CELEBRATING THE AFRICAN AMERICAN EXPERIENCE

In 2015, a new museum will give a place of honor on the National Mall to the African American experience in this country—the hope and resiliency, struggles and pain, successes and triumphs. The National Museum of African American History and Culture will bring to life a unique and inspiring narrative: the journey of a people from enslavement to freedom, from diaspora to defining moment with the election of the country’s first African American president.

While telling a singular story, the Museum will use African American history and culture as a lens through which we can consider what it means to be an American of any background. The Museum will be a vibrant educational center that will stimulate new and meaningful dialogue about race—a center where all Americans find relevance and understanding. SUPPORTED BY THE AMERICAN PEOPLE Through an act of congress—and the actions of civic leaders, elected officials, and citizens across the country—the Museum was officially established in 2003. The 19th museum within the Smithsonian, it is expected to draw more than three million visitors, free of charge, once its new home is completed. The 350,000 square-foot building will incorporate a modern, innovative, and green design with world-class facilities, interactive exhibitions, and dramatic performance venues. It will include a restaurant, conference and education center, and extensive space for the Museum’s collections and archives. In 2009, these plans moved a giant step closer to reality with the selection of the architectural team, Freelon Adjaye Bond/SmithGroup. THE STORY WE WILL TELL The Museum will tell stories that reflect the experiences of African Americans—as part of the complete American story. Exhibits and programs will reflect American core values, such as resilience, optimism, and spiritualism, while exploring the changing definitions of citizenship, liberty, and equality. Interactive exhibits that include the best and newest technology will preserve and bring to life the voices and memories of the people who lived the history. In fact, the Museum has continually gathered and preserved the life stories of African American families, as we did through StoryCorps Griot, a partnership with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to record oral histories.

The Museum’s exhibits will illustrate the major periods of African American history, beginning with its origins in Africa and continuing through slavery, reconstruction, the Harlem Renaissance, the Civil Rights era, and into the 21st century. The vibrancy of African American literature, music, dance, and art will complement objects from the collections, and have their own continually evolving place. Iconic exhibit objects might range from a slave cabin to a Harlem nightclub, from a Pullman train car to the fighter plane flown by the Tuskegee airmen in World War II. The Museum will also feature an extensive collection of notable inventions and prominent works of art by African Americans. Photographs, archival documents, oral histories, and genealogy will all help tell important stories. “Capturing this history is not only paying homage to those who came before us, it's

also informing us about where we're going from here and how we're going to get there.”

– Richard D. Parsons, Chairman, Citigroup Co-Chair, Council of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

HOW WE WILL REACH OUT The Museum’s educational programs will explore the many issues of race for learners of all ages—onsite, online, and in community classrooms. Live demonstrations, lectures, performances, workshops, and films will be among many ongoing and free public offerings that will make the Museum a dynamic learning center—and a venue for meaningful real-life experiences. Reaching hundreds of thousands of schoolchildren every year in every corner of America, the education initiative will include teacher trainings, curriculum materials, publications, and online resources that take the Museum across the United States and around the globe. In all of its activities, the Museum will draw on, and contribute to, the Smithsonian’s diverse collections and research expertise. While awaiting its new home, the Museum has mounted exhibitions in its own wing in the National Museum of American History. Its inaugural exhibition, “Let Your Motto Be Resistance,” took images from the collections of the National Portrait Gallery to communities across the country through the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service. The Museum is collaborating with Smithsonian Folkways Recordings to explore African American oral and musical traditions, while the 2010 Smithsonian Folklife Festival took visitors behind the scenes to learn just how you go about creating a museum from the ground up.

“This Museum is a one of a kind project that merits generous philanthropic support at

a leadership gift level. Many of us have already made that commitment, and I invite others to join with us to ensure that we deliver on this powerful vision.”

– Linda Johnson Rice, Chairman, Johnson Publishing Company, Inc. Co-Chair, Council of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

HOW IT WILL BE FUNDED While the federal government is covering all start-up and operational costs, the Smithsonian’s commitment to the new Museum still faces a critical challenge: we must raise an additional $250 million through private philanthropy to do justice to the remarkable and continuing story of African Americans. Corporate leaders such as The Boeing Company, Aflac, Bank of America, IBM, Prudential, Time Warner, and others have stepped forward to fund design and construction. Now we look to philanthropists at all levels to help us honor and deepen understanding of a unique strand within the American tapestry.

