Smithsonian Openings
As the largest museum and research complex in the world, the museums and galleries of the Smithsonian Institution are one of the top attractions when visiting Washington, DC. Even the most frequent Washington, DC visitors now have several reasons to return - two major exhibits debuted this fall and two brand new museums are set to open:

New Mammal Hall Roars at Natural History Museum
The Mammal Hall at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum will unveiled its $20 million facelift when it opened to visitors on November 15. The exhibition space, renamed Kenneth E. Behring Mammal Hall for the California business man’s $20 million contribution to update the hall, was one of the oldest in the museum with exhibits dating back several decades. The new 25,000-square-foot Mammal Hall, which retains its famed African elephant in the rotunda of the museum, welcomes guests to a “mammal family reunion” where they learn about both past and present mammals and how they are related to each other. The new exhibits include state-of-the-art dioramas that tell the story of how mammals evolved and adapted to changes in habitat and climate over millions of years. Included are 274 specimens and several fossils from four continents. There will also be many hands-on activities and interactive displays in the Discovery Zones that will bring the history of mammals to life. In addition to the new mammal hall, educational and outreach programs were also funded by Behring’s contribution. For more information visit the Mammal Hall Press Room.

America is "On the Move" at the National Museum of American History
In its largest exhibition ever, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History opened “America on the Move” on November 22. The exhibition traces the history of transportation in the United States – from the advent of the railroad to the SUVs of today. The permanent exhibition serves as the anchor for the General Motors Hall of Transportation and is set on 26,000 square-feet featuring more than 300 transportation artifacts. Highlights include a “commute” into downtown Chicago through the use of multi-media technology and a walk along 40 feet of the famed Route 66. For more information, view the Press Release or visit the Museum of American History’s website.

National Air & Space Museum Soars with New Center
This December marks the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers’ first flight at Kitty Hawk. In celebration of the historic flight, the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is set to open at Dulles International Airport on December 15. The new museum, which is an extension of the world’s most visited museum, the National Air & Space Museum, will provide more space for the display of artifacts from air and space travel. With the center’s open architectural design, the Udvar-Hazy Center will be able to display approximately 200 aircraft and 135 major space artifacts. The space shuttle “Enterprise"; an SR-71 Blackbird; an F-4 Phantom Fighter; aerobatic plane, the de Havilland Chipmunk; a prototype of America’s first jetliner, the Boeing 707; and the “Enola Gay,” which is most noted for its atomic bomb missions during WWII are among the aircraft that will be on display at the Center. Visitors will be able to get a birds-eye view of many of the aircraft from elevated walkways. The public will also be able to watch museum specialists as they perform restoration and preservation on aircrafts, a practice which up until now has been done behind the scenes. Taking advantage of its location, there will also be an observation tower at the Udvar-Hazy Center, where visitors can watch planes take off and land at Dulles Airport. For more information, visit the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center Press Room.

Smithsonian Preserves Native American Culture with New Museum
The National Museum of the American Indian is scheduled to open on September 21, 2004. The museum will be the only national museum dedicated to Native Peoples of North, South and Central America and will house the largest collection of Native American art and artifacts in the world. Approximately 800,000 objects representing more than ten thousand years of history will be on display in the building’s three permanent exhibition galleries. Much of the collection was on view at the former Museum of the American Indian Heye Center in New York before its move to Washington, DC. George Gustav Heye (1874-1957), a wealthy New Yorker, collected Native American artifacts throughout his travels in the Americas, the Caribbean and Mexico. His collection includes thousands of works, such as intricate wood and stone carvings and masks; painted and quilled hides, clothing, and feather bonnets; pottery and basketry from the southwestern United States; and Navajo weavings. The National Museum of the American Indian will present all of its exhibits and educational programs from the Native American perspective. An American Indian Welcome Center highlighting the progress of the new museum is currently open on Independence Avenue. For more information visit the NMAI Press Room.

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Capital Region to Celebrate the Greatest Generation
Veterans, community leaders and hospitality industry partners gathered at the site of the National World War II Memorial on Veterans Day to announce America Celebrates the Greatest Generation, an unprecedented region-wide initiative saluting the men and women of the World War II era. Beginning with the dedication of Washington, DC’s newest battle memorial on Memorial Day Weekend 2004, America Celebrates will be a 100-day celebration extending through Labor Day. The tribute will include more than 60 World War II-themed exhibitions, performances, walking tours and hotel packages all aimed at highlighting the impact and influence of the generation on art, music, history and culture in the nation’s capital and the United States.

“The opening of the World War II Memorial is an important event for Washington, DC as well as for the world. As visitors come to the nation’s capital to pay their respects to World War II veterans, we invite them to join in America Celebrates the Greatest Generation—a much-deserved salute to the men and women who defended the symbols of democracy we proudly display here in the nation’s capital,” said William A. Hanbury, president & CEO of the Washington, DC Convention & Tourism Corporation (WCTC).

America Celebrates the Greatest Generation is produced by The American Experience Foundation, in conjunction with the WCTC and Cultural Tourism DC. For a complete list of programming, visit www.americasgreatestgeneration.com. Click Here to visit the ACGG Press Room.

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Area Art Galleries Announce a Spring/Summer Celebration of Mexican Culture
Washington, DC area art galleries and museums have joined forces to present a celebration of Mexican culture this spring and summer through various exhibitions and events. The celebration will be anchored by the exhibition “The Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya” opening April 4, 2004 at the National Gallery of Art. “The Courtly Art of the Ancient Maya” is the first exhibition of its kind in the U.S. devoted specifically to this subject. In addition, the National Gallery will host “The Cubist Paintings of Diego Rivera: Memory, Politics, Place” and a special film series, “The Cinema of Mexico.” The Hirshhorn Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Cathedral and the Mexican Cultural Institute are also planning exhibits in conjunction with the celebration.

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