioration. Once completed, these projects mitigate the failures in building systems 

that can create potentially hazardous conditions for visitors and staff, harm animals, 

damage collections, or cause the loss of precious scientific data. 

The Institution uses the National Research Council’s (NRC) Facility Condition 

Assessments to calculate a Facilities Condition Index (FCI) rating. The FCI is the 

industry standard for analyzing the condition of a facility or group of facilities that may 

vary in terms of age, design, construction methods, and materials. The FCI is 

calculated by dividing the sum of the deferred maintenance (based on the assessed 

condition ratings) of eight building systems (roofs, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, 

conveyance — i.e., elevators and escalators — interior, exterior, and structure) by the 

Current Replacement Value (CRV) of the facilities. FCI values of less than 90 percent 

are considered “poor,” values above 90 percent, up to and including 95 percent are 

considered “fair,” and values above 95 percent are considered “good.” The 

Smithsonian’s FCI in FY 2020 was 88 percent. This percentage is based on an 

estimated overall CRV of $9.45 billion and the estimated $1.132 billion value of the 

Smithsonian’s backlog of deferred maintenance. 

Funding for facilities’ routine maintenance and minor repairs is included in the 

Institution’s Salaries and Expenses request. These resources are used to realize the 

intended design life and full economic value of Smithsonian facilities and to protect 

the Institution’s investment in revitalizing its physical infrastructure. 

197 
 

EXPLANATION OF CHANGE 

The Smithsonian requests $265,000,000 and 53 FTEs for the Facilities Capital 

Program in FY 2023 to improve the FCI of many essential facilities and preserve and 

enhance our national treasures and cultural properties for generations to come. The 

requested funds will enable the Institution to continue the major renovation project at 

the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), the Historic Core that consists of the 

Smithsonian Institution Building (the “Castle”) and the Arts and Industries Building 

(SIB/AIB), as well as continuing construction of the Pod 6 Collections Storage Module 

developed under a special partnership between the Smithsonian and the National 

Gallery of Art. In addition, other projects will include the Hirshhorn Museum and 

Sculpture Garden (HMSG) revitalization of the Sculpture Garden and connecting 

tunnel, and continuing work at the National Zoological Park (NZP), the National 

Museum of Natural History (NMNH), the Suitland Collections Center, the Smithsonian 

Tropical Research Institute (STRI), and the Smithsonian Environmental Research 

Center (SERC) in Edgewater, Maryland. These funds will also be used to address 

safety and security hazards as well as collections housing risks throughout the 

Institution. Finally, this request includes the continued planning and design for the two 

new congressionally-mandated museums: the National Museum of the American 

Latino (NMAL) and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum (SAWHM).

The following chart summarizes the Institution’s request for the highest priority

FY 2023 Facilities Capital projects. 

198 
Federal Trust* Federal Trust* Congress Trust*

Enacted Estimate Enacted Estimate Request Estimate

$Millions

REVITALIZATION 

Major Projects

Historic Core: SIB/AIB 14.8 25.0 9.0 55.0 50.0

National Air and Space Museum 55.0 60.0 56.0 50.0 23.0

National Zoological Park 27.0 3.7 18.2 20.4

National Museum of Natural History 6.0 0.1 14.3 15.3

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 1.6 0.9 0.7 8.4

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden 13.3 8.7 10.8 8.7 11.1

Suitland Collections Space and Support Program 8.5 0.8 11.0 8.0

National Museum of American History 7.9 0.3 9.6 7.3

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center 1.9 2.7 6.7 2.5 5.9 1.0

Quadrangle 1.6 1.0 1.0

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum 3.0 3.0 3.5

National Museum of the American Indian 7.5 4.5 2.0

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 3.4 4.1 1.8

Freer Gallery of Art 2.5 2.0 0.0

National Museum of African American History and Culture 0.0 0.0 1.0

NASM Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center 0.0 1.1 0.0

Donald W. Reynolds Center 3.5 0.5 3.5 0.5 0.0 0.5

Fire-Alarm Panel Replacement and Transfer Switch 7.1 2.0 0.0

Multiple Site Projects and General Capital Support 16.9 2.1 22.1 20.8

PLANNING AND DESIGN 33.0 25.0 46.9 0.2

SUBTOTAL 214.5 96.1 202.40 63.8 229.0 62.8

MSC Pod 6 Collections Storage Module 7.6 36.0

SUBTOTAL 0.0 0.0 7.6 0.0 36.0 0.0

TOTAL PROGRAM 214.5 96.1 210.0 63.8 265.0 62.8

SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION

Federal Facilities Capital Program Summary

FY 2023

CONSTRUCTION

FY 2021 FY 2022

CATEGORY

FYs 2021 − 2023

199 
 

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY TABLES 

REVITALIZATION 

Investment in revitalization projects provides for the replacement of failing or failed 

major building systems and equipment, and for major renovation projects to sustain existing 

buildings and sites. The Revitalization Program addresses critical deficiencies in the 

exterior envelope, heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC), electrical, and other 

utility systems at the Smithsonian’s older buildings. Projects also ensure compliance with 

life-safety regulations, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and other codecompliance requirements. In addition, this program supports restoration, preservation, 

climate change resiliency, repair of historic features, and modernization of the buildings 

needed to support current programs, and sustain the viability of the Institution’s physical 

plant. Projects listed on the Multiple Locations line item cover several facilities or have a 

total cost to the museum and/or research center of less than $1.0 million. These projects 

usually involve capital repair or replacement of individual systems or components. 

Facility Project $000 

Smithsonian Institution Building (SIB/AIB) Revitalize Historic Core 55,000 

National Air and Space Museum (NASM), 

National Mall Building (NMB) 

Revitalize Building Envelope and Infrastructure 23,000 

National Zoological Park (NZP) NZP-DC (Rock Creek): 

Renovate Cheetah Conservation Station 5,000 

Upgrade Central Boiler Plant 5,000 

Revitalize Beaver, Otter, and Raven Barrier 

Walls 

2,800 

Upgrade Seal and Sea Lion Shade Structures 600 

Modernize Vet Hospital Electronic Security 600 

Upgrade Site Utilities, American Trail 

NZP-VA (Front Royal): 

500 

Renew the Veterinary Hospital 3,100 

Upgrade Post Area Utilities, Phase 3F 1,200 

Improve Animal Holding Facilities (Barns) 1,000 

Upgrade Living Collections Infrastructure 600 

Total 20,400 

National Museum of Natural History 

(NMNH) 

Upgrade Fire-Alarm Panels and MassNotification Systems 

11,300 

Replace North Tower Air-Handling Units (AHUs) 3,500 

Upgrade Electronic Security, Fort Pierce, FL 500 

Total 15,300 

200 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Facility Project $000 

National Museum of American History 

(NMAH) 

Replace Collection Storage AHUs, Floors 4 & 5 

Renovate East Wing, Floors 2–4 

Total 

6,300 

1,000 

7,300 

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden 

(HMSG) 

Revitalize Sculpture Garden and Tunnel 8,700 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute 

(STRI) 

Revitalize Naos Laboratory Buildings 

Replace and Improve Galeta Facilities 

Replace and Reinforce Tupper Library Roof 

Renovate Tupper Laboratory 

Total 

4,500 

2,300 

1,100 

500 

8,400 

Suitland Collections Center (multiple 

facilities) 

Replace Lab and Storage Pod AHUs (MSC) 

Decontaminate Collections Objects in Building 

16 (SHF) 

Total 

7,000 

1,000 

8,000 

Smithsonian Environmental Research 

Center (SERC) 

Consolidate Maintenance Facilities 

Construct Water Turbidity Filter System 

Total 

5,500 

400 

5,900 

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design 

Museum (CHSDM) 

Repair Miller-Fox Façades and Envelope 3,500 

National Museum of the American Indian 

(NMAI-DC) 

Improve Kitchen Exhaust Ductwork Access 2,000 

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory 

(SAO) 

Improve Water System, FLW Observatory (AZ) 

Modernize Electronic Security, FLW 

Observatory (AZ) 

Improve Roads Phase 3, FLW Observatory (AZ) 

Install Site-wide Fall Protection, FLW 

Observatory (AZ) 

Total 

600 

500 

400 

300 

1,800 

201 
 

 

 

 

Facility Project $000 

National Museum of African American 

History and Culture (NMAAHC) 

Install Additional Chiller and Controls 1,000 

Quadrangle Replace Steam Humidification System 1,000 

Multiple Locations Building projects less than $1,000,000 and 

Miscellaneous Repairs 

Construction Supervision and Administration 

(Multiple Projects) 

Total 

11,300 

9,500 

20,800 

TOTAL, REVITALIZATION PROJECTS $182,100 

TOTAL, FACILITIES PLANNING AND DESIGN, includes $2.0M for NMAL and 

SAWHM 

$46,900 

Construction 

Suitland-Museum Support Center (MSC) Construct Pod 6 36,000 

TOTAL, CONSTRUCTION 36,000 

FY 2023 TOTAL REQUEST $265,000 

202 
 

 

 

 

 

REVITALIZATION PROJECTS 

PROJECT TITLE: Revitalize Historic Core 

INSTALLATIONS: Smithsonian Institution Building (SIB) and Arts and Industries Building 

(AIB) 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $55,000* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $23,800* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $615,000* 

Total $693,800* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design ($43 million). 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Institution Building, often referred to as the “Castle,” is the 

Institution’s first home and its symbolic heart. The Arts and Industries Building opened in 

1881 as the first home of the National Museum. Together, these two buildings make up the 

Smithsonian’s Historic Core. The Castle has historic architectural and institutional 

significance and is the public’s doorway to, and the symbol of, the Smithsonian Institution. 

Both buildings are listed by the Department of the Interior as National Historic Landmarks. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Both buildings need major revitalization work that will include new heating, airconditioning, ventilation, electrical, and plumbing systems, as well as telecommunications, 

security, and life-safety systems. A major goal of the revitalization will be to provide efficient 

and accessible space for visitors and staff. Public spaces will be restored after years of 

piecemeal remodeling that has diminished their original proportions and appearance. The last 

comprehensive refurbishment of the Castle occurred more than 50 years ago. Although the 

exterior shell of the AIB was revitalized seven years ago, the interior is unfinished. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $55.0 million in FY 2023 to award the construction 

management contract and early contracts for site preparation, site utilities and 

telecommunications hub relocations, hazardous materials abatement, as well as to begin 

underground construction. Future foundation work will include excavation below both 

buildings, underpinning of existing foundations, and seismic base isolation at the Castle. 

Future work will also include replacing or restoring all building elements and systems, 

including mechanical, electrical, plumbing, life-safety, security, telephone, and data systems. 

The Castle windows, roof, and exterior stonework will also be revitalized. Both buildings will 

be made compliant with modern construction and life-safety codes. Blast and seismic 

vulnerability issues will be addressed and resistance improved. A new, underground Central 

Utility Plant will provide mechanical and electrical infrastructure, and a newly expanded 

loading dock will improve the efficiency and safety of materials handling. 

203 
PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Programming was completed in FYs 2019 and 2020. Design was initiated in FY 2020. 

The Concept Design was submitted in FY 2021, the schematic design will be completed in 

FY 2022, and then design development will be initiated. Design work will continue through FY 

2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

If this project does not move forward, the AIB will remain closed to the public and the 

SIB will remain at increasing risk of catastrophic electrical, mechanical, and plumbing 

systems failure, which would require permanently relocating all staff from the building and 

closing the facility to visitors. It is necessary to proceed with this work now to ensure the 

construction activity visible from the outside is completed before the semi-quincentennial 

celebrations on the National Mall. 

204 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Revitalize Building Envelope and Infrastructure 

INSTALLATION: National Air and Space Museum (NASM) — National Mall Building 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $23,000* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $654,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design ($52 million). 

Total $677,000* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

NASM was built in 1976 to commemorate the national development of aviation and 

space flight. The 747,877-gross-square-foot building (including approximately 161,145 

square feet of exhibit galleries) preserves and displays artifacts, aeronautical and space 

flight equipment, significant historical data, and related technologies. The exhibit galleries

hold the largest collection of historic air and spacecraft in the world. Before the COVID-19 

pandemic, the Museum received an average of more than seven million visitors annually. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The exterior Tennessee Pink Marble façade of the NASM building is a feature of the 

original construction and forms the primary exterior weather seal for the envelope on all 

surfaces other than at the roofs, terraces, skylights, and window walls. The panels are 

porous, show signs of aging and, in some cases, damage in the form of visible warping 

and cracks. The current marble primary weather seal does not provide a vapor barrier 

across the entire façade and the insulation is not consistent with current sustainable best 

practices for energy conservation. There is no secondary weather seal on the marble 

walls. This missing barrier has created additional condensation and energy conservation 

problems.

NASM’s mechanical systems are original to the 1976 building and were designed to 

support only two million visitors annually. Within six months of opening, five million visitors 

were recorded. Today, it remains among the most visited museums in the United States, 

with millions of visitors annually. As a result, decades of strain on these building systems 

have led to frequent breakdowns and failures, increasing costs to repair. The systems 

have exceeded their useful lifespans and the mechanical systems are further burdened by 

the deteriorated condition of the exterior façade, which allows moisture into the Museum 

and risks damage to the priceless national collections. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $23.0 million in FY 2023 to fund construction, artifact 

protection, and re-installation activities, and to provide staff swing space. Since 

construction started in September of 2018, unforeseen conditions have increased the price 

of the project. For example, deficiencies in both steel and concrete structural elements 

were discovered; de-installing and moving the large artifacts, which were installed more 

than 40 years ago, proved more complex than anticipated; switchgear equipment and 

transformers needed replacing; repairs to the plaza were required; and the COVID-19 

205 
pandemic has interrupted material supply chains and impaired labor productivity. 

Together, these factors require NASM project managers to request additional funds. 

The multi-year, multi-phase building systems and envelope renovation project will 

replace the building’s marble façade, improve blast and earthquake resistance, upgrade 

the energy efficiency of the exterior envelope, replace the mechanical systems, and 

provide more secure access and egress. A primary goal for the planned heating, 

ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) replacement portion of the project is to provide the 

collections area and all occupied spaces with appropriate temperature and humidity 

controls to better preserve artifacts and ensure the comfort of visitors and staff. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Pre-construction services began in January of 2017 with award of the Construction 

Manager as Constructor (CMc) contract. Final construction documents were released in 

January of 2018, followed by the CMc submitting a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) in 

May of 2018, which was revised in August of 2018 following a series of value-engineering 

proposals and scope clarifications. The construction contract was awarded to the CMc at 

the GMP on August 20, 2018, and a notice-to-proceed (NTP) was issued on September 

17, 2018. On-site mobilization activities started in the first quarter of FY 2019, and 

construction started in the second quarter of FY 2019. By the third quarter of FY 2020, 

artifacts had been moved out of the affected area (or protected in place) and construction 

was well under way in Zones 1 through 4-South. The contracts for the re-installation of 

artifacts in Zones 1 through 4-South and the de-installation of artifacts in Zones 4-North 

through 7 have been awarded. Construction is planned to be completed in Zones 1 

through 4-South by the third quarter of FY 2022. Construction in Zones 4-North through 7 

will occur from the third quarter of FY 2022 through the fourth quarter of FY 2024. 