PROTECTING EARTH’S OCEANS: MARINEGEO

Life in our oceans is fragile. An increase in sea temperature of just two degrees can lead to the collapse of healthy coral reefs. Suddenly underwater forests of vivid corals that have long sustained fish, sea turtles, and stingrays turn into lifeless grey zones crumbling toward the ocean floor. Ocean acidification thins the shells of conchs, oysters, and “Globigerina,” tiny animals in Antarctic Ocean. Virtually every ocean ecosystem worldwide is changing in response to environmental pressures.

The oceans are increasingly stressed by rising temperatures and carbon dioxide levels, changing chemistry and biodiversity, overfishing, and environmental calamities such as oil spills. Climate change is affecting life forms from plankton to polar bears. Despite this larger picture, we do not monitor the vital signs of ocean health. Our information is fragmentary and our view is distorted by what is near and short-term. Quite simply, there are no ongoing global assessments of ocean ecosystems. Long-term monitoring of global marine health is urgent. After all, oceans nurture 50 percent of all species on Earth and are a major source of food and water essential to human beings. LEARNING TO LISTEN The Smithsonian proposes to inform the next chapter of the world’s environmental narrative by creating the first planet-wide network to monitor, conserve, and protect ocean biodiversity. Current plans call for the launch of 10 Marine Global Earth Observatories (MarineGEO) this year, primarily in coastal areas as well as in polar and deep-water regions. Over the next decade, 50 MarineGEO will extend this network into ecologically and geographically important marine environments worldwide.

A SCIENTIFIC NOAH’S ARK FOR OCEAN LIFE An aggregate picture of ocean health will emerge from thousands of data points collected from regions spanning Arctic ice flows and hydrothermal vents, and along the most populated and remote coastlines of the world. Analysis of pristine ocean environments will reveal how ecosystems change in response to human activities and help us identify tipping points when restoration becomes essential to prevent environmental calamity. MarineGEO scientists will gather and cryopreserve samples of DNA, tissue, sperm, and eggs in a scientific version of Noah’s Ark. Recent scientific breakthroughs will help us lead the exploration of ways to use such a cryogenic repository to repopulate live organisms in restoring ecosystems. “We’re not paying attention on a global scale to what’s happening to the planet’s oceans. The ability to do that would be transformative in understanding the ocean in general and in monitoring the ocean for conservation.”

– Nancy Knowlton, Sant Chair for Marine Science, National Museum of Natural History MULTITUDES IN OUR SEAS MarineGEO will call on techniques for genomic analysis, pioneered in the human genome project, that promise to transform understanding of the planet’s oceans. With philanthropic support, the Smithsonian will obtain next-generation sequencing technology that will enable marine scientists to rapidly assess and identify vast quantities of living creatures and to create DNA tags for newly discovered life forms. New genomic data will connect with research into biological behaviors and patterns and marine ecosystem function, conducted through MarineGEO. Scientists will create the first global catalog of undersea vocalizations and sounds, including the songs of humpback whales, the clicks of bottlenose dolphins, and the popcorn-like snapping of pistol shrimp claws. Census data collected at regular intervals will identify marine life captured in tow nets, colonized in underwater cages, and found within ocean quadrants. Core samples of sand, rock, and ice will shed new light on 50,000 years of ecosystem health—including geological and archaeological features predating or revealing the impact of human habitation. FOR NOBEL LAUREATES, POLICY-MAKERS, AND PRESCHOOLERS The information generated by MarineGEO will advance the research of scientists worldwide and ground the critical work of policy-makers in more complex and comprehensive evidence than has ever been available. Students of all ages will be able to learn from museum-based and virtual exhibits and field trips, and, along with citizens worldwide, will be able to make daily decisions based on rich informational resources easily accessed via social media and interactive websites.

Bioinformatics experts will manage a continual flow of data from scientists and volunteers and will create interactive platforms for collaborative research and information sharing. The Smithsonian will post key findings on our Ocean Portal website, and will share marine genomic data via the Encyclopedia of Life. WHY THE SMITHSONIAN The Smithsonian is uniquely qualified to establish a global scientific monitoring presence because it has already done so. A network of 40 Smithsonian Institution Global Earth Observatories has generated vital data about the impact of climate change on forest ecosystem health and biodiversity for three decades. Global Earth Observatories demonstrate the Institution’s ability to recruit and train scientists globally and to develop collaborative partnerships with scientists, volunteers, non-profits, companies, and nations worldwide. The Smithsonian Institution has unparalleled convening power and functions effectively even in countries with little to no U.S. diplomatic contact. The MarineGEO initiative also builds on the Smithsonian’s

• Collaborative capabilities. The collective expertise of the National Zoological Park, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute means that more than 100 preeminent marine scientists, taxonomists, ecologists, and zoologists will help direct and coordinate global assessments of ocean health.

