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Architect, Director Named for Hirshhorn Selection of Gordon Bunshaft as architect and the $25 million collection .is a result of both his cur­ give the Nation's Capital a fresh look at 20th century Abram Lerner as director of the Joseph H . Hirshhorn atorial ability and training. The native New Yorker American art and focus its attention on recent develop­ Museum and Sculpture Garden has been announced by holds a B.A. degree in art history and education from ments here and abroad. In addition, the Museum will Secretary Ripley. house an unequaled survey of sculpture from the middle Mr. Bunshaft, 57, a partner in the New York firm of the 19th century to the present." of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, has designed a number The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden will of significant buildings, including the Lyndon Baines embrace many of the things other Washington galleries Johnson Library which will rise on the University of have been trying to put together, and, as Lerner empha­ Texas campus in Austin. sized, "it will complement and add new perspectives to Other notable designs by Bunshaft are the Lincoln the fine collections that already exist in the National Center Library in New York City, the Beinecke Rare Capital." Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University, the As director, Lerner envisons a program of rotating Banque Lambert in Brussels, Belgium, and the Lever exhibitions from the permanent collections, special ex­ House, in New York. hibitions reflecting current trends in painting and sculp­ A graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Tech­ ture in the United States and Europe, and an active nology, he currently is a member of the Commission educational program directed towards meeting the on Fine Arts in Washington. enormous new public interest in the visual arts. Mr. Lerner, 53, has for the past ten years served He also expects that the new museum will become as curator of the Hirshhorn Collection, which the an important center of modern sculpture with interna­ New York financier-philanthropist donated to the Gordon Bunshaft Abram Lerner tional exhibitions in this medium held at regular inter­ United States in May 1966. vals. As curator, Lerner was charged with the awesome New York University. He also had five years of subse­ The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, task of cataloguing the 4,000 paintings and 1,500 pieces quent study in various art schools in the City. which carries with it $1 million for the purchase of of sculpture that comprised the most valuable collec­ Lerner was among those who advocated that the additional works, will be situated on the National tion of its kind in private hands. Collection be turned over to the U.S. and located in Mall. It is expected that it will be completed within Lerner's influence and guidance on the growth of Washington, D.C. Said Lerner: "The new museum will the next three years. o THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. No. 20, January·February f 9&1 International Symposium Set for February 16 - 18 Some 300 scholars, administrators, a series that began with the James legislators and members of the Smith­ Smithson Bicentennial last year. sonian staff will participate in an inter­ The Right Honorable Jennie Lee, national symposium on "The Quality of Minister for the Arts in Great Britain, :1 provide "a re-examination of the prem­ The symposium, supported by the ises underlying present attitudes and Ford Foundation, is the second annual methods for dealing with the physical international convocation of scholars in environment," Secretary Ripley said. He added that he hopes the symposium will give planners of the physical en­ Emperor, Baker vironment "a new sense of direction and a ne~ structure of knowledge, de­ rived from past experiences and able to Nunn to Share influence present and prospective pur­ poses." Space on Stamp David B. Chase is acting as staff direc­ Ras Tafari Makonnen, king of Abys­ tor for the symposium. Program Com­ NOT FOR SALE-Six-month-old cheetahs attract the attention of downtown sinia, King of Kings of Ethiopia, Lion mittee members are Chase, Charles Blit­ shoppers to their temporary home in the windows of Woodward & Lothrop Depart­ of Judah, the Elect of God, Emperor zer, director of the Office of Education ment Store. A gift from the store to the Zoo, they were put on display after Haile Sellassie of Ethiopia will share a and Training; Richard H. Howland, Christmas along with exotic birds and a baby elephant. commemorative stamp with an SAO chairman of the Department of Civil Although Zoo personnel supervised the care of the animals the elephant died, Baker Nunn outfit to mark the opening History; and Philip Ritterbush, special from a congenital lung deformation. The cheetahs and the birds, some of them of a new science research station at assistant to the Secretary. donated to the Zoo by Woodie's last year, left the windows January 26 for