Currently, construction is approximately 60 percent complete. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

During phased construction, building systems in zones yet to be renovated will 

remain open to the public and therefore must stay operational until they are ultimately 

replaced. If federal funding is delayed, the pace of revitalization work begun in FY 2018 will 

slow. The stone façade and building systems in zones yet to be renovated will continue to 

deteriorate, and the environmental conditions needed to safeguard the Museum’s 

collections and the visiting public will not be maintained. Building system breakdowns will 

become more frequent and unpredictable and will likely result in emergency building 

closures. 

The following diagram provides a high-level view of the incremental sequence 

approach the Smithsonian is taking throughout the renovation. The Smithsonian intends to 

keep approximately half of the Museum open during the project, while working on the 

exterior and interior projects in parallel by zone, as outlined below. 

206 
ational Air and Space Museum (NASM) 

Major Systems / Exterior Envelope Revitalization Project 

Building Zones and Incremental Work Sequence Approach 

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,:;.,;-c Zone 1 revlt.ll!f,o)tlQnlnpublltspo}(.fS 

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207 
 

PROJECT TITLE: Renovate Cheetah Conservation Station 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park (NZP) 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $5,000* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $4,700* 

Total $9,700* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Since 1891, various architects, including Olmsted Associates, created the National 

Zoological Park as we know it today. In contrast to earlier zoos which focused on 

displaying caged animals to the public, the Zoo in Rock Creek Park was formed for the 

care and conservation of endangered species in a more naturalistic habitat. For this 

purpose, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (of New York City’s Central Park 

fame) was chosen to plan a system of paths winding gently through the steeply sloped, 

verdant park. Fellow Boston architect William Ralph Emerson designed a few of the early 

animal houses, such as the Buffalo Barn and the first Lion House. These buildings, made 

of rustic, local stone or wood, reflect the natural features of Rock Creek Park, and were 

meant to evoke images of the American wilderness. 

The aging and soon-to-be obsolete Cheetah Conservation Station (CCS) is located 

at the 163-acre National Zoo’s Rock Creek Park campus. In addition to cheetahs, the 

station includes several other species of threatened and endangered wildlife such as 

Grevy’s zebras, red river hogs, sitatunga and Abyssinian ground hornbills, lesser kudu and 

dama gazelles, as well as the scimitar-horned oryx, which is extinct in the wild. Several 

animals at the CCS share space in mixed-species exhibits, providing the animals an 

opportunity to interact just as they would in their native habitats and enhancing the visitor 

experience for public education. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Much of the CCS area has old and failing infrastructure. The site’s failing 

stormwater and sanitary utilities are negatively impacting animal welfare, with standing 

water and sanitary water backups. Over time, these conditions have damaged adjacent 

systems and structures, requiring a full building and site revitalization, including 

replacement of sidewalks and shelters. The mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems 

can no longer be repaired, and their dilapidated condition is causing significant issues with 

plumbing backups and insufficient heating, cooling, and humidification. In addition, the 

public and staff areas are deteriorating, causing unsafe working conditions. The animal 

habitats and housing are also inadequate, causing animal welfare and safety concerns 

and not allowing for appropriate behaviors and reproduction of the living collection. In 

many areas, erosion has caused tripping hazards and unsafe working conditions. This 

work is necessary to keep the facilities code-compliant with the constantly evolving animal 

care standards required to maintain accreditation by the Association of Zoos and 

Aquariums (AZA) and by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

208 
PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $5.0 million in FY 2023 to continue renovating the 

Cheetah Conservation Station to include mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) 

system upgrades, along with related building infrastructure improvements, stormwater 

management and yard renovations, added containment fencing, and pedestrian surface 

repairs. As part of this revitalization, nearly all site and building infrastructure will be 

replaced, which will restore operational functionality and support animal care needs. In 

addition, due to erosion caused by intense storm run-off, the structural foundation for the 

station must be replaced and raised up to prevent future deterioration. The containment 

fence, visitor barriers, and security systems will be replaced in response to AZA 

inspections and to reduce the deferred maintenance backlog. Structural improvements will 

be made to address the safety of maintenance workers and support best practices in 

animal welfare and management of their habitats and housing. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The initial design report was completed in November of 2021. Work on the full 

design package is expected to begin by the third quarter of FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

A delay in renovating the Cheetah Conservation Station could threaten the National 

Zoo’s AZA accreditation and damage the Institution’s reputation and mission. System

failures will result in unnecessary operational emergency responses which are costly, 

disruptive, and preventable. 

209 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Upgrade Central Boiler Plant 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park (NZP) 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $5,000* 

Total $5,000* * Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Since 1891, various architects, including Olmsted Associates, created the 

National Zoological Park as we know it today. In contrast to earlier zoos which focused 

on displaying caged animals to the public, the Zoo in Rock Creek Park was formed for 

the care and conservation of endangered species in a more naturalistic habitat. For this 

purpose, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (of New York City’s Central Park 

fame) was chosen to plan a system of paths winding gently through the steeply sloped, 

verdant park. Fellow Boston architect William Ralph Emerson designed a few of the 

early animal houses, such as the Buffalo Barn and the first Lion House. These 

buildings, made of rustic, local stone or wood, reflect the natural features of Rock 

Creek Park and were meant to evoke images of the American wilderness. 

The National Zoological Park’s 2008 Comprehensive Facilities Master Plan 

(CFMP) calls for a series of major capital renewal projects to be executed in order of 

priority during the next 20–25 years. Much progress has been made with renewing the 

failing buildings, but there are several facilities which remain a priority for renewal, 

including the Boiler Plant. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The Boiler Plant was constructed in 1982 and has reached the end of its functional 

life expectancy. The boiler equipment has been discontinued, making it impossible to find 

replacement parts. The aging system makes a catastrophic failure more likely, which 

would harm the Zoo’s living collections throughout the Park as well as impair normal visitor 

functions. If a failure were to happen in the middle of winter, it could negatively impact 

animal welfare and cause expensive emergency repairs which could take up to five or six 

months to complete. The structure has been classified mission- critical to protect and support 

the safety of animals, staff, and visitors. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $5.0 million in FY 2023 to upgrade the Central Boiler 

Plant at Rock Creek Park. The existing Boiler Plant contains three cylindrical, firetube, 

dual-fuel steam boilers that were installed in 1994. They are primarily fired with mediumpressure natural gas, and as backup by diesel oil, which is stored in four above-ground oil 

storage tanks located next to the Boiler Plant. This project will replace one of the existing 

boilers with two modular, natural gas-fueled, 300-horsepower boilers. The work will also 

include upgrading the water treatment system and installing a new air-handling unit and 

controls. 

210 
PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Preliminary design, cost estimating, and constructability studies are in progress, 

including an energy analysis for steam water requirements and planning to address 

flooding risk. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Failure to renew the Central Boiler Plant will increase the risk of operational 

failures and require emergency responses which are costly, disruptive, and 

preventable. Delaying such system replacements and upgrades could result in serious 

harm to visitors and staff, as well as to the animals, along with the loss of vital scientific 

research essential to the survival of rare and endangered species. 

211 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: 

INSTALLATION: 

LOCATIONS: 

Revitalize Beaver, Otter, and Raven Barrier Walls 

National Zoological Park (NZP) 

Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $2,800* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $2,800* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Since 1891, various architects, including Olmsted Associates, created the 

National Zoological Park (NZP) as we know it today. In contrast to earlier zoos which 

focused on displaying caged animals to the public, the Zoo in Rock Creek Park was 

formed for the care and conservation of endangered species in a more naturalistic 

habitat. For this purpose, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (of New York City’s 

Central Park fame) was chosen to plan a system of paths winding gently through the 

steeply sloped, verdant park. Fellow Boston architect William Ralph Emerson designed a 

few of the early animal houses, such as the Buffalo Barn and the first Lion House. These 

buildings, made of rustic, local stone or wood, reflect the natural features of Rock Creek 

Park and were meant to evoke images of the American wilderness. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The faux rock barrier system at the Beaver, Otter, and Raven environment has 

been rapidly deteriorating, causing delamination of the thin material used to resemble 

the rocks and exposing the supporting steel reinforcing bar. This has increased the 

probability of structural failure and the exposed rebar causes tripping hazards. Staff 

regularly climb these rock walls to manage the living collections, which creates the 

potential for severe injury of staff or to animals. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums’

(AZA) 2020 accreditation standards require that zoos consider the direct impact that the 

condition, appropriateness, and functionality of animal areas have on animal welfare. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $2.8 million in FY 2023 to replace the deteriorated faux 

rock barrier system and adjacent infrastructure, including gate and fence improvements. 

The entire rock barrier system and assemblies must be completely revitalized to properly 

address water-infiltration issues and maintain safety and an effective animal care program. 

The current scope of rockwork barrier revitalization and adjacent infrastructure alterations 

included in the project renewal will comply with the AZA accreditation standards. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design and supporting cost estimates are in progress. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying these improvements and repairs could threaten AZA accreditation and 

cause harm to visitors, staff, and animals. Additionally, if this project is not funded, there 

would be an increased risk of Zoo animals escaping and predation of extinct-in-the-wild 

and highly endangered species. 

212 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: 

INSTALLATION: 

LOCATIONS: 

Upgrade Seal and Sea Lion Shade Structures 

National Zoological Park (NZP) 

Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $600* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $600* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Since 1891, various architects, including Olmsted Associates, created the 

National Zoological Park (NZP) as we know it today. In contrast to earlier zoos which 

focused on displaying caged animals to the public, the Zoo in Rock Creek Park was 

formed for the care and conservation of endangered species in a more naturalistic 

habitat. For this purpose, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (of New York 

City’s Central Park fame) was chosen to plan a system of paths winding gently through 

the steeply sloped, verdant park. Fellow Boston architect William Ralph Emerson 

designed a few of the early animal houses, such as the Buffalo Barn and the first Lion 

House. These buildings, made of rustic, local stone or wood, reflect the natural 

features of Rock Creek Park and were meant to evoke images of the American 

wilderness. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Critical site infrastructure for the Seal and Sea Lion environment is a priority to 

maintain accreditation by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The animal 

habitat and yard receive excessive solar glare that is posing a risk to the seals and sea 

lions. This project is the next phase in improving the living collections’ animal habitat and 

yards throughout the NZP. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $600,000 in FY 2023 to upgrade the shade structures in 

the animal habitat to protect the animals from excessive solar glare that is causing harm 

to the seals and sea lions. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Scope of work for the design and construction procurement is in progress. The 

shade structure mock-ups were constructed in FY 2021 as a proof of concept for 

addressing the FY 2020 AZA recommendations and to continue with the projects. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying these improvements and repairs could harm the animals as well as 

threaten AZA accreditation. Failure to upgrade the living collections’ infrastructure could 

result in the need for emergency responses which are costly, disruptive, and preventable. 

213 
 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Modernize Veterinarian Hospital Electronic Security 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park (NZP) 

LOCATIONS: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $600* 

Total $600* * Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Since 1891, various architects, including Olmsted Associates, created the National 

Zoological Park (NZP) as we know it today. In contrast to earlier zoos which focused on 

displaying caged animals to the public, the Zoo in Rock Creek Park was formed for the 

care and conservation of endangered species in a more naturalistic habitat. For this 

purpose, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (of New York City’s Central Park 

fame) was chosen to plan a system of paths winding gently through the steeply sloped, 

verdant park. Fellow Boston architect William Ralph Emerson designed a few of the early 

animal houses, such as the Buffalo Barn and the first Lion House. These buildings, made 

of rustic, local stone or wood, reflect the natural features of Rock Creek Park and were 

meant to evoke images of the American wilderness. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The Veterinarian Hospital requires electronic and physical security 

modernization due to antiquated or non-existent security systems to comply with 

current Smithsonian security standards and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) 

requirements. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $600,000 in FY 2023 to modernize electronic and 

physical security features, including cameras, access controls, door-badge readers, 

electronic lock interfaces, glass-break sensors, door and window sensors, motion 

detectors, control equipment, wiring, conduits, and security panels at the Veterinarian 

Hospital. This modernization will help the campus comply with Office of Protection 

Services (OPS) security standards for Smithsonian facilities, as well as federal DEA 

regulations. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The Statement of Work for design is complete. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying the project puts the Veterinarian Hospital at risk for theft and loss of 

DEA accreditation. 

214 
 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Upgrade Site Utilities at American Trail Exhibit 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park (NZP) 

LOCATIONS: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $500* 

Total $500* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Since 1891, various architects, including Olmsted Associates, created the National 

Zoological Park (NZP) as we know it today. In contrast to earlier zoos which focused on 

displaying caged animals to the public, the Zoo in Rock Creek Park was formed for the 

care and conservation of endangered species in a more naturalistic habitat. For this 

purpose, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted (of New York City’s Central Park 

fame) was chosen to plan a system of paths winding gently through the steeply sloped, 

verdant park. Fellow Boston architect William Ralph Emerson designed a few of the early 

animal houses, such as the Buffalo Barn and the first Lion House. These buildings, made 

of rustic, local stone or wood, reflect the natural features of Rock Creek Park and were 

meant to evoke images of the American wilderness. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Power management and stormwater control are critical issues for the NZP and, 

until a comprehensive plan is completed, a series of small mitigating projects are 

proposed to address the worst locations. The American Trail requires immediate attention 

because of the volume of visitor traffic in the area and the need to protect and safeguard 

the animals in the Zoo’s living collection. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $500,000 in FY 2023 to upgrade site utilities for the 

American Trail, including stormwater control and power management infrastructure. 

Stormwater management upgrades will include additional trench drains and trail elevation 

adjustments to mitigate further damage. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The project is in the planning and pre-design stage. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

The continued failure to upgrade stormwater control and provide reliable power 

management will threaten the NZP with greater loss of structures and possible loss of 

animal life due to power failure. 

215 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Renew Veterinary Hospital 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park/Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute 

(NZP/SCBI) 

LOCATION: Front Royal, Virginia 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $3,100* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $4,100* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $7,200* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is a 3,200-acre facility 

located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Front Royal, Virginia. This facility 

houses between 30 to 40 endangered species at any given time, and includes a 

Geographic Information System (GIS), endocrine and gamete labs, veterinary clinic, radio 

tracking lab, 14 field stations, and biodiversity monitoring plots, as well as a conference 

center, dormitories, and education offices. The SCBI was originally an army remount 

station. Construction began in 1911 and by 1916 the complex contained officers’ quarters, 

barns, and stables on vast acreage. Primarily used to breed horses for use by the U.S. 