• Marine Science Network. Most of the first round of MarineGEO will be able to piggyback on existing Smithsonian marine stations in Florida and the Chesapeake Bay, on Panama’s Caribbean and Pacific coasts, in the northernmost Central American nation of Belize, and on Moorea Island in French Polynesia.

• Vast collections. Millions of marine specimens in the National Collections, gathered globally over the last 150 years, will serve as “voucher specimens,” or identity keys, for scientists worldwide.

• Track record. The Smithsonian’s global partnerships have leveraged the strengths of other organizations, nations, and individuals worldwide for many years.

• Biodiversity expertise. The Smithsonian is the only scientific entity focused specifically on planet-wide marine biodiversity and the health of ocean plants and animals.

A GIFT TO THE FUTURE As part of its first-ever comprehensive campaign, the Smithsonian seeks $30 million in funding for MarineGEO: $10 million in start-up funding and $20 million in endowment. With a rapid launch of the MarineGEO network, the Smithsonian will be able to take advantage of very real opportunities to heal damaged marine ecosystems that will soon become irreparable. Illuminating the diversity and beauty of life forms across global marine ecosystems is about more than just archiving the results of hundreds of millions of years of evolution. It’s about paying our ethical debt to the future by protecting the planet’s oceans for generations to come.

EARTH’S DISTANT PAST SHAPES OUR FUTURE: DEEP TIME [in progress]

An 8-year-old girl inspects a tooth from a mastodon that roamed the Earth 15 thousand years ago. A young scientist on the brink of a promising career answers her many questions. In such exchanges, Timescapes, a new exhibit in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, will achieve two goals at once: engaging learners of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of scientific literacy in journeys of discovery while equipping a new generation of scientific leaders with the skills to communicate about science with lay people.

Timescapes will provide an experience for visitors in keeping with the ones they find in Sant Ocean Hall and the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins as they engage with Earth’s 4.5 billion-year history and its relevance to our lives today. OF STARDUST AND SURVIVAL Most of us can’t conceive of the vast scale of geologic time and evolutionary change since life first emerged on Earth 3.6 billion years ago. Time and the story of survival on Earth will be organizing elements in Timescapes, covering 27,500 square feet of the Museum. The exhibit will explore themes such as how life interacts on earth and is reset by mass extinctions, what allows ecosystems and particular organisms to flourish, and ways humans have changed global ecosystems in a geologic blink of time – as revealed by the climatic and ecological scientific record. Interactive displays will present objects from the Smithsonian’s 26 million fossils of plants, ocean and land animals, insects, and unicellular organisms in the context of geologic time and evolutionary forces. Interaction with Smithsonian staff and specimens will be central to the Timescapes experience. Museum educators and paleobiology Ph.D. students will lead hands-on activities and spark conversation with visitors by sharing intriguing objects. They might choose a case containing 10,000 year-old mammoth hair, or a 100 million-year-old oyster fossil, or a 145 million-year-old chunk of fossilized dinosaur armor. In these conversations and throughout the Timescapes exhibit, visitors will gain an understanding of the scientific tools, methods, and questions used to understand the past.

Paleobiologists with graduate fellowships will divide their time between scientific research with Institute scientists and interactions with visitors. For instance, a fellow might tell a school group they carry stardust inside their bodies. She could use fossils and rocks that reveal how the iron found in the blood of all vertebrates, from humans to dinosaurs, actually arrived on Earth when the planet was formed and via meteorites. Another young scientist might share fossil evidence illustrating how human hands, whale flippers, and pterodactyl wings are all the same structure modified by evolution and made of the same types of bones. Using the latest innovations in social media, education, and communications technologies, Timescapes will ultimately strengthen the influence of the Institute’s paleobiology collections, discoveries, and research breakthroughs among global audiences. This expanded mission enhances the global relevance of the world’s most visited natural history museum and its website, which each year attract more than 7 million and 30 million people, respectively. “The gradual pace of geologic change, and past instances of cataclysmic change triggered by asteroids and volcanoes, are like a window into the machinery of how the Earth works. Humans are having a large impact on the planet’s carbon cycle that we can’t reverse. Geologic history helps us think about ways to prepare.”