their Debre Zeit. General counsel Peter G. Powers is permanent home in Rock Creek Park. A cooperative venture of the Haile heading the committee handling arrange­ Sellassie I University and SAO, the sta­ ments for the three-day session. Work­ tion will be dedicated by the Emperor ing with him are B. Richard Berg, direc­ on February 8, when the Ethiopian gov­ tor of public information; George J. Associates Add Courses, ernment will issue the stamp. Berklacy, press officer; Chase; William Robert Citron is field manager of the H. Crocker, associate curator of cultural station, which is equipped with a giant, anthropology; John Fesperman, associ­ Clubs, Kites to Program 3-ton, 8-foot-high camera capable of ate curator in charge of the Division of recording images 3,000 times fainter Musical Instruments; Carl Grimsley, The growing Smithsonian Associates mitting. (See About SI People. page 2.) than those seen by the unaided eye. An chief of the Protection Division; How­ will expand their activities for children Illustrated talks on the national origins, electronic clock, accurate to one ten­ land; Harry Lowe, exhibits curator, this spring with junior clubs, nature practical uses and types of kites will thousandth of a second, will help make NCFA; Andrew F. Michaels, director walks, zoo mornings and a kite festival, occupy the first two sessions, and the the observations precise. of BMD; George W. Riggs, assistant program director Lisa Suter has an­ third week will be a lesson in how to Construction of the station last sum­ building manager, MHT; Kennedy B. nounced. Plans also are developing for build one. The lessons will be given mer was accompanied by what could Schmertz, director, Foreign Currency increased adult activity. practical application on March 25 with have been a disaster for SAO. Deep Program; Robert Tillotson, administra­ The need for more youth programs a kite contest on the Mall. cracks opened in a valley of the Main tive officer, office of director, MHT; was dramatically illustrated at the open­ Nature walks, such as rock and fossil Ethiopian Rift, about 44 miles southeast Wilcomb Washburn, chairman, Depart­ ing natural history lecture for children hunts and bird walks, are on tap for of the Debre Zeit facility. Such activity ment of American Studies; and Brenda January 14. Nearly 600 six- to ten-year­ April, and zoo mornings for children is frequently followed by volcanic erup­ Lansdown, conference assistant. olds showed up to hear an illustrated of the Associates will continue with tions, and there are two volcanoes with­ General sessions of the symposium talk by Dr. William Melson of the De­ What Is a Bird? and What Is a Mammal? in 70 miles of the SAO outpost. will be held on February 17 and 18 in partment of Mineral Sciences. Adult Associates can look forward to The eruptions did not occur, and there the Departmental Auditorium. To follow up on interest developed a travel service which will offer tours was no immediate damage to the sta­ The proceedings of the symposium by the natural history lectures and last led by SI scholars and assist members tion. But there could have been an ef­ will be edited for publication in a single fall's subscription courses, Mrs. Suter is iil arranging for trips to "exotic place:s," fect that won't show up for years. The volume as the second in a series that planning a group of junior clubs in such Mrs. Suter said. She is aiming to offer geographic position of the facility could began with the Bicenntennial Papers. areas as aviation, natural history, stamps, at least one trip this year. have been changed by the earth move­ In addition to Miss Lee, speakers will etc. Volunteers to help with supervision Registration begins January 30 for ment. Surface surveys and geodetic be Robert McC. Adams, director of the are being sought among parents of chil­ the second semester of subscription measurements by satellite photography University of Chicago's Oriental Insti­ dren enrolled in the courses, and if there classes initiated last fall. More art will determine any shift. tute; Wolfgang Braunfels, professor of is enough response the clubs will begin courses, including one on collecting art, Ironically, the Baker Nunn camera art history at the University of Munich, in February. have been added by popular request. made its first successful satellite photo­ Germany; Asa Briggs, vice-chancellor A kite festival is scheduled for the Local membership in the Associates graph in its new site on a day of intense of the University of Sussex, England; four Saturdays in March, D.C. law per- is up to more than 3,000. fissuring. (Continued on Pa,e 2) Page 2 THE SMITHSONIAN TORCH January-February, 1967 ------------ABOUT 51 PEOPLE------------ MNH Begins Flora Study; Bedini Directing Flood Aid SIL VIO BEDINI, assistant director of MHT, is coordinating a Smithsonian aid program to the Florence Museum of Science, one of many structures nearly destroyed by the recent flash flood which ravaged that part of Italy.

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