Army, the complex was active during World War II as a prisoner-of-war camp for captured 

German soldiers. Many of the original structures still stand and have been repurposed to 

accommodate the research in rare and endangered animals. The Veterinary Hospital 

supports research and care for various species of zebras, onagers, Przewalski’s horses, 

maned wolves, cheetahs, red pandas, and clouded leopards. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The Veterinary Hospital has only gotten a few minor upgrades since it was 

constructed in 1985. The rehabilitation of the Veterinary Hospital at the SCBI is an 

integral part of the 2008 Front Royal Comprehensive Facilities Master Plan and 

provides optimal operation of laboratory space, operating theaters, office space, animal 

quarantine area(s), and the pharmacy. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $3.1 million in FY 2023 for the rehabilitation of the 

13,250-square-foot Veterinary Hospital at the SCBI to provide a modernized facility that 

will allow for state-of-the-art veterinary care for the animals 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design work started in FY 2021 and will be completed in FY 2022, with the 

construction award planned for FY 2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying the renewal and rehabilitation of the Veterinary Hospital at the SCBI 

could result in lack of care to the animals, along with the loss of vital scientific research 

essential to the survival of rare and endangered species, as well as the potential 

emergency situations that could harm the animals in the care of the Smithsonian. 

216 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Upgrade Post Area Utilities, Phase 3F 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park/Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute 

(NZP/SCBI) 

LOCATION: Front Royal, Virginia 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $1,200* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $4,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $5,200* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is a 3,200-acre facility 

located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Front Royal, Virginia. This facility 

houses between 30 and 40 endangered species at any given time, and includes a 

Geographic Information System (GIS), endocrine and gamete labs, veterinary clinic, radio 

tracking lab, 14 field stations, and biodiversity monitoring plots, as well as a conference 

center, dormitories, and education offices. The SCBI was originally an army remount 

station. Construction began in 1911 and by 1916 the complex contained officers’ quarters, 

barns, stables, and a racetrack on vast acreage. Primarily used to breed horses for use by 

the U.S. Army, the complex was quite active during World War II as a prisoner-of-war 

camp for captured German soldiers. Many of the original structures still stand and have 

been repurposed to accommodate the research of animal life. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The SCBI prepared a comprehensive utilities master plan in 2008 to serve as the 

basis for designing an upgraded utility infrastructure to support the entire campus for 

water, sewer, electric, and telecommunications systems and storm drains. The last phase 

of the project is Phase 3F, and the utilities upgrade for Long Hill Drive. The existing 

electrical, sewer, water supply, and telecommunications distribution systems have 

reached the end of their useful service life. The utility infrastructure systems are prone to 

failure and unreliable service which include unexpected power loss and mission 

interruption. The on-site sewer system is made of terra cotta or vitrified clay construction 

that is between 60 and 100 years old and contributing to recent problems with the sewer 

breaks at various locations on the campus. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $1.20 million in FY 2023 as part of the utility upgrade 

Phase 3F that will improve sanitary sewer, electrical, communications, and water utilities 

along the Long Hill Road and Meade Road portions of the campus. Approximately 3,400 

feet of new 4- or 6-inch lateral and submain sewers and 18 sanitary manholes are 

required to replace the existing on-site collection system and extend the sewer collection 

system along the crane yards from the main campus. Based on the age and condition of 

the existing on-site overhead electric distribution system, and the numerous code-related 

deficiencies, most of the system will need to be replaced, including the existing overhead 

217 
 

electric distribution system. Additionally, a new underground electric distribution system 

will need to be installed. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Procurement documents for Phase 3F are in progress for award in FY 2023. The 

2008 comprehensive utilities master plan detailed the scope of work for water, sewer, 

stormwater management, electrical distribution, and telecommunications. Concurrently, 

in April of 2008, the Smithsonian included a zero-energy Zoo study sponsored by the 

Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program.

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

The utility infrastructure systems have reached the end of their useful service life 

and are prone to systematic failures. Large-scale utility disruption could occur if this 

comprehensive overhaul is not completed soon, potentially creating risks for staff and 

the animals in their care. 

218 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Improve Animal Holding Facilities (Barn Program) 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park/ Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute 

(NZP/SCBI) 

LOCATION: Front Royal, Virginia 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $1,000* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $4,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $5,000* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is a 3,200-acre facility 

located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Front Royal, Virginia. This facility 

houses between 30 and 40 endangered species at any given time, and includes a 

Geographic Information System (GIS) lab, endocrine and gamete labs, veterinary clinic, 

radio tracking lab, 14 field stations, and biodiversity monitoring plots, as well as a 

conference center, dormitories, and education offices. The SCBI was originally an army 

remount station. Construction began in 1911 and by 1916 the complex contained officers’ 

quarters, barns, stables, and a racetrack on vast acreage. Primarily used to breed horses 

for use by the U.S. Army, the complex was quite active during World War II as a prisonerof-war camp for captured German soldiers. Many of the original structures still stand and 

have been repurposed to accommodate the research of animal life. The animal holding 

facilities are large open structures used for the safe care and holding of animals. Many of 

these envelope systems were constructed before the 1970s-era energy crisis and are 

therefore thermally and energy inefficient. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The barn building roofs and exterior enclosures have failed, resulting in active 

leaks from stormwater penetrating the interior and causing water damage. Associated 

systems are failing and result in poor indoor air-quality and adverse health issues to both 

human and animal occupants. More efficient thermal, air, water, and vapor-barrier 

assemblies are needed. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $1.0 million in FY 2023 to upgrade various old barns and 

animal holding buildings to meet current codes and standards for animal holding and 

protect the structure from further deterioration. The project will renew building envelopes; 

fire protection and detection systems; heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC); 

and electrical systems; as well as provide proper sub-slab sanitary waste drainage and 

stormwater management systems and improved information technology (IT) infrastructure. 

Environmentally sustainable designs will create roof and wall assemblies which will 

conserve energy by reducing heat and cooling loads, increase airflow, and reduce interior 

condensation to prevent mold. The project will also include installing skylights and 

overhead doors to increase natural light. 

219 
 

 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The barn renewal phase in the planning and design stage, with construction award 

planned for FY 2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

A further delay in addressing the poor conditions and code deficiencies of the 

barns will accelerate the deterioration of these structures, resulting in even worse 

indoor air-quality and an adverse safety and health environment for both human and 

animal occupants. 

220 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Upgrade Living Collections Infrastructure 

INSTALLATION: National Zoological Park/ Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute 

(NZP/SCBI) 

LOCATION: Front Royal, Virginia 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $600* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $775* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $2,125* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $3,500* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) is a 3,200-acre facility 

located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Front Royal, Virginia. This facility 

houses between 30 and 40 endangered species at any given time and includes a 

Geographic Information System (GIS) lab, endocrine and gamete labs, veterinary clinic, 

radio tracking lab, 14 field stations, and biodiversity monitoring plots, as well as a 

conference center, dormitories, and education offices. The SCBI was originally an army 

remount station. Construction began in 1911 and by 1916 the complex contained officers’ 

quarters, barns, stables, and a racetrack on vast acreage. Primarily used to breed horses 

for use by the U.S. Army, the complex was quite active during World War II as a prisonerof-war camp for captured German soldiers. Many of the original structures still stand and 

have been repurposed to accommodate the research of animal life. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The Upgrade Living Collections Infrastructure Program is a multi-year- funded, 

phased implementation of relatively small projects, identified, ranked, and prioritized to 

support the requirements of park management, animal care, and science staff. There are 

dozens of deficiencies which will be corrected by this project. 

This project is required to resolve an Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) 

accreditation inspection that discovered deficiencies and animal life and safety concerns. 

Remediation work will fix weather-related deficiencies for various animal holding buildings 

that require removal of hazardous materials and demolition of failing structures to mitigate 

unsafe conditions for both staff and animals. This includes animal pools and containment 

fences, which keep out wild predators such as bears, coyotes, and foxes. Required 

improvements to the animal-containment facilities include taller fences, hot wires, and 

electrical infrastructure, as well as dig barriers, animal-shift gates, human-access safety 

gates, and climbing structures for animal exercise. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $600,000 in FY 2023 to address stormwater issues 

impacting the Cheetah Science Facility animal yards and internal road systems at the 

SCBI. In addition, the primary containment fencing for the taxonomic family of horses in 

the Longfield and King areas of the campus will be replaced. Future work will include 

221 
 

 

 

 

improvements to animal habitats and yards; refurbishment of perimeter and interior 

separation/containment fences and barriers; human/animal safety separation barriers, 

which include shift gates, chutes, ladders, and dig barriers; predation and invasive 

species exclusion systems; highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) mitigation; 

replacement of pools/water systems: and quality improvements and controls required for 

the humane and responsible stewardship of captive animals. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The project is in the planning and design phase, with a construction award planned 

for FY 2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying these improvements and repairs could threaten AZA accreditation, leave 

highly endangered species vulnerable to wild animal predation and escape, as well as 

cause harm to visitors, staff, and animals. In addition, failure to upgrade the living 

collections infrastructure could result in the need for emergency repairs, which are costly, 

disruptive, and preventable. 

222 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Upgrade Fire-Alarm Panels and Mass-Notification Systems 

INSTALLATION: National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $11,300* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $6,900* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $3,200* 

Total $21,400* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The NMNH building was designed by architects Hornblower and Marshall, with 

contributions by Charles McKim, and opened to the public in 1910. The East and West 

Wings were added in the early 1960s. Two infill buildings were constructed in the 

original building’s East and West courtyards in the late 1990s. In addition to its wide 

array of public exhibits, the 1.3-million-square-foot-building houses more than 147 

million specimens and artifacts in its collections (used by both resident and visiting 

researchers), and educational, scientific, and administrative facilities serving 

approximately 1,200 people. The NMNH is usually one of the most visited museums in 

the world and hosts between seven and eight million visitors annually. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The current NMNH fire-alarm panels are out of date and became obsolete when 

their production ended in September of 2018. Over time, parts will become difficult or 

impossible to find and eventually they will be incompatible with newer equipment. A 

simultaneous upgrade to the mass-notification system is well-timed because the two 

systems are integrated. Currently, the NMNH has no comprehensive way to notify the 

public and staff during emergencies. The speakers installed as part of the fire-alarm 

upgrade would provide that mass-notification capability. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $11.3 million in FY 2023 to continue upgrading the firealarm panels and installing the mass-notification system. The Museum’s existing

Siemens MXL panels must be upgraded to the new Siemens XLS panels, and a 

comprehensive mass-notification system needs to be designed and implemented as 

well. There is economy and efficiency in combining the fire-alarm panel replacement with 

the new speaker installation. The speaker layout for the mass-notification system will 

account for the Museum’s acoustic issues, which are significant due to the grand and 

historic nature of the building with its many echoing high ceilings and large galleries. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The final feasibility report, completed in March of 2019, provided the basis for the 

design contract scope, which was awarded in July of 2019, with expected completion in 

223 
 

the first quarter of FY 2022. The construction contract award is planned for the fourth 

quarter of FY 2022, with a continuation of contracting in FY 2024. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

An aging, outdated life-safety system runs the risk of failure and endangering 

collections, visitors, and staff. In the worst-case scenario, a malfunctioning fire-alarm 

system could put lives at risk, as well as delay notification of an active fire, possibly 

causing severe damage to the Museum and the national collections. In addition, 

mass-notification systems are rapidly becoming an essential feature in public buildings, 

because they are necessary to quickly broadcast life-saving information in the event of 

natural or man-made emergencies ranging from severe storms to active shooter incidents. 

224 
 

 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: 

INSTALLATION: 

LOCATION: 

Replace North Tower Air-Handling Units (AHUs) 

National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) 

Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $3,500* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $2,000* 

Total $5,500* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The NMNH building was designed by architects Hornblower and Marshall, with 

contributions by Charles McKim, and opened to the public in 1910. The East and West 

Wings were added in the early 1960s. Two infill buildings were constructed in the 

original building’s East and West courtyards in the late 1990s. In addition to its wide 

array of public exhibits, the 1.3-million-square-foot-building houses more than 147 

million specimens and artifacts in its collections (used by both resident and visiting 

researchers), and educational, scientific, and administrative facilities serving 

approximately 1,200 people. The NMNH is one of the most visited museums in the 

world and hosts between seven and eight million visitors annually. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The air-handling units (AHUs) and their components, located in the mechanical 

rooms in the northeast and northwest air towers, were installed as part of the East and 

West Wing construction projects in the early 1960s. The systems service the third floor of 

the Museum’s main building, supporting some collections, offices, and laboratories. 

These 60+-year-old systems are obsolete. Maintenance, repair, and piecemeal part 

replacement of the systems are frequent. Due to their obsolescence, the systems are 

unreliable and expensive to operate, and create a liability for the NMNH in terms of 

potential loss of valuable collections and to the extent they present unhealthy conditions 

for Museum staff. Furthermore, the asbestos-containing material that made up the 

insulation for the associated utility and condensate lines poses a health hazard for 

maintenance personnel. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $3.5 million in FY 2023 to continue replacing and 

modernizing the MEC-3 and MWC-3 air-handling units. In addition to the AHU 

replacement, this project will replace corresponding return-air fans and the electrical 

panels and power components; repair the mechanical room infrastructure; and abate the 

asbestos insulation on hot and chilled water and condensate lines. In addition, the 

inefficient steam-heating system and the corresponding reheating coils will be replaced 

with a hot-water system and variable air-volume fans for ease of control. As part of the 

project, fresh air will be provided to maintain the optimal temperature and pressure for 

the safety and welfare of the staff and preservation of the Museum’s priceless 

collections. 

225 
PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design was awarded for the initial schematic and design development in 2020. 

The complete design with construction documentation was finalized in November of 

2021, and the construction award is planned for the third quarter of FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

The normal life expectancy of an AHU is about 30 years. These 60+-year-old 

obsolete systems are at least 30 years beyond their useful life and their risk of failure is 

very real. Deferring the project will only exacerbate the deteriorating condition of these 

AHUs to the point of complete failure, endangering the Museum collections, negatively 

affecting the health of the Smithsonian staff, preventing ongoing research, and resulting 

in the closure of the third floor of the main building. The presence of asbestos-containing 

insulation presents a health risk to maintenance personnel and requires frequent 

monitoring and air testing to ensure that asbestos remains encapsulated and non-friable. 

In addition, these old systems are energy inefficient due to the outdated standards under 

which they were designed as well as the deterioration that has occurred over time. 

These inefficient systems will continue to consume excessive energy until they are 

replaced, so delaying this project would also result in deferring the cost savings that 

would otherwise be recognized by doing this work now. 