– Matthew T. Carrano, Ph.D., Curator of Dinosauria, National Museum of Natural History RELEVANCE FOR THE OLDEST STORIES AND OBJECTS ON EARTH Timescapes will replace dioramas and displays of fossilized dinosaurs, mammals, plants, and animals that were last updated more than 30 years ago, and some of which have remained unchanged since 1910. These ‘look and point’ types of displays no longer engage visitors and are increasingly obsolete, both scientifically and educationally. With philanthropic support, the Smithsonian will be able to realize the full value of the $53 million in federal funds currently allocated to the museum. Public funds will be used to renovate the hall to the east of the museum’s Behring rotunda to realize its original 1910-era grandeur, and to develop exhibit space that flows to the museum’s Sant Ocean Hall. However, this government support will create just the shell of the space needed. Philanthropic support of $85 million will fill that space with the Smithsonian’s world-class paleobiology and geology collections and help us to realize the collections’ full potential through related educational and research initiatives. Costs include:

EXHIBIT DESIGN AND MAINTENANCE - $65 MILLION. To design the new exhibit, the Smithsonian will bring together experts in everything from mobile technology and multimedia to object conservation and fabrication. The Natural History team will need to disassemble,

conserve, and remount thousands of specimens. The floor will be reinforced with steel girders so that colossal dinosaurs don’t sink to the museum’s basement.

While the Smithsonian’s Dinosaur and Fossil halls are closed for renovation, the Museum will mount a temporary exhibit and continue to share the collections via the web. Data about what fascinates its virtual audience will influence design of the Timescapes exhibit, website, and related educational outreach programs.

EDUCATION - $15 MILLION. There is no more commanding presence in an exhibit hall than a live human being. The Smithsonian is virtually the only institution where scientific graduate students can combine cutting-edge research with ongoing interactions with the general public. Philanthropic support for graduate fellowships will cultivate a growing cadre of great science communicators capable of leading a global dialog about topics such as the impact of climate change and the value of science. This program also reflects a new approach to recruiting the next generation of U.S. science, technology, engineering, and math students.

RESEARCH - $5 MILLION. The Smithsonian’s paleobiologists and geologists produce ground-breaking discoveries, research, and peer-reviewed publications that influence global scientific leaders. Endowment for a new research scientist position will create secure leadership for investigations into urgent challenges to the field posed by the pace of climate change and the rapid emergence of new technologies and scientific paradigms.

OUR CHAPTER IN A PRECARIOUS STORY OF SURVIVAL We live in an era of global climate change more rapid than any that have preceded us in Earth’s history. Science shows that it’s not possible to reverse changes in the planet’s weather and chemistry. But we may have ways to alter the pace of change, and to influence how these changes affect virtually every plant and animal on earth, including ourselves. As expert stewards of the world’s largest fossil collection, Smithsonian scientists are at the forefront of research using ancient evidence about how the planet’s ecosystems and climate patterns have worked in the past. Insights drawn from geologic history serve as vitally important keys to inform our understanding of the ways our ecosystems and climate may change in the future. Timescapes will empower the general public with scientific literacy and build public understanding of the relevance and vast scale of geologic time, evolutionary pressures, and the carbon cycle. With philanthropic support, Timescapes will help millions of Smithsonian visitors each year become more intellectually and personally invested in the central challenges of our time—so that they can be more effective participants in what promises to be a very complicated way forward.

MADE IN AMERICA

The words “American” and “ingenuity” go together like “apple” and “pie.” Americans have always solved problems creatively and practically. From Franklin’s bifocals and Edison’s incandescent bulb to Apple’s personal computer and Microsoft’s operating systems, American innovation has revolutionized the world. Through the simplicity of folk art, the syncopated rhythms of ragtime and jazz, and the urban poetry of rap, to name just a few examples, we have left an indelible mark on the arts. Americans’ special genius wed creativity to technology, proudly pairing film with industry and music with business. The resulting productivity not only grew the economy, but also put advances and entertainments within the reach of all people.

