Our public lecture series continues to draw an annual attendance of over 2000 people, and we participated with the Santa Fe Art Institute and SITE Santa Fe for a workshop and series of public lectures on Arts of the Artificial exploring the relationship between the fine arts and science. We expanded into the facility in August and celebrated with a special dinner for Trustees, friends and family of the Santa Fe Institute in October. We can now host up to 50 researchers on site. There are still desks in the hallway of the Main Building, but we now have more conference rooms, and offices housing six scientists are part of a colorful past. We are currently seeking funds to renovate the 40 year-old Main Building, and hope to have that funding secured by summer 1999.
Plans are underway to begin an endowment campaign.
An outside firm was hired to assess the viability of such a campaign and their recommendation, along with the approval of the Board of Trustees, gives us the latitude to begin, in earnest, the strategy and structure of this campaign. We do not want to become fully endowed. This will allow projects to continue even if funding expires, or if there are projects too experimental or too theoretical for traditional funding sources. In 1999, the Santa Fe Institute celebrates its 15th anniversary. From its humble beginnings with nothing more than a post office box, to the legendary convent on Canyon Road, to the campus high on the hills above Santa Fe, the journey has been one of search and discovery.