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PROJECT TITLE: Upgrade Electronic Security System 

INSTALLATION: Fort Pierce Research Station 

LOCATION: Fort Pierce, Florida 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $500* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Created in 1969, the Smithsonian Marine Science Station in Fort Pierce, Florida is 

dedicated to studying south Florida’s ecosystems and biodiversity. It has evolved from its 

first home on a World War II-vintage floating barge to a campus with structures designed 

in a simple tropical style. The Tyson House is a modern version of tropical vernacular 

architecture prevalent at the Station. Designed by Florida architect Peter Jefferson in 

1977 for Peter and Jeanne Tyson, it was relocated from Vero Beach, Florida to the 

research station as a gift from the owners. Today it is used as a residence for visiting 

scientists. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The building’s electronic security systems are reaching the end of their useful life 

expectancy and need to be upgraded to meet current Smithsonian security standards. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $500,000 in FY 2023 to upgrade electronic security 

systems to meet current Smithsonian security standards. The Fort Pierce Research 

Station’s electronic security systems modernization project will include installation of 

fiber-optic infrastructure, data-gathering panels, network video recorders (NVRs), access 

readers, cameras, intercoms, and intrusion-detection devices. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design for the system has been delayed due to COVID-19 pandemic travel 

restrictions which have prevented Smithsonian personnel, who are responsible for 

inspections and surveys, from being on site. Survey work is expected to commence by 

the fourth quarter of FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying the project will leave the Fort Pierce Scientific Research Station with 

security devices which are near the end of their useful life, making them more prone to 

failure. It will also leave the building out of compliance with current Smithsonian and 

industry best practice security standards, posing a potential risk to on-site staff and their 

data and work. 

227 
 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Replace Collection Storage Air-Conditioning Units (ACUs), Floors 4 

INSTALLATION: 

LOCATION: 

and 5 

National Museum of Amer

Washington, DC 

ican History (NMAH) 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $6,300* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $7,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $13,300* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The National Museum of American History (NMAH), Kenneth E. Behring Center, 

opened to the public in 1964 and is one of the Smithsonian’s most visited museums. This 

classic modern building (752,000 gross square feet) contains various exhibitions that 

explore America’s technological, scientific, cultural, and political history. A 2006 master 

plan generated a series of public space renewal projects, clarifying circulation, 

modernizing building systems and finishes, and incorporating innovative black-box 

galleries for exhibit installations. To date, renewal of public floors one, two, and three, 

totaling approximately 240,000 square feet in the center core and West Wing of the 

Museum, is complete. The future East Wing public space renewal project will begin in FY 

2026. An updated master plan, completed in 2018, contains recommendations for 

continued modernization of building systems, revitalizations of the spaces on the 

remaining floors of the building, primarily containing workspaces, collections storage and 

food service, and improvements to the extensive grounds surrounding the Museum, 

including better flood protection. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The air-conditioning units (ACUs) 1–4 serve the fourth and fifth floor collections 

storage areas. The ACUs are about 25 years old and at or past most estimates of useful 

ACU service life. Even with constant maintenance, the equipment cannot meet the need 

for environmental protection of the diverse collections at this Museum. The NMAH should 

benefit from a significant improvement to its energy use profile, and see reduced energy 

costs, after the total air-handling unit (AHU) system project is completed. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $6.3 million in FY 2023 to begin replacing the ACUs. 

This project will replace all aging, major ACUs with new AHUs serving collection storage 

spaces on the fourth and fifth floors. These new units will optimize the collection storage 

environment and mitigate ongoing maintenance. Two types of air-handling systems will be 

used. The first type will be a constant volume reheat system, and the second type will be a 

constant volume reheat system with a desiccant wheel. The second type of air-handling 

system will be deployed in areas which require a cooler, drier climate. All air-handling 

equipment will produce six air changes per-hour, as specified for collection storage spaces 

in the 2019 American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers’ 

HVAC Applications Handbook. The project will also include installing a new hot-water 

228 
converter to generate hot water, which will replace the reheat coils system within the 

fourth-floor mechanical rooms. Also, temporary cooling will need to be provided for 

collections storage spaces during construction, when the air-handling systems are not 

operational. The area of work will be confined to the mechanical rooms on the fourth floor 

and penthouse level. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

A study was completed in 2019 to review physical requirements and provide the 

basis for the design of AHU replacement, as well as the timing, sequence, and logistics of 

installing the replacements. Construction documents will be completed in the second 

quarter of FY 2022, with the contract award expected in early FY 2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Air-conditioning equipment will continue to degrade and increased maintenance will 

be required if this work is not done soon. Collections in the storage spaces will be at higher 

risk due to potential failures and emergency shutdowns. 

229 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Renovate East Wing, Floors 2–4 

INSTALLATION: National Museum of American History (NMAH) 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $1,000* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $128,700* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $129,700* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The National Museum of American History (NMAH), Kenneth E. Behring Center, 

opened to the public in 1964 and is one of the Smithsonian’s most visited museums. This 

classic modern building (752,000 gross square feet) contains various exhibitions that 

explore America’s technological, scientific, cultural, and political history. A 2006 master 

plan generated a series of public space renewal projects, clarifying circulation, 

modernizing building systems and finishes, and incorporating innovative black-box 

galleries for exhibit installations. To date, renewal of public floors one, two, and three, 

totaling approximately 240,000 square feet in the center core and West Wing of the 

Museum, is complete. The future East Wing public space renewal project will begin in FY 

2026. An updated master plan, completed in 2018, contains recommendations for 

continued modernization of building systems, revitalization of the spaces on the remaining 

floors of the building, primarily containing workspaces, collections storage, and food 

service, and improvements to the extensive grounds surrounding the Museum, including 

better flood protection. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The 2006 master plan (updated in 2018) noted that the East Wing requires major 

revitalization of its exhibit galleries and public spaces, as well as expansions of 

educational, interactive, and multimedia offerings. Currently the East Wing’s infrastructure

does not meet the needs of the Museum staff or the public. The exterior ribbon windows 

and center core window curtain walls are failing, allowing water to infiltrate, and in some 

instances the ribbon windows have become detached. The escalators also require the 

same type of refurbishing as was done in the West Wing. In addition, the heating, 

ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) and fire-protection systems require upgrading to 

accommodate this revitalization. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $1.0 million in FY 2023 to begin moving collections to 

storage facilities to make way for the revitalization. The Public Space Renewal Program IV 

(PSRP IV) is the major revitalization of the three public floors on the east side of the 

building. Most of the revitalization will be on the second and third floors, which are the 

major public floors. Major systems, including HVAC, vertical transportation, and lighting 

will be updated to support the modern exhibit experience for educational, interactive, and 

multimedia offerings. In addition, space currently used for collections storage and offices 

will be converted to gallery shells ready for future exhibits. Elements of the building’s 

230 
perimeter enclosure, including the four stories of ribbon windows and center core curtain 

window walls, will be replaced. There will be additional work to replace the perimeter heat 

convection units on the non-public fourth floor. When this work is completed, it will create 

the perception of the entire building being one cohesive space. The East Wing will 

complement the revitalized West Wing (PSRP III); however, the East Wing will focus on a 

cleaner aesthetic with fewer visual interruptions in the exhibit spaces, as requested by the 

Pre-Project Planning Steering Committee. Funds permitting, the lower levels will be 

revitalized in FY 2031. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

A pre-planning study report was produced in 2018 and is the framework for the 

scope of work for PSRP IV to meet current Museum requirements and the associated 

costs. Programming is in progress to define the design scope of work. The preliminary 

design contract is expected to be awarded in FY 2023 and work completed in FY 2025. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delays to the East Wing revitalization project increase the risks of infrastructure 

failures, such as those that occurred with the ribbon windows which failed in 2019, and 

delayed relocation of collections storage to Pod 6 at the Museum Support Center. Gallery 

and public space improvements are needed to meet the Museum’s program renewal 

schedule, and failure to accomplish these tasks would put the national collections at risk. 

231 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Revitalize Sculpture Garden and Tunnel 

INSTALLATION: Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG) 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $8,700* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $9,000* 

Total $17,700* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (HMSG), the Smithsonian 

Institution’s Museum of modern and contemporary art, was designed by architect Gordon 

Bunshaft, FAIA, of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, and opened to the public in 1974. The 

Museum is located at the northwest corner of 7th Street and Independence Avenue, SW, 

and the Sculpture Garden is north of the Museum across Jefferson Drive. The building is 

cylindrical in shape, 231 feet in diameter, and raised 14 feet above a paved plaza, on four 

concrete piers. The building is clad with precast concrete panels with crushed pink granite 

aggregate. The center of the drum is a circular courtyard with a large, shallow, bronze 

fountain. The Museum building has four above-ground stories and a lower level below the 

plaza that surrounds the building. The Sculpture Garden occupies 1.56 acres on the north 

side of Jefferson Drive, and is connected to the Museum plaza by a tunnel below the 

street. Between 1977 and 1981, Lester Collins was charged with transforming Bunshaft’s 

original design for the Sculpture Garden into the current blended plan, which focused on 

improved functionality and accessibility. Around the same time, the tunnel below Jefferson 

Drive was closed to pedestrians, and fitted out to house the Museum’s art education

center. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The exposed aggregate walls of the Sculpture Garden are degrading due to 

“concrete disease” caused by additives commonly used in concrete during the period of 

construction. The garden floods after significant rainfall due to a lack of adequate 

stormwater drainage. The tunnel below Jefferson Drive lacks adequate waterproofing and 

is prone to leaks. In addition, the current configuration of the garden does not suit the 

programmatic needs of the Museum for the display of large-scale artworks or for 

performance art. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $8.7 million in FY 2023 to revitalize the Sculpture Garden. 

This is part of a multi-year project that will continue until FY 2024. The concrete perimeter 

retaining walls will be reconstructed, and new walls will be built along the garden’s interior.

Accessible entries to the garden will be provided from both the Mall and Jefferson Drive. The 

structure of the tunnel below Jefferson Drive will be properly waterproofed and reopened to 

pedestrian traffic between the Sculpture Garden and the Museum plaza. Improved 

stormwater management will alleviate the flooding problem. 

232 
 

The HMSG has commissioned the world-renowned artist Hiroshi Sugimoto as the 

“Design Architect” to reimagine the HMSG Sculpture Garden. The revitalized Sculpture 

Garden will incorporate design characteristics from both Gordon Bunshaft’s original design 

and Lester Collins’s revision. There will be more flexible and responsive exhibition spaces 

for contemporary art installations, site-specific installations, and live performances. An 

enlarged pool in the central space will incorporate a stage for performance art, and an 

enlarged gallery area in the west section of the garden will enable the Museum to display 

larger works of art for which space is not currently available. On the east side of the 

garden, the renovated walls will create intimate gallery areas more suitable for the display 

of the Museum’s significant collection of bronze sculptures.

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Final construction documents are expected to be completed in the second quarter 

of FY 2022, with the construction award expected in the fourth quarter of FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying the revitalization of the Sculpture Garden will allow the concrete walls to 

continue to decay and leave the art in the garden at risk of repeated flooding. It would also 

leave the tunnel walls and roof prone to further damage from water leaks. Longer term, the 

Museum building is slated for revitalization, and postponing the garden revitalization project 

would put the start of that project in jeopardy because the limited size of the whole HMSG 

site prevents both projects from being done simultaneously. 

233 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: 

INSTALLATION: 

LOCATION: 

Revitalize Naos Laboratory Buildings 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) 

Naos Site, Panama 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $4,500* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $10,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $14,500* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Located in Panama City, the Naos Marine and Molecular Laboratory site provides 

facilities for Pacific Ocean marine research, intertidal zones behavioral research, 

archaeology, and evolutionary speciation of terrestrial plants and animals. The laboratories 

house a seawater system that uses molecular biology tools to study marine organisms, 

their behaviors, ecology, and physiology, and their interaction with invasive species. 

Among many other research activities, environmental monitoring programs study the 

impact of human activities on coral reefs and other marine ecosystems. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

With the renewal of the Contract with the Nation of Panama, STRI will continue to 

occupy the current Naos Laboratories well into the future. For STRI to fulfill its mission, the 

existing buildings require major renovations, reconfiguration of spaces, and update or 

replacement of the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems needed to properly 

house several marine biology and archeological collections gathered by STRI scientists 

through the years. Additionally, with the requested funds, unoccupied or unused structures 

will be repurposed and refurbished to serve new purposes, such as to provide swing 

spaces, new seawater laboratories, and an enhanced seawater processing system. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $4.5 million in FY 2023 to begin this project with the 

renovation and refurbishment of Building 332, which will serve as swing space during the 

renovation of laboratory buildings 352 and 359, as well as house the permanent seawater 

laboratory. Finishes and electrical and mechanical systems will be modernized or 

replaced, and physical and electronic security will be added for all facilities involved in this 

project. This project will also include improvements to collections storage spaces, 

upgrading security and fire protection to protect STRI’s marine biology and archeological

artifacts, and exterior improvements to enhance accessibility between buildings and 

optimize sea diving and general maintenance operations. 

234 
PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The concept design for the Naos site was completed in February of 2022. The 

design for the first phase of work on Building 352 will be completed in January of 2023. 

The construction contract award for the renovation of Building 352 is targeted for mid2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

The planned long-term presence of STRI at the Naos site demands proper 

revitalization and modernization of the existing buildings’ spaces and electrical and 

mechanical systems, and the reconfiguration and repurposing of existing science program 

spaces to fit current needs. Additionally, much of Building 332 is in deteriorating condition 

and requires renovation and reconstruction. Although this building’s roof and exterior 

siding were recently replaced to keep the structure from becoming hazardous to occupy, 

a full renovation is required to use these spaces to their full potential and for specific 

scientific functions. This major revitalization project will bring the Institute’s essential

research site up to required standards for a new generation of scientists who are 

continuing to provide broader research diversity at STRI. 

235 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: 

INSTALLATION: 

LOCATION: 

Replace and Improve Galeta Facilities 

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) 

Galeta Site, Panama 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $2,300* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $12,400* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $14,700* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Galeta Marine Station is located near the Caribbean terminal of the Panama Canal 

and the city of Colon. It serves as a laboratory, marine and wetland environmental monitoring 

station, as well as an education and outreach center for STRI. The site includes several small 

dormitories, a laboratory building, a small administration structure, and support buildings. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The buildings at Galeta Marine Station are located directly on an eroding shoreline and 

are experiencing seawater infiltration during high tides and windy conditions. In addition, the 

existing laboratory and dormitories are located in old, outdated buildings which do not comply 

with current building codes. Among the many deficiencies, they do not have a 

fire-suppression system and the current sanitary and potable water systems are substandard. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $2.3 million in FY 2023 for Phase 1 of this project, which 

includes the installation of a new fire-suppression system and potable water upgrades at the 

Station to serve current and future facilities. As part of STRI’s Facilities Master Plan, the 

existing dormitories and laboratory will be replaced with code-compliant structures to safely 

host the research, education, and outreach activities at the Galeta site. Phase 2 of the project 

includes a new wastewater system, upgrades to the existing main electrical and 

communication systems, and new shoreline barriers to protect the land from sea erosion. 

Subsequent phases of this project will incorporate a replacement laboratory/administration 

building (Phase 3) and a replacement dormitory building (Phase 4). 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design is complete and construction contract award for Phase 1 is expected in mid2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

The Galeta Marine Station requires major renovations at many essential facilities, 

including the laboratory, administration building, and dormitories. Basic infrastructure systems 

for sanitary and potable water urgently need upgrades. Delaying this project will increase 

maintenance costs and impair STRI’s ability to conduct research and educational programs at 

the Galeta site, and potentially endanger visitors and staff. In addition, the potable water 

installation at the site is not big enough to meet future demands and needs to be upgraded 

and modernized. 