But in today’s global and competitive environment, Americans must take steps to guarantee our leadership position and gear up to counter the commercial success of other nations, getting back in touch with that pioneering spirit that bolstered our long success. We’re beginning to wonder: are we in danger of becoming a nation of consumers rather than producers? The question serves as a clarion call, bringing together Smithsonian educators, scholars, and curators to identify and explore the essential ingredients of American innovation and the conditions and collaborations that allow it to flourish. MADE IN AMERICA Made in America is an Institution-wide initiative that will examine American achievement and look at how individuals and groups have fueled America’s development through scientific discovery, technological invention, business entrepreneurship, and artistic creativity. The initiative will pose—and use Smithsonian resources to answer—such questions as:

• Under what conditions have ingenuity and artistic development flourished in the United States?

• What are the characteristics of creativity and innovation—and are they the same or different in science, business, and the arts?

• What are the relationships among, say, technological innovation, business, and artistic creativity? How might they interact?

• What sparks the productivity of individual scientists, artists, and entrepreneurs?

• How can the Smithsonian illustrate, demonstrate, and encourage these same qualities among its visitors—especially youth—whether in physical or virtual space?

Made in America will also reach beyond the Institution to bring together national experts from academia and business as well as practicing entrepreneurs—groups well versed in innovation—and invite them to serve as guest curators and program advisors. We envision building internship programs with high-tech universities and sponsoring social networking sites where members of the public can offer their own perspectives and experiences. Our next step in developing this program will be a plan laying out the specific program elements that will bring this grand vision to reality. “Made in America will provide a dictionary of America's success, exploring our drive and the edge that keeps us moving forward. More than revere the past, we can reassemble it as a resource for the future. The Smithsonian is the ultimate resource for helping people understand the American experience.”

– Richard Kurin, Under Secretary for History, Art, and Culture NEW IDEAS AND HISTORIC STRENGTHS In ways that no one else can, the Smithsonian can shed light on what made America the once and future king of innovation by drawing on an immense reservoir of objects, scholarship, and expertise, and combining them in fresh ways across museums and in new centers of study. By raising in excess of $100 million in private support, we can strengthen key elements at the nucleus of Made in America—existing exhibitions, collections, and programs—and create others, to form a comprehensive framework for examining questions of American creativity and productivity.

RESEARCH PROJECTS AND STUDY CENTERS Through Made in America, we can assemble a view of the past to inform the future, using the authentic voices, archives, and creations of our most famous innovators and artists to provide a veritable dictionary of American success in the world. Examples:

American Voices: Enhance the Smithsonian’s oral history collections with exemplars from leaders in American innovation, from artists and astronauts to scientists and business leaders. Innovation Research: Smithsonian scholars will delve into the Institution’s unique collections and archives to explore the processes of innovation—in areas as diverse as creative design and the military—and examine what impact they have on American life. Center for Creative Media: The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s exciting new study center will document the creativity of media products in art, video, Web, and digital forms.

EXHIBITIONS Using the Smithsonian’s iconic collections, combined with existing and emerging scholarship, curators will enhance existing exhibitions—permanent, traveling, and online—and build new ones to invigorate visitors through contact with the real thing. Examples:

Places of Invention: National Museum of American History American Entrepreneurship: National Museum of American History

Milestones of Flight: National Air and Space Museum Design across the Smithsonian: Cooper Hewitt, National Design Museum (and other Mall locations)

DIGITIZATION OF COLLECTIONS By creating online access to our resources, the Smithsonian will help ensure that all Americans can share in the nation’s stories of achievement and be inspired in equal measure to create their own. Examples:

Online Design Museum: Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

Creative America: Archives of American Art

EDUCATION AND PUBLIC PROGRAMS Educators can design on-site and online programs and classroom-based curricula that spur young people to create and innovate based on principles from our own research. Examples:

Creativity and Innovation: Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service

Science-Art Lecture Series: Smithsonian American Art Museum

MULTIMEDIA PLATFORMS Through Smithsonian magazine, the Smithsonian Channel, and a network of Institutional websites, we can comprehensively extend our reach using every medium, sharing what we learn and inspiring Americans to their own personal achievements. Examples:

Smithsonian Creativity Conference: Smithsonian magazine’s annual conference, to be held in the Hirshhorn Blue Bubble. Made in America: A Smithsonian Channel series on creativity and innovation.

FELLOWSHIPS Fellows and scholars can probe the thoughts and actions of America’s most innovative thinkers using their journals, records, and even their voices as captured in the Smithsonian’s myriad oral histories. Examples:

Artists Research Fellowships

Artists-in-Residence Programs at the National Museum of African Art, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and Freer and Sackler Galleries.