236 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Replace and Reinforce Tupper Library Roof 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) 

LOCATION: Tupper Site, Panama 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $1,100* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $700* 

Total $1,800* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Tupper Center ́s Library Building was built in the 1980s as part of the 

Tupper Campus Complex. It has served for many years as one of the most complete 

and diverse libraries in the world for tropical biology publications, with enormous 

historical and scientific research value. The building is made up of two main wings: 

the library-reading and office area, and the storage-deposit area for books, other 

publications, and special collections. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Preservation of this facility and the publications within it is essential to STRI’s 

historical and research mission. Maintenance repairs have continued through the 

years to stop water from leaking into the reading space wing, but the roof material 

and its entire construction is reaching the end of its projected working life. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $1.1 million in FY 2023 to continue replacing and 

reinforcing the library roof. The project will also require a structural evaluation of the 

existing framework, which will support the new roofing material. In addition, the 

special collections of books will be relocated from the Annex Building to the 

reading/office area, where the controlled environmental conditions are better. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The design contract has been issued, with completion of the design phase 

expected by the end of 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying this project will increase the need for costly emergency and 

temporary repairs to keep the roof from leaking. Water leaks create safety hazards 

to STRI’s staff and visitors and could damage precious historical and research 

publications and rare books inside the building. 

237 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Renovate Tupper Laboratory 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) 

LOCATION: Tupper Site, Panama 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $500* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $1,000* 

Total $1,500* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute’s administrative base is the Earl 

S. Tupper Research and Conference Center located on Ancon Hill. This complex 

includes a library, lecture hall, laboratories, and offices, was designed by the 

Panamanian architect Octavio Mendez Guardia and dedicated in 1990. It was built 

on the site of the historic 1906 Tivoli Hotel, which was demolished in 1975, where 

visitors came to view the construction of the Panama Canal. The main structure is 

the Tupper Building, which houses several administrative and research programs, as 

well as the main offices for STRI’s director. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

While the Tupper Building continues to be operational through maintenance 

actions and programs that have helped preserve the building through the years, 

there are areas, systems, and finishes which have deteriorated over time and need 

modernizing to ensure the building can remain functional. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $500,000 in FY 2023 to begin replacing the 

deteriorated metal cabinets in the laboratory spaces, as well as the old drop ceilings. 

In addition, the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) system’s main airhandling units will be replaced with modern equipment that can provide enhanced 

internal air filtration. In future phases, the bathrooms will be renovated and the 

ceilings, laboratory cabinets, and corroded fire-suppression system pipes will be 

replaced. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

A scope of work for design services is being prepared. The design is 

expected to be complete by January of 2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying this project will increase the deterioration of the laboratory, 

eventually rendering it unusable. The fire-suppression system has started to show 

leaks caused by the corroding steel pipes. Therefore, it is essential to begin this 

phased project before further deterioration takes place and requires more expensive 

measures to repair. 

238 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Replace Laboratory and Storage Pod Air-Handling Units 

INSTALLATION: Museum Support Center (MSC) 

LOCATION: Suitland Collections Center (SCC), Suitland, Maryland 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $7,000* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $13,400* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $15,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $35,400* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Museum Support Center (MSC) at the Smithsonian Institution’s SCC is the 

Smithsonian’s largest collections storage facility. Opened in 1983, the three-story structure 

has five separate storage areas (pods), as well as laboratories and office areas to support 

the care and analysis of the Institution’s valuable collections of objects and documents.

The storage pods and labs/offices are separated by an access corridor (known as the 

“Street”) that allows movement of objects within the building. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Eleven of the air-handling units (AHUs) supporting the heating, ventilation, and airconditioning (HVAC) system in Pods 1, 2, and 4, the “Street,” and the lab/office areas are 

original to the building and have exceeded their useful lives. They urgently require 

replacement. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $7.0 million in FY 2023 to continue replacing AHUs in 

Labs 1 and 2. The AHU replacements will occur in four sequenced projects. Each multiyear project will be funded over two years. This is the second of the four sequenced 

projects. The AHUs will be replaced one at a time to ensure that the controlled collections 

environment is maintained in the facility throughout the process. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The design for the pod AHU replacement was completed in June of 2017 and 

designs for the lab/office and “Street” AHU replacements were completed in January of 

2020. The contract for construction of the first project (Replace Labs 3 and 4), funded in 

FYs 2020 and 2021, was awarded in September of 2020 and is 85 percent complete. The 

second project in the sequence (this project) replaces the AHUs in Labs 1 and 2, with 

construction funded in FYs 2022 and 2023. The third project will follow in FYs 2024 and 

2025, with the fourth project funding requests planned for FYs 2026 and 2027. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Failure to continue replacing the AHUs in a timely manner will put the facility’s

collections environment, and the priceless objects contained in the pods, at risk. 

239 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Decontaminate Objects in Building 16 

INSTALLATION: Building 16, Silver Hill Facility (SHF) 

LOCATION: Suitland Collections Center (SCC), Suitland, Maryland 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $1,000* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $2,000* 

Total $3,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

A study of the Smithsonian’s collections storage space has identified the Suitland 

Collections Center, specifically, the Garber collections storage site, as having almost half 

of the Smithsonian’s below-acceptable collections space. Much of the more than 230,000 

square feet of space, including Building 16, is compromised by hazardous materials in and 

around the collections. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Building 16 contains collections which have been contaminated with asbestos from 

the interior building insulation. Encapsulation systems to shield the objects from the 

asbestos have failed and only a few highly trained and qualified Smithsonian staff are 

permitted in the building. The collections within the building are not available for research, 

exhibition, display, or loan, and are off limits to academia and the public. Funds received in 

FY 2017 and earlier were used to build temporary collections storage swing space and to 

decontaminate collections in other buildings. Building 16 is the next logical phase in this 

sequence. This project will decontaminate the collections objects in Building 16 and move 

them to a suitable storage location at the recently decontaminated and renovated Building 

15. The collections will then be accessible for inventory, condition assessment, and 

research and exhibition. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $1.0 million in FY 2023 to build a decontamination 

chamber within Building 16 and continue the process of decontaminating the collections in 

Phase 2 of the project. This labor-intensive process includes accounting and inventory 

assessments, stabilizing the collection, and moving cleaned collections into a temporary 

swing space (Building 15) at the Garber facility. This swing space will serve as the area for 

emergency conservation and treatment, as well as packing and crating, until the items can 

be permanently moved into the Museum Support Center’s Pod 6 when that facility is 

completed. Phases 3 and 4 of the project will continue to decontaminate and re-locate 

objects on the shelves of Building 16 and in various storage trailers adjacent to the building. 

240 
PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The contract for Phase 1 of the project was awarded in FY 2021 and site work 

began in February of 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Given that Building 16 was constructed as a 10- to 15-year temporary building in 

1959, a delay in decontaminating the collections objects and moving them to a suitable 

storage facility will perpetuate the poor care and inaccessibility of important objects and 

slow implementation of the Institution’s Collection Space Framework Plan and the SCC 

master plan. 

241 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Consolidate Maintenance Facilities 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) 

LOCATION: Edgewater, Maryland 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $5,500* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $4,100* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $9,600* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

Expansion of the SERC facilities during the last decade has increased the 

Center’s campus-wide maintenance needs and placed an increasing burden on the 

existing facilities maintenance resources. This need was identified by the 

Smithsonian’s Office of Facilities Management and Reliability (OFMR) in 2004 and 

validated again in the 2008 SERC Master Plan. This need must now be addressed to 

support existing facilities as well as future mission-critical initiatives.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $5.5 million in FY 2023 to complete construction of 

the facility, which will consolidate the grounds maintenance functions (previously at the 

Research Core) along the Dock Road, freeing up space at the Research Core, and to 

install utilities, lighting, staging areas, communications, and stormwater management 

systems. The project will also renovate the auto-shops and hazmat functions. In 

addition to reducing utility and maintenance costs, the project will improve maintenance 

response times, enhance physical safety, build future flexibility, increase the lifespan of 

equipment, support sustainable operations, streamline operations, and increase staff 

productivity.

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Project design was completed in FY 2021 and the construction contract was 

awarded in the fourth quarter of FY 2021. Continuing funding in FYs 2022 and 2023 

will support the construction effort. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

A delay would cause continued loss of productivity, more deterioration of 

equipment and structures, longer response times to requests for service, and an 

increased cost of all maintenance activities at SERC. 

242 
 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Construct Turbidity Filter System 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) 

LOCATION: Edgewater, Maryland 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $400* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $500* 

Total $900* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

As part of its sustainable practices, SERC plans to use a water reclamation 

system to provide non-potable water to serve the campus. Reclaimed water would be 

processed through a treatment system located at the core campus. The intent is to be able 

to pump this reclaimed water to a 300,000-gallon water storage tower located on the 

northern hillside. This non-potable water will be used for fire protection and other purposes 

not requiring potable water. Construction of the SERC fire-protection water-distribution 

system, which included the non-potable water tower, was competed in 2015 and a turbidity 

filter was added to the treatment system in 2018. Since that time, the performance of the 

turbidity filter has been insufficient for the reclaimed water to be used as intended. 

Because of these problems, and SERC’s continued inability to use the system with the 

turbidity filter as currently installed, a study completed in October of 2019 assessed the 

existing water reclamation system and recommended improvements to the turbidity filter 

as part of the overall system. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $400,000 in FY 2023 to finish installing a new clothdisk filter facility next to the existing ultraviolet (UV) disinfection building. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

A study to review the current water reclamation system and provide phasedapproach recommendations was completed in October of 2019. Once repairs to the 

primary wastewater treatment system are complete, analysis of the primary effluent will 

inform the design scope of work. The design is expected to be complete in the fourth 

quarter of FY 2022 and the construction contract award is expected by the second 

quarter of FY 2023. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

The existing infrastructure is in place for non-potable use of reclaimed water. 

Delaying the installation of the new filtration system will require SERC to continue using 

potable water unnecessarily while the existing reclamation system remains idle, thus 

wasting resources and incurring additional costs. 

243 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Repair Miller-Fox Façades and Envelope 

INSTALLATION: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum (CHSDM) 

LOCATION: New York, New York 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $3,500* 

PRIOR-YEAR FUNDING: $3,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $6,500* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The 64-room Carnegie Mansion, designed by the architectural firm of Babb, Cook & 

Willard, was built between 1899 and 1902. It was the first private residence in the United 

States to have a structural steel frame and one of the first in New York City to have a 

residential Otis passenger elevator (now in the collection of the Smithsonian’s National 

Museum of American History). The Mansion was transferred to the Smithsonian in 1972 

and the Museum opened there in 1976. In 1996, the adjacent Miller and Fox houses were 

acquired and a major renovation to link the houses to the Mansion was begun, creating 

the full campus that presently houses the Museum. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The façade elements of the Museum’s Miller and Fox houses have deteriorated and 

become a source of water leaks and structural concern. Stone coping and decorative 

elements require repair, and masonry mortar joints require repointing and, in some cases, 

rebuilding due to instability. Copper-clad bows and bays have aged and become a source 

of water and air leaks. Window frames have deteriorated from winter condensation and 

many of them need to be repaired or replaced. Numerous water leaks have occurred in 

recent years, disrupting staff and putting valuable collections at risk of damage. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $3.5 million in FY 2023 to continue the Miller-Fox façade 

and envelope repairs. Areas of highest risk to the public, staff, and collections will be 

prioritized. Because scaffolding will be necessary to perform the work, sequencing will be 

required to repair one façade at a time. This will include brick and stone masonry repairs, 

fixing copper bows and sheathing for the bays, and window repairs and replacements. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Construction documents for the repair of the copper façade bows and bays were 

completed in 2017. The architect-engineering (A-E) design contract for the masonry and 

window repairs was awarded in the second quarter of FY 2020. Design has progressed to 

100 percent and is expected to be completed and ready for procurement in the second 

quarter of FY 2022. The full scope award for construction is anticipated in the fourth 

quarter of FY 2022. 

244 
IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying this project further will continue to risk damage to collections areas and 

objects, as well as interrupt staff operations due to water intrusion and condensation from 

uninsulated window units. In addition, failure to repair deteriorated stone and masonry 

elements, which are next to the 90th Street sidewalks, will pose a tripping hazard and 

potential harm to pedestrians and risk public safety. 

245 
 

 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Improve Kitchen Exhaust Ductwork Access 

INSTALLATION: National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI-DC) 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $2,000* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $4,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $6,000* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The curvilinear asymmetry of the National Museum of the American Indian provides 

a strong visual contrast to the regularity of the rest of the National Mall. Designed through 

consultations with the diverse Native groups and tribes of the Americas, the building 

reflects the broad commonalities in Indian tradition which emerged from those meetings. 

The incorporation of nature is seen throughout the structure of the Museum, which was 

designed by Douglas Cardinal of the Canadian Blackfoot tribe and the Philadelphia-based 

architectural firm GBQC and Polshek Partnership. In its sculptural form, the building 

illustrates the force of nature’s energy through its effect upon the Kasota sandstone. In 

addition, the exterior of the building reflects traditional Indian culture. The landscaping 

contains indigenous plants from areas where Indians once lived. Water flows around three 

sides of the building, adding to the illusion of water-worn limestone on the curved exterior. 

More than 40 boulders surround the Museum, representing ancestors of the Native 

Americans. The building faces east toward the rising sun, reflecting Native American 

tradition. The Museum opened to the public in 2004 and was launched with a week of 

festivities attended by more than 20,000 Indians from tribes across the Americas. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The kitchen exhaust system requires improvements to ensure the facility complies 

with life and safety requirements, and to reduce repair and maintenance costs. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $2.0 million in FY 2023 to improve the three kitchen 

exhaust systems. Specifically, the project will improve kitchen exhaust duct maintenance 

access, replace critical mechanical components, including hoods and fans, and 

reconfigure duct work as necessary to improve efficiency. The project will make it easier to 

maintain the kitchen exhaust system and reduce repair and maintenance costs, as well as 

provide a better visitor experience. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

A study was completed in May of 2020 to recommend improvements to the kitchen 

exhaust system. Concept design began in early FY 2022, with construction document 

completion expected in the fourth quarter of FY 2022 so the construction services contract 

can be awarded in FY 2023. 

246 
IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Kitchen exhaust ductwork and fans are difficult to maintain properly due to lack of 

access into exhaust ductwork for cleaning, causing more frequent repair and replacement 

of mechanical components. Buildup of grease within exhaust ductwork due to poor 

drainage also poses a fire hazard and impairs compliance with life-safety code 

requirements. In addition, the deficiency also negatively impacts the visitor experience 

because strong grease odors spread to the second-floor gallery due to poorly sealed 

exhaust ductwork from the Mitsitam Cafe below. This project will correct those 

deficiencies. 

247 
 

 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Improve Water System, Fred L. Whipple Observatory (Phase III) 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 

LOCATION: Amado, Arizona 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $600* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The SAO’s Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in Arizona conducts 

world-renowned astrophysical research from the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) 

building on the summit of Mt. Hopkins as well as many other telescope sites on the peaks 

around the FLWO campus. The water system (above the Base Camp) that serves all the 

FLWO buildings was constructed over the course of several decades as the facility grew 

in response to the expanding SAO mission. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The water system has experienced service failures in recent years and is almost 40 

years old. The water system draws on sources of spring, well, and runoff water but the 

automated system failed several years ago and currently does not treat the water. Recent 

tests indicate a water quality issue that is creating a hazard to personnel health and safety. 

In addition, the staff must manually control pumps to refill tanks and keep the tanks tied to 

the fire-protection system full. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $600,000 in FY 2023 to implement Phase III 

construction of this project to replace all water, power, and communication 

infrastructure between the water source spring and the residence tanks. This will 

augment the pumping units installed within the buildings in the previous Phase II. 

These pumping units will be designed based on pumping to the Ridge Site and a local 

tank. The local tank is the existing 2,500‐gallon Water Tank 4. At the Ridge site, a 

pumping station shall be designed and constructed to pump water to the Aspen site. 

Two existing 20,000‐gallon tanks are located at the Aspen site. The addition of the 

water, power, and communication infrastructure will automate the safety of water 

potability and support a water source for fire protection. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The design work for this project will be completed in FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

A delay in Phase III would raise staff life-safety issues and impair fire protection of 

property. The SAO currently provides bottled water to all facilities on the mountain as a 

safety precaution, and this will need to continue until repairs are made. In addition, the 

staff must now manually control pumps to refill tanks and keep critical tanks tied to the fireprotection system full due to the failed system that wastes considerable staff time 

monitoring and adjusting the chlorine levels in the storage tanks. Despite SAO’s best 

efforts and the dedication of significant staff time, the water quality is often questionable 

and continues to risk the health and safety of on-site personnel. 

248 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Modernize Electronic Security, Fred L. Whipple Observatory 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 

LOCATION: Amado, Arizona 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $500* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The SAO’s Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in Arizona conducts 

world-renowned astrophysical research from the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) 

building on the summit of Mt. Hopkins as well as many other telescope sites on the peaks 

around the FLWO campus. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The MMT building is a multi-million-dollar scientific research facility that does not 

have an electronic security system; therefore, it does not meet current Smithsonian 

security standards. It contains high-value, specialty-built scientific equipment that is at 

risk without a robust security system. Any loss of equipment would not only be costly but 

would delay months of cutting-edge astrophysical research. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $500,000 in FY 2023 to install electronic security 

systems to meet current security standards. The FLWO electronic security systems 

modernization project will include fiber-optic infrastructure, data-gathering panels, 

network video recorders (NVRs), access readers, cameras, intercoms, and the latest 

intrusion-detection devices. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design work for this project will be completed in FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying this project will leave the MMT building without any physical security 

system. The facility is already out of compliance with current Smithsonian and industry 

best practice security standards. A further delay of this project would continue to put the 

facility and its high-value equipment and research at risk. 

249 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Improve Roads, Phase 3, Fred L. Whipple Observatory 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 

LOCATION: Amado, Arizona 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $400* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $800* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $1,200* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) Fred Lawrence Whipple 

Observatory (FLWO) in Arizona conducts world-renowned astrophysical research from 

the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) building on the summit of Mt. Hopkins as well as 

many other telescope sites around the FLWO campus. The SAO is located at the summit 

of Mt. Hopkins, at an elevation of 8,550 feet, reachable only by Mt. Hopkins Road, a 12-

mile-long, unimproved, single-lane access road. The Smithsonian built the road more 

than 50 years ago to accommodate traffic by SAO research faculty, staff, and students, 

as well as contractors and some members of the public. Telescopes are located on the 

summit peaks. SAO activities on Mt. Hopkins require access between its facilities at the 

Base Camp (located at 4,500 feet) and the summit to conduct basic operations, research, 

and educational activities which form its core mission. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The road improvement project will stabilize the roadbed and guard rails for the 

safety of Smithsonian staff, contractors, and visitors. Safe travel is essential on the roads 

between the various sites of the FWLO. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $400,000 in FY 2023 to continue stabilizing and 

correcting deficiencies of the roadbed and replacing the metal culverts with concrete 

culverts to mitigate life-safety issues. The surface of the single-lane road is largely 

unpaved, outsloped to the canyons 1,300 feet below, and is uneven with numerous 

switchbacks. Several sections are sloped at a 24-percent grade, which is well beyond the 

capability of most drivers, standard vehicles, and pedestrians. Most crucially, the road has 

many metal drainage culverts close to the 13-kilovolt (KV) power line that services the 

summit. These culverts require frequent clean-out operations, during which the power to 

the mountain is shut off because of their proximity to the power line. This disruption of 

power to the facilities will be mitigated by replacing the metal culverts with concrete ones. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Project design is complete. Construction of the prioritized six sections was 

completed in FYs 2019–2021 so this project can continue to replace culverts and install 

new guardrails in hazardous areas. Work to replace culverts and install guardrails has 

begun and will continue through FY 2023. 

250 
IMPACT OF DELAY: 

If this project is delayed, SAO staff, visitors, and scientists will continue to face 

increased life-safety risks when driving to and from the Observatory, especially during 

the nightly science operations when vehicles must dim their lights to ensure optimal 

conditions for using the telescopes. 

251 
 

 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Install Site-Wide Fall Protection, Fred L. Whipple Observatory 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) 

LOCATION: Amado, Arizona 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $300* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $1,500* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $1,800* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The SAO’s Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory (FLWO) in Arizona conducts 

world-renowned astrophysical research from the Multiple Mirror Telescope (MMT) 

building on the summit of Mt. Hopkins as well as many other telescope sites around the 

FLWO campus. Telescopes are located on the summit peaks. SAO activities on Mt. 

Hopkins require access to and from its facilities at the Base Camp and the summit to 

conduct basic operations, research, and educational activities which form its core 

mission. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

Presently, there is no safe access to the equipment on the high-pitched roof of 

the Submillimeter Array (SMA) Control Building directly over the maintenance hangar. 

The SMA building, located at 13,492 feet above sea level, is subject to very extreme 

and suddenly changing climate conditions, which include gale-force winds and heavy 

ice. Personnel attempting to service this equipment are at a significant risk to their 

personal safety. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $300,000 in FY 2023 to create a safe access 

walkway and platform on the SMA Control Building roof, which will include railings and 

all associated code-compliant harness attachment points. Additionally, improvements 

will be made to the horizontal lifeline system (HLL) on the roof of the Veritas building as 

well as at other site-wide locations where Smithsonian employees and contractors are 

exposed to the risks of hazardous falls. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The Smithsonian Institution’s FLWO performed a fall hazard risk assessment 

(FHRA) in June of 2014. A project study was awarded in FY 2021 and will provide 

concept design for the Base Camp buildings, Ridge buildings, Summit MMT (interior and 

exterior), and support buildings and Ridge water tanks. Design completion is expected by 

late FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

A delay will continue to put SAO/Smithsonian staff and contractors who maintain the 

equipment on the roofs at risk of falls when doing their essential work to support the 

Observatory’s mission. 

252 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Install Additional Chiller and Controls 

INSTALLATION: National Museum of African American History and Culture 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $1,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

Total $1,000* 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The National Museum of African American History and Culture’s (NMAAHC) 

exhibits cover more than 400 years of African American history and culture. The 

architectural and engineering team of Freelon Adjaye Bond SmithGroup began work on 

the design in November of 2009 after the Smithsonian Institution selected the firm through 

a design competition process. The design concept leverages the image of the Corona by 

placing this singular building element within the landscape. Reaching toward the sky, the 

Corona expresses faith, hope, and resiliency. Internal to the building, the Corona forms a 

perimeter zone that surrounds the primary galleries. Daylight enters this zone through 

openings in the screen panels and skylights — bringing in light while providing views 

upward and outward. The Corona rests on a base of clear glass panels which afford 

generous views into and through the building as well as outward from the interior into the 

surrounding landscape and the Washington Monument grounds. The design of the porch 

reinforces its importance in African American culture as a gathering and welcoming space. 

The landscape design is an essential component of the visitor experience. A reflecting 

pool at the south entrance includes both turbulent and still waters to symbolize the African 

American experience in the United States. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The redundant chiller was deferred from the initial construction of the building for 

budget reasons. Reliability concerns of the other chillers during peak loads now support 

the installation of this redundant chiller. In addition, fluctuating HVAC setpoints during 

extreme temperatures, and increased maintenance due to the existing chillers’ age, have 

caused problems with the operation of the chillers. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $1.0 million in FY 2023 to install a fourth chiller and 

connect it to the existing infrastructure. Additionally, operating controls will be updated to 

work with the existing Building Automated System (BAS). 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design services were awarded in the third quarter of FY 2021. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

The current situation is no longer sustainable. Existing equipment is stressed to its 

limits during extreme weather conditions. If the workloads are not lightened and one of the 

three chillers fails, it would jeopardize the NMAAHC’s collections and negatively impact 

both Museum staff and the public’s visitor experience.

253 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Replace Steam Humidification System 

INSTALLATION: Smithsonian Quadrangle 

LOCATION: Washington, DC 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $1,000* 

FUTURE-YEAR FUNDING: $1,000* 

Total $2,000* 

* Does not include funding in Facilities Planning and Design. 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Smithsonian Quadrangle Building, which includes the National Museum of 

African Art, the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, and the Ripley Education Center, is a threestory, underground building that opened to the public in 1987. There are pavilion 

entrances to the three facilities located in the Haupt Garden, the structure's green roof. 

The 389,000-square-foot building was designed by the architectural firm of Shepley, 

Bullfinch, and Abbott. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The building’s steam humidification systems are reaching the end of their useful

life expectancy, have experienced leaks, and need to be upgraded to meet current 

performance standards which will provide a comfortable environment for staff and 

visitors and prevent damage to the national collections. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $1.0 million in FY 2023 to upgrade steam 

humidification systems to meet current standards for collections stewardship and the 

comfort of staff and the visiting public. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

Design work will be completed in FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

Delaying the project will leave the Quadrangle with steam humidification systems 

that are near the end of their useful life, making them more prone to malfunction and 

failure. It will also leave the building out of compliance with current standards for 

collections protection, visitor comfort, and systems performance and reliability. 

254 
 

 

PROJECT TITLE: Building Projects Less than $1,000,000 and Miscellaneous Repairs 

INSTALLATION: Multiple Locations 

LOCATION: Institution-wide 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $11,300 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

This request includes smaller individual projects of less than $1 million each, which 

usually involve replacement of individual systems or components and miscellaneous 

capital repairs needed for unplanned emergencies. In addition, this funding supports other 

Smithsonian operations, such as library support and security guard services, collections 

upgrades, electronic security system modernizations, swing space for one of our new 

museums, and conservation and related studies. 

PROJECT TITLE: Construction Supervision and Administration 

INSTALLATION: Multiple Locations 

LOCATION: Institution-wide 

FY 2023 COST ESTIMATE (Thousands of Dollars): $9,500 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

This request supports the essential specialized work associated with Facilities Capital 

Program projects. A total of 53 FTEs will be funded from the $9.5 million. These positions will 

consist of permanent and temporary construction management and cost-engineering staff, 

program managers in branch offices, five contract specialists, a historic preservation 

specialist, and term and temporary staff required to perform the specialized work associated 

with Facilities Capital Program projects. Included in this request is $1.0 million to hire 

additional staff necessary to begin creating the congressionally mandated National Museum 

of the American Latino and the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum. These 

personnel will assist with planning, design, site selection, programming, cost estimating, and 

environmental assessments for the two new museums. 

Construction management staff supervise and administer construction contracts. 

They directly supervise construction contractors to ensure that quality work is performed 

safely, resolve issues that arise during construction, negotiate change orders, approve 

payments, and perform other administrative functions as contracting officers’ technical 

representatives. A central construction management administration section coordinates all 

funding, contract changes, technical issues, and project physical and fiscal closeouts. 

Cost engineers develop Independent Government Estimates for every stage of project 

development, as well as analyze consultant-prepared construction cost estimates and 

contractor cost proposals for construction contract awards and change orders. On-site 

program managers ensure adequate oversight of projects in branch offices by using scope, 

schedule, and budget controls to directly lead major construction projects, as well as many 

smaller projects. Contract specialists help procure contract services to obtain the essential 

255 
expertise required to execute the Facilities Capital Program, thereby ensuring the timely 

award of planning, design, and construction contracts. 

The historic preservation specialist supports capital projects for five National Historic 

Landmarks, as well as all the historic Smithsonian buildings on the National Mall, thus 

fulfilling the federal requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. This 

includes working with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation; guiding the Section 106 

federal program working with the Washington, DC Historic Preservation Officer; managing 

consultants who help prepare Historic Structures Reports and assist in the conservation of 

building materials; and providing general in-house architectural history research, technical 

reviews, and consultations. 

256 
FACILITIES PLANNING AND DESIGN 

Feasibility studies, needs assessments, and design for capital projects are required 

before site work can take place. This category includes all costs for contract facility master 

planning, preliminary and final design for all revitalization and construction projects, 

special studies, and a small amount for facility engineering, capital leveraging, and 

research activities, such as those functions performed at the Department of Defense and 

the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The funding will enable development 

of project baselines, including costs, scopes, and schedules, prior to receiving funds to 

perform the work. 

In order to plan and design ahead of Capital Program execution, funding of 

approximately 15 percent of the following year’s program is required each year. The 

funding requested for FY 2022 will complete designs for projects planned for FY 2023 

and will provide necessary planning and design to the 35 percent stage for most projects 

included in the planned FY 2024 program. This will move the Institution closer to meeting 

the National Academy of Public Administration’s (NAPA) recommendation that firm 

baselines be established before funding requests to provide more accurate cost 

estimates and enable timely award of construction contracts upon receipt of future-year 

funding. 

The Institution requests a total of $46,900,000 for planning and design in FY 2023. 

These funds will be used for site evaluations, early planning, and support for two new 

museums established by Congress in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021: the 

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum and the National Museum of the 

American Latino ($2.0 million). These funds will continue design for the Hirshhorn Museum 

and Sculpture Garden major revitalization ($9.8 million); design for the renovation of the 

east end loading dock at the National Air and Space Museum to support east end projects 

($1.8 million); start the master plan update and other major revitalization projects at the 

National Museum of Natural History ($2.5 million); the National Zoological Park and 

Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute ($3.4 million); major revitalization of the 

National Museum of American History ($6.8 million); Smithsonian Tropical Research 

Institute ($1.5 million); Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory ($0.75 million); and the 

National Postal Museum ($0.55 million). Planning and design funds for security-related 

projects will include electronic security system modernizations at various facilities ($3.6 

million). In addition, this request includes funding for a preliminary design to expand 

collections storage spaces at the National Museum of the American Indian’s (NMAI)

Cultural Resource Center in Suitland, Maryland ($2.25 million), the Dulles Collections 

Center Storage Module Building ($2.0 million), as well as various collections storage 

projects ($1.85 million). These funds will also be used to design many smaller 

revitalization projects and security upgrades, and for space utilization studies and smaller 

master planning initiatives ($8.1 million), which will help guide the Smithsonian’s future 

facilities decisions and ensure more effective use of existing space. 

257 
 

CONSTRUCTION 

PROJECT TITLE: Construct Pod 6 

INSTALLATION: Suitland Collections Center (SCC) 

LOCATION: Suitland, Maryland 

(Dollars in $000s) 

Smithsonian 

Institution 

National Gallery 

of Art 

FY 2023 Cost Estimate Design $0 $0 

FY 2023 Cost Estimate Construction $36,000 $27,208 

Prior-Year Funding Design $6,850 $2,610 

Prior-Year Funding Construction $7,600 $11,460 

Future-Year Funding Construction $43,820 $24,572 

TOTAL $94,270 $65,850 

PROJECT BACKGROUND: 

The Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland is one of the first off-site storage 

spaces for the Smithsonian Institution’s (SI) collections. The structures were originally 

constructed as 10–15-year temporary buildings in the 1950s but have been in use ever since 

and still serve as one of the primary off-site collections storage spaces for the Smithsonian. 

An evaluation of SI collections storage space identified the Garber collections storage site as 

containing almost 50 percent of the Smithsonian’s unacceptable collections space. Much of 

the more than 384,700 square feet of space at Garber does not meet current building code 

requirements for structural support, is compromised by hazardous materials, and does not 

provide the proper environmental conditions to adequately preserve the nation’s priceless 

artifacts stored there. 

Construction of Pod 6 is the last phase of the Museum Support Center (MSC) complex 

project that began years ago at the Suitland Collections Center (SCC) campus and was one 

of the first projects identified in the SCC master plan. It is a three-story collections storage 

module to be built next to the Pod 4 storage module and will be shared with the National 

Gallery of Art (NGA) under a special partnership agreement. Approximately two-thirds of the 

building will be occupied by the Smithsonian and one-third will be occupied by the NGA. 

Accordingly, the Smithsonian will fund two-thirds of the total design and construction costs 

and one-third of the costs will be funded by the NGA. 

The completion of Pod 6 will allow Phase 1 of the 40-year SCC master plan to begin 

and will enable the Smithsonian to move a significant number of its remaining collections out of 

the aging buildings of the Paul E. Garber Facility in Suitland, Maryland, while also providing 

permanent state-of-the-art collections storage facilities for both the Smithsonian and the 

National Gallery of Art. 

PROJECT JUSTIFICATION: 

The 2014 Collection Space Framework Plan (CSFP) identified increasing collections 

storage capacity as a primary goal for the Smithsonian Institution to address unacceptable 

conditions, allow decompression, anticipate future growth, and reduce reliance on and the 

recurring costs of leased collections storage space. Concurrently, the NGA identified a similar 

258 
need for a permanent, non-leased, climate-controlled facility to properly house, process, and 

conserve their priceless works of art. Their existing off-site storage, leased from a third party, 

is not adequate in terms of quality or quantity, and can no longer accommodate the NGA’s

collections growth. Constructing the Pod 6 collections storage module will be a cost-effective 

first step in meeting these goals for both institutions. 

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: 

The Smithsonian requests $36.0 million in FY 2023 to continue construction of Pod 6. 

A feasibility study completed in FY 2016 envisioned a 130,000-square-foot addition on the 

west side of the MSC. The module will include space for collections from the National 

Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Postal 

Museum, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the NGA. This custom-designed 

module will give the Smithsonian Institution and the NGA a well-planned and executed 

structure that will provide conservation and preservation for some the most significant 

historical artifacts and prestigious works of art in the world. When built, the module will 

maintain these national treasures under strict and efficient humidity and temperature controls, 

thus ensuring their preservation for generations to come. Pod 6 will provide 145,538 net 

square feet of storage space, which includes 84,214 net square feet for the Smithsonian and 

61,324 net square feet for the NGA. Project design will be completed in the first quarter of FY 

2022, with construction award expected in the fourth quarter of FY 2022. 

PROGRESS TO DATE: 

The schematic design phase is complete. A Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) 

meeting was held in June of 2020, ensuring that the design is moving forward in accordance 

with the Construction Industry Institute (CII) standards. Thirty-five (35) percent design was 

submitted in September of 2020 and a Value Engineering (VE) study was completed in late 

2020 to identify where cost savings and efficiencies can be realized. Sixty-five (65) percent 

design documents were received in April of 2021 and final design and construction 

documents were submitted in January of 2022. In addition, a Memorandum of Understanding 

for the design, construction, and use of Pod 6 has been signed by the senior leaders of both 

the Smithsonian Institution and the National Gallery of Art. A construction solicitation will be 

issued in the second quarter of FY 2022, with contract award anticipated in the fourth quarter 

of FY 2022. 

IMPACT OF DELAY: 

A delay of the Pod 6 project will require both the Smithsonian and the NGA to continue 

storing precious artifacts in areas with substandard conditions, such as the basements of the 

Mall museums which are often subject to flooding. In addition, without this new module, the 

NGA will need to continue leasing substandard collections storage space at a substantial 

cost. A delay will also set back other museum renovation projects because part of the 

intended use of Pod 6 is to provide swing space for collections which need to be stored during 

other essential construction projects. Finally, such a delay would impair the Smithsonian’s 

private-sector fund raising because benefactors and donors are more likely to endow 

museums and galleries when they know there will be permanent safekeeping of their gifts for 

the public good. 

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260 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

PROPOSED – JANUARY 2022 

Board of Regents

Secretary

Chief of Staff

General Counsel

Office of the Regents

Inspector General

Assistant Secretary

Communications and 

External Affairs

and

Chief Marketing Officer

Assistant Secretary

Advancement

Director, Equal Emp. 

& Supplier Diversity

Chief Financial Officer

Human Resources

Information Technology

Investments

Protection Services

Smithsonian Facilities

Deputy Secretary

and

Chief Operating Officer

Under Secretary

for

Administration

Anacostia Community Museum

Archives of American Art

Arts and Industries Building

Asian Pacific American Center

Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage

Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum

Freer|Sackler Galleries of Art

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

National Museum of African American History and Culture

National Museum of African Art

National Museum of American History

National Museum of the American Indian

National Museum of the American Latino

National Portrait Gallery

National Postal Museum

Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum

Smithsonian Exhibits

Museum Conservation Institute

National Air and Space Museum

National Museum of Natural History

National Zoological Park/Smithsonian 

Conservation Biology Institute

Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory

Smithsonian Environmental Research 

Center

Smithsonian Libraries and Archives

Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

Educational Technology

Smithsonian Traveling Exhibition 

Service and Smithsonian Affiliations

Smithsonian Associates

Smithsonian Science Education 

Center

Under Secretary 

for 

Education

Under Secretary 

for

Museums and Culture

Under Secretary

for

Science and Research

President

Smithsonian Enterprises

 

-

-

-

I 

I 

I 

I 

I I 

261 
VISITS TO THE SMITHSONIAN 

FYs 2017–2021 

MUSEUM FY 2017 FY 2018 FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 

MALL 

SI Castle 1,131,280 1,082,016 955,949 298,325 75,191 

A&I Building1 64,343 18,329 27,514 1,599 0 

Natural History 6,103,289 5,177,357 4,228,940 1,465,253 502,222 

Air and Space 7,120,722 6,382,500 3,869,046 749,475 197,575 

American Indian 1,157,460 1,109,424 985,781 358,732 133,712 

Freer Gallery2 0 294,866 300,066 110,412 38,297 

Sackler Gallery 195,051 142,548 153,213 57,339 0 

African Art 165,343 144,175 130,414 51,270 17,697 

Ripley Center 164,853 127,850 150,663 60,799 0 

American History 3,914,493 4,026,325 3,061,396 741,281 352,052 

Hirshhorn 1,097,847 808,498 982,816 299,090 95,030 

African American 2,508,403 2,039,364 1,923,563 836,768 244,887 

History and Culture 

OFF MALL 

DW Reynolds 1,242,707 2,118,434 1,819,355 706,155 198,986 

Center (AA/PG) 

Anacostia 31,775 37,562 11,038 10,064 956 

Cooper Hewitt 355,672 316,732 267,948 99,284 33,124 

American Indian3 439,325 417,829 357,554 147,234 30,014 

(Heye Center/CRC) 

Renwick 371,201 795,523 430,101 134,210 56,921 

National Zoo 2,025,148 1,664,579 1,885,116 816,703 793,702 

Postal 470,723 525,168 489,120 189,021 5,629 

Udvar-Hazy Center 1,570,706 1,546,780 1,317,082 589,120 396,730 

TOTAL4/5 30,130,341 28,775,859 23,346,675 7,722,134 3,171,813 

1 The Arts and Industries (A&I) Building closed to the public in January of 2004 and hosts special events only. 2 The Freer Gallery closed to the public in January of 2016 for renovation and reopened in October of 2017. 3 Includes the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City and the Cultural Resources Center (CRC) in Suitland, 

Maryland. 4 The drop in visits in FY 2019 is due to the federal Government shutdown (in January of 2019), the partial closure of the 

National Air and Space Museum for a major renovation project, and a revised counting methodology. 5 The drop in visits in FYs 2020–2021 is due to the COVID-19 pandemic closures in March of 2020 and thereafter. 

262 
TRUST FUNDS 

In addition to support provided by federal appropriations, the Smithsonian 

Institution receives and generates trust funds to expand and enrich its programs. 

Trust funds are used to leverage the Smithsonian’s research capacity through 

partnerships with federal agencies, universities, non-Governmental 

organizations, industry, and other private organizations, both national and 

international. Trust funds are raised to renovate and modernize exhibits 

throughout the Institution. The following provides an overview of the current 

sources of trust funds. 

The Institution’s trust funds include general trust funds with limited or no 

restrictions on their use, funds restricted by the donor or sponsor, and 

Government grants and contracts. Projections are subject to the uncertainty of 

the size of donations, grants, and contracts; to fluctuations in visitor attendance; 

and to the volatility of the economy, which together directly affect the return on 

the endowment, short-term interest income, and donor giving, as well as 

restaurant, magazine, catalogue, and museum shop revenues, memberships, 

and other business activities. The Institution’s gross operating revenue, less the 

expenses of auxiliary activities, represents the net operating revenue available 

for programmatic and related purposes. The following table summarizes the 

sources of trust operating funds: 

(Dollars in Millions) 

FY 2021 

Actuals 

FY 2022 

Estimates 

General Trust 54.2 53.0 

Donor/Sponsor-Designated 362.2 251.7 

Government Grants and Contracts 118.1 97.0 

Total Available for Operations $534.5 $401.7 

SOURCE AND APPLICATION OF TRUST FUNDS — The following sections 

describe the sources of each category of trust funds as well as a general account 

of how they are used. 

General Trust Funds — The sources of general trust funds are 

investment income; payout from unrestricted endowments; net proceeds from the 

museum shops, catalogues, and food service concessions; sales of Smithsonian 

books, records, and other products based on designs and objects in the national 

collections; theater/planetarium operations at the National Air and Space 

Museum; student travel programs; rental of exhibitions of the Smithsonian 

Institution Traveling Exhibition Service; membership programs (including 

subscriptions to Smithsonian and Air and Space magazines); the sale of posters, 

exhibition brochures, catalogues, and other publications; and admission fees. 

Projected sources of FY 2022 general trust funds total $53,000,000. These funds 

263 
are used to support administrative programs such as central management, legal 

counsel, accounting, personnel, contracting, and budget activities, as well as 

fund raising, education, research and public programs, scholarly studies, and 

exhibitions. 

Donor/Sponsor-Designated Funds — Designated trust funds include 

gifts, grants, and earnings on endowments from individuals, foundations, 

organizations, and corporations which specify the purpose of the funds. 

Designated funds in FY 2022 are projected to total $251,700,000. Generally, 

these funds support a particular exhibition or program, or are used to manage the 

Smithsonian collections and/or support research projects in accordance with the 

Institution’s mission. 

Government Grants and Contracts — Various Government agencies 

and departments provide grants and contracts for specific projects that align with 

the Smithsonian’s expertise in a particular area of science, history, art, or 

education. For FY 2022, Government grants and contracts are projected to total 

$97,000,000. Of this amount, $73,000,000 is planned for astrophysical research 

and development programs carried out by the Smithsonian Astrophysical 

Observatory. 

264 
APPROPRIATION LANGUAGE 

SALARIES AND EXPENSES 

For necessary expenses of the Smithsonian Institution, as authorized by law, 

including research in the fields of art, science, and history; development, preservation, 

and documentation of the National Collections; presentation of public exhibits and 

performances; collection, preparation, dissemination, and exchange of information and 

publications; conduct of education, training, and museum assistance programs; 

maintenance, alteration, operation, lease agreements of no more than 30 years, and 

protection of buildings, facilities, and approaches; not to exceed $100,000 for services 

as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109; and purchase, rental, repair, and cleaning of uniforms 

for employees, $852,215,000, to remain available until September 30, 2023, except as 

otherwise provided herein; of which not to exceed $12,798,000 for the instrumentation 

program, collections acquisition, exhibition reinstallation, and the repatriation of 

skeletal remains program shall remain available until expended; and including such 

funds as may be necessary to support American overseas research centers: Provided, 

That funds appropriated herein are available for advance payments to independent 

contractors performing research services or participating in official Smithsonian 

presentations: Provided further, That the Smithsonian Institution may expend Federal 

appropriations designated in this Act for lease or rent payments, as rent payable to the 

Smithsonian Institution, and such rent payments may be deposited into the general 

trust funds of the Institution to be available as trust funds for expenses associated with 

the purchase of a portion of the building at 600 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, 

DC, to the extent that federally supported activities will be housed there: Provided 

further, That no appropriated funds may be used directly to service debt which is 

incurred to finance the costs of acquiring a portion of the building at 600 Maryland 

Avenue, SW, Washington, DC, or of planning, designing, and constructing 

improvements to such building: Provided further, That any agreement entered into by 

the Smithsonian Institution for the sale of its ownership interest, or any portion thereof, 

in such building so acquired may not take effect until the expiration of a 30 day period 

which begins on the date on which the Secretary of the Smithsonian submits to the 

Committees on Appropriations of the House of Representatives and Senate, the 

Committees on House Administration and Transportation and Infrastructure of the 

House of Representatives, and the Committee on Rules and Administration of the 

Senate a report, as outlined in the explanatory statement described in section 44 of 

the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (Public Law 116–94; 133 Stat. 

2536) on the intended sale. 

FACILITIES CAPITAL 

For necessary expenses of repair, revitalization, and alteration of facilities owned 

or occupied by the Smithsonian Institution, by contract or otherwise, as 

authorized by section 2 of the Act of August 22, 1949 (63 Stat. 623), and for 

construction, including necessary personnel, $265,000,000, to remain available 

until expended, of which not to exceed $10,000 shall be for services as 

265 
 

 

authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109. Note.— A full-year 2022 appropriation for this 

account was not enacted at the time the budget was prepared; therefore, the 

budget assumes this account is operating under the Continuing Appropriations 

Act, 2022 (Division A of P.L. 117–43, as amended). The amounts included for 

2022 reflect the annualized level provided by the continuing resolution. 

APPROPRIATION CITATIONS 

The Act of August 10, 1846, codified within 20 U.S.C. §§ 41–70, established 

the Smithsonian Institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge,” and provided

the organizational structure for the Institution’s administration. The mission of the 

Smithsonian Institution has remained unchanged throughout its 175-year history, 

although additional authority for many of the Institution’s programs and operations has 

been enacted over the years. Selected provisions of those statutes, along with 

selected provisions of the Smithsonian charter and prior-year appropriations acts, are 

cited below as authority for the Smithsonian Institution’s FY 2023 appropriations 

language. 

Appropriation: Salaries and Expenses 

1. For necessary expenses of the Smithsonian Institution, as authorized by law, 

including research in the fields of art, science, and history; 

20 U.S.C. § 50 provides that “...all objects of art and of foreign and 

curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological 

and mineralogical specimens...shall be so arranged and classified...as 

best to facilitate the examination and study of them...” 

20 U.S.C. § 53a provides that “Appropriations are hereby authorized 

for...the making of solar observations at high altitudes...” 

20 U.S.C. § 69 provides that “The Secretary of the Smithsonian 

Institution is hereby authorized...to continue independently or in 

cooperation anthropological researches among the American Indians 

and the natives of lands under the jurisdiction or protection of the United 

States...” 

20 U.S.C. § 75b(b) provides that “The [National Portrait] Gallery shall 

function as a free public museum for the exhibition and study of 

portraiture and statuary depicting men and women who have made 

significant contributions to the history, development, and culture of the 

people of the United States and of the artists who created such 

portraiture and statuary.” 

20 U.S.C. § 76bb(c) provides that “The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum 

and Sculpture Garden...shall be used for the storage, exhibition, and 

study of works of art...”

266 
 

20 U.S.C. § 77a provides that “Said national air and space museum 

shall...provide educational material for the historical study of aviation and 

space flight.”

20 U.S.C. § 78 provides that “The Secretary of the Smithsonian 

Institution is hereby authorized to cooperate with any State, educational 

institution, or scientific organization in the United States, for continuing 

paleontological investigations...” 

20 U.S.C. § 80m(a)(3) provides that “(a)...the Board [of Regents] may--

...(3) conduct programs of research and education [in the Museum of 

African Art]...”

20 U.S.C. §§ 80q-1(b)(1) & (3) provide that “(b)The purposes of the 

National Museum [of the American Indian] are to-- (1) advance the study 

of Native Americans, including the study of language, literature, history, 

art, anthropology, and life;...(3) provide for Native American research 

and study programs...”

20 U.S.C. § 80r-2(b)(1) provides that “(b) The purpose of the [National] 

Museum [of African American History and Culture] shall be to provide 

for-- (1) the collection, study and establishment of programs relating to 

African American life, art, history and culture that encompass [certain 

periods of the African American diaspora]...”

2. development, preservation, and documentation of the National Collections; 

20 U.S.C. § 50 provides that “...all objects of art and of foreign and 

curious research, and all objects of natural history, plants, and geological 

and mineralogical specimens...shall be delivered to such persons as 

may be authorized by the Board of Regents to receive them, and shall 

be so arranged and classified...as best to facilitate the examination and 

study of them...” 

20 U.S.C. § 50a provides that “The Smithsonian Institution is . . . 

authorized to include in its estimates of appropriations such sums as 

may be needful for the preservation and maintenance of the [John 

Gellatly art] collection.” 

20 U.S.C. § 59 provides that “All collections of rocks, minerals, soils, 

fossils, and objects of natural history, archaeology, and ethnology...when 

no longer needed for investigations in progress shall be deposited in the 

National Museum.”

20 U.S.C. § 69 provides that “The Secretary of the Smithsonian 

Institution is hereby authorized...to continue independently or in 

267 
cooperation...the excavation and preservation of archaeological 

remains.”

20 U.S.C. § 75e(1) provides that “...the Board [of Regents] may-- (1) 

purchase, accept, borrow, or otherwise acquire portraiture, statuary, and 

other items for preservation, exhibition, or study.”

20 U.S.C. § 76c(b) provides that “...the Regents are hereby 

authorized...to acquire (by purchase or otherwise) and sell contemporary 

works of art or copies thereof...”

20 U.S.C. § 76cc(a) provides that “There is established in the 

Smithsonian Institution a Board of Trustees...which shall have the sole 

authority (i) to purchase or otherwise acquire (whether by gift, exchange, 

or other means) works of art for the Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum and 

Sculpture Garden...” 

20 U.S.C. § 77a provides that “Said national air and space museum 

shall...collect, preserve, and display aeronautical and space flight 

equipment of historical interest and significance...”

20 U.S.C. § 80a(a) provides that “...the Smithsonian Institution shall 

collect, preserve, and exhibit military objects of historical interest and 

significance.”

20 U.S.C. §§ 80m(a)(1) & (2) provide that “(a)...the Board [of Regents] 

may-- (1) purchase, accept, borrow or otherwise acquire additional 

works of art or any other real or personal property for the Museum [of 

African Art]; (2) preserve, maintain, restore...or otherwise hold any 

property of whatsoever nature acquired...”

20 U.S.C. § 80q-1(b)(2) provides that “(b) The purposes of the National 

Museum [of the American Indian] are to--...(2) collect, preserve, and 

exhibit Native American objects of artistic, historical, literary, 

anthropological, and scientific interest...”

20 U.S.C. § 80r-2(b)(3) provides that “(b) The purpose of the [National] 

Museum [of African American History and Culture] shall be to provide 

for-- ...(3) the collection and study of artifacts and documents relating to 

African American life, art, history, and culture...”

20 U.S.C. § 81 provides that “The National Zoological Park is placed 

under the direction of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, who 

are authorized to transfer to it any living specimens, whether of animals 

or plants, in their charge, to accept gifts for the park...[and] to make 

exchanges of specimens...” 

268 
 

Section 104(a)(2), Division T, Title I, of Public Law 116-260 (December 

27, 2020), provides that the Council of the Smithsonian American 

Women’s History Museum shall have the sole authority to “purchase, 

accept, borrow, and otherwise acquire artifacts for addition to the 

collections of the museum...”

Section 201(d)(2)(B)(i), Division T, Title II, of Public Law 116-260 

(December 27, 2020), provides that the Board of Trustees of the 

National Museum of the American Latino shall have the sole authority to 

“purchase, accept, borrow, or otherwise acquire artifacts and other 

objects for addition to the collections of the museum...”

3. presentation of public exhibits and performances; 

20 U.S.C. § 75b(b) provides that “The [National Portrait] Gallery shall 

function as a free public museum for the exhibition and study of 

portraiture and statuary...” 

20 U.S.C. § 76c(b) provides that “In order to encourage the development 

of contemporary art and to effect the widest distribution and cultivation in 

matters of such art, the Regents are hereby authorized to...conduct 

exhibitions...” 

20 U.S.C. § 76bb(c) provides that “The Joseph H. Hirshhorn Museum 

and Sculpture Garden...shall be used for the storage, exhibition, and 

study of works of art...”

20 U.S.C. § 77a provides that “Said national air and space museum 

shall...collect, preserve, and display aeronautical and space flight 

equipment of historical interest and significance...” 

20 U.S.C. § 80a(a) provides that “...the Smithsonian Institution shall 

collect, preserve, and exhibit military objects of historical interest and 

significance.”

20 U.S.C. § 80m(a)(2) provides that “(a)...the Board [of Regents] may--

...(2)...display...any property of whatsoever nature acquired [for the 

Museum of African Art]...” 

20 U.S.C. § 80q-1(b)(2) provides that “(b) The purposes of the National 

Museum [of the American Indian] are to--...(2) collect, preserve, and 

exhibit Native American objects of artistic, historical, literary, 

anthropological, and scientific interest...”

20 U.S.C. § 80r-2(b)(3) provides that “(b) The purpose of the [National] 

Museum [of African American History and Culture] shall be to provide 

269 
for-- ...(3) the collection and study of artifacts and documents relating to 

African American life, art, history, and culture...”

4. collection, preparation, dissemination, and exchange of information and 

publications; 

20 U.S.C. § 53a provides that “Appropriations are hereby authorized 

for...preparation of manuscripts, drawings, and illustrations for 

publications.”

5. conduct of education, training, and museum assistance programs; 

20 U.S.C. §§ 65a(a)(1),(3) & (4) provide that “(a)The Director of the 

National Museum under the direction of the Secretary of the Smithsonian 

Institution shall-- (1) cooperate with museums and their professional 

organizations in a continuing study of museum problems and 

opportunities, both in the United States and abroad;... (3) prepare and 

distribute significant museum publications; (4) perform research on, and 

otherwise contribute to, the [development of] museum techniques....”

20 U.S.C. § 77a provides that “Said national air and space museum 

shall...provide educational material for the historical study of aviation and 

space flight.”

20 U.S.C. § 79a provides that “The purpose of setting aside such an 

area [Barro Colorado Island] is to preserve and conserve its natural 

features...thus providing a place where duly qualified students can make 

observations and scientific investigations for increase of knowledge, 

under such conditions and regulations as may be prescribed by the 

[Smithsonian Institution].”

20 U.S.C. § 79e provides that “There are authorized to be appropriated 

annually...such sums as are necessary for the administration of [the 

Canal Zone Biological Area] ... and for the maintenance of laboratory or 

other facilities...”

20 U.S.C. § 80m(a)(3) provides that “(a)...the Board [of Regents] may--

...(3) conduct programs of research and education [in the Museum of 

African Art]....”

Section 2 of Public Law 114-151 (May 9, 2016), to protect and preserve 

international cultural property, provides that the Smithson Institution 

should be included in an interagency coordinating committee 

to...”consult with governmental and nongovernmental organizations, 

including... museums, educational institutions, and research institutions, 

and participants in the international art and cultural property market on 

efforts to protect and preserve international cultural property.”

270 
 

6. maintenance, alteration, operation, lease agreements of no more than 30 

years, and protection of buildings, facilities, and approaches; 

20 U.S.C. § 53a provides that “Appropriations are hereby authorized for 

the maintenance of the Astrophysical Observatory and...for repairs and 

alterations of buildings and grounds occupied by the Smithsonian 

Institution in the District of Columbia and elsewhere...”

20 U.S.C. § 76ee provides that “There is authorized to be 

appropriated...such additional sums as may be necessary for the 

maintenance and operation of such [Hirshhorn] museum and sculpture 

garden.” 

20 U.S.C. § 79b(c) provides that “The ...[Smithsonian Institution] 

shall...(c) be responsible for the construction and maintenance of 

laboratory and other facilities on the area provided for the use of 

students authorized to carry on studies within the confines of the area...” 

20 U.S.C. § 80m(a)(2) provides that “(a)...the Board [of Regents] may--

...(2) preserve, maintain...any property of whatsoever nature acquired 

[for the Museum of African Art]...”

20 U.S.C. § 81 provides that “The National Zoological Park is placed 

under the direction of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, who 

are authorized...to administer and improve the said Zoological Park for 

the advancement of science and the instruction and recreation of the 

people.” Public Law 101-512 making appropriations for the Department 

of the Interior and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 1991 extended 

the maximum term for federal leases from ten years to thirty. 

7. not to exceed $ for services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 3109; 

5 U.S.C. § 3109(b) provides that “When authorized by an appropriation 

or other statute, the head of an agency may procure by contract the 

temporary (not in excess of 1 year) or intermittent services of experts or 

consultants or an organization thereof, including stenographic reporting 

services.”

8. and purchase, rental, repair, and cleaning of uniforms for employees, 

5 U.S.C. § 5901(a) provides that “There is authorized to be appropriated 

annually to each agency of the Government of the United States...on a 

showing of necessity or desirability, such sums as may be necessary to 

carry out this subchapter. 

40 U.S.C. § 6306(c) provides that “The employees designated as special 

police under subsection (a) [covering the Smithsonian Institution] may be 

271 
provided, without charge, with uniforms and other equipment as may be 

necessary for the proper performance of their duties...”

31 U.S.C. § 1301(c)(2) provides that “(c) An appropriation in a regular, 

annual appropriation law may be construed to be permanent or available 

continuously only if the appropriation--... (2) expressly provides that it is 

available after the fiscal year covered by the law in which it appears.”

. . 

9. Provided, That funds appropriated herein are available for advance payments 

to independent contractors performing research services or participating in 

official Smithsonian presentations: 

31 U.S.C. § 3324(b)(1) provides that (b) “An advance of public money 

may be made only if it is authorized by-- (1) a specific appropriation or 

other law...”

Appropriation: Facilities Capital 

1. For necessary expenses of repair, revitalization, and alteration of facilities 

owned or occupied by the Smithsonian Institution, by contract or otherwise, as 

authorized by section 2 of the Act of August 22, 1949 (63 Stat. 623), 

20 U.S.C. § 53a provides that “Appropriations are hereby authorized...for

repairs and alterations of buildings and grounds occupied by the 

Smithsonian Institution in the District of Columbia and elsewhere...”

20 U.S.C. § 81 provides that “The National Zoological Park is placed 

under the direction of the Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, who 

are authorized...to administer and improve the said Zoological Park for 

the advancement of science and the instruction and recreation of the 

people.”

2. and for construction, 

Section 107(c), Division T, Title I, of Public Law 116-260 (December 27, 

2020) provides that: “The Board of Regents,...may plan, design, and

construct a building for the [Smithsonian American Women’s History] 

Museum, which shall be located at the site designated by the Board of 

Regents...”

Section 201(g)(1)(C), Division T, Title II, of Public Law 116-260 

(December 27, 2020) provides that: “The Board of Regents,...is 

authorized to prepare plans, design, and construct a building or modify 

an existing building for the [National] Museum [of the American Latino], 

which shall be located at the site designated by the Board of Regents...”

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20 U.S.C. § 53a provides that “Appropriations are hereby authorized...for

repairs and alterations of buildings and grounds occupied by the 

Smithsonian Institution in the District of Columbia and elsewhere...” 

3. $ _________ to remain available until expended, 

31 U.S.C. § 1301(c)(2) provides that “(c) An appropriation in a regular, 

annual appropriation law may be construed to be permanent or available 

continuously only if the appropriation--... (2) expressly provides that it is 

available after the fiscal year covered by the law in which it appears.”

4. of which not to exceed $ shall be for services as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 

3109. 

5 U.S.C. § 3109(b) provides that “When authorized by an appropriation 

or other statute, the head of an agency may procure by contract the temporary (not in excess of 1 year) or intermittent services of experts or 

consultants or an organization thereof, including stenographic reporting 

services.”

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