THE BEST IS YET TO BE Made in America offers us the chance to connect with collaborators well versed in innovation and entrepreneurship as well as engage the opinions and experiences of everyday Americans. And it exemplifies the Smithsonian’s new vision for itself—to purpose existing strengths across disciplines and media platforms to engage the great questions of the day.

LEADERS AT EVERY LEVEL The transformation of the Smithsonian into a dynamic learning center that can best serve America in a global and technologically charged future will not happen all by itself. It will require imagination and dedication at every level of the organization. It will require a culture of innovation and openness that will call on leaders in every museum and center, and every endeavor, to stretch beyond themselves, whether they are reimagining visitor services or the most technical, specialized area of scholarship.

We are fortunate to have people in every rank of the Smithsonian who are already providing such leadership. We must recognize, reward, and retain their services. We must also recruit the next generation of leaders who can energize education, advance science and scholarship, and engage learners of all ages in journeys of discovery. Because extraordinary people are critical to everything we want to do, the Smithsonian seeks $213.3 million in endowment to secure and grow our intellectual capital. Named giving opportunities exist at levels ranging from $2 million to $10 million to advance this goal. DIRECTORSHIPS The directors of our museums and centers are scholars and scientists at the pinnacle of their fields. They are ambassadors, visionaries, and advocates for what their programs and the Smithsonian can achieve. They are central to our vision for an institution that is strong in each particular and yet more than the sum of all its parts. Perhaps the most critical group of all our leaders, our center and museum directors turn down impressive offers from other institutions so they might serve the American people and the Smithsonian mission. As part of the campaign, we seek to endow an additional 12 directorships to make sure we can attract and retain the very best. ENDOWED POSITIONS FOR RESEARCHERS, CURATORS, EDUCATORS The Smithsonian’s ability to advance knowledge and inspire learning depends on the researchers who often go out on the floor and excite youngsters with their stories of discovery. We rely on curators who seek to connect visitors to our collections in new ways, and on educators who want to create conversations and enable learning wherever people are. The times demand that Smithsonian professionals not only be experts in their fields but also reach across disciplines and deliver content across media. The campaign goals encompass endowed positions to secure these multi-talented professionals in every part of the Institution.

FELLOWSHIPS Brilliant young scholars and scientists, who study at the Smithsonian for a period beyond their formal education, are a constant and vital source of fresh thinking in all of our activities. They also become part of our legacy and contribution to the world. In molecular evolution, for instance, former Smithsonian fellows now head labs from the University of Maryland to Washington State. In collections conservation, former fellows bring expertise honed caring for the National Collections to museums and universities across the country. All Smithsonian fellows take away an experience of collaborative research, conducted in its purest form for the discovery and advancement of knowledge. SMITHSONIAN LEADERSHIP FELLOWS Because Smithsonian fellows often rise through the ranks of museum administration in institutions across America, this new program will prepare them to lead by combining advanced study in their fields with opportunities to learn about institutional management and change. The program for each Smithsonian Leadership Fellow will be tailored to their special interests, fields, and talents. They will interact directly with the Smithsonian undersecretaries and museum and center directors, as well as heads of government agencies such as the National Air and Space Administration. They will visit with and learn about the legislative committees that have such a profound impact on policy and funding in their fields. Curricula may include visits to Cooper-Hewitt, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, and other “off the Mall” locations appropriate to the fellow’s course of study. The endowment for this program will support 30 fellowships in all: 15 in science and 15 in history, arts, and culture. SMITHSONIAN LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM The leaders of tomorrow’s Smithsonian will guide one of the world’s most complex and revered institutions through times whose only byword is change. The Smithsonian Leadership Development Program will identify and train five senior staff members to become part of this next generation of Smithsonian leaders. This select group will take part in customized seminars, site visits to Smithsonian venues, and discussions of selected readings on Smithsonian history and culture. As a group, they will attend a weeklong offsite executive education program conducted by business-school faculty. As individuals, they will each choose and complete a specific assignment, designed to challenge thinking about the Smithsonian’s future. All program elements will focus on helping them fulfill the Smithsonian mission in the 21st century from a strategic and global viewpoint.

OUT OF THIN AIR: ASSERTING THE ROLE OF CREATIVITY IN AN EVOLVING WORLD

When the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden debuts the shimmering orb of its new Seasonal Inflatable Structure in October 2012, it will animate the Museum’s landmark building as well as the nation’s cultural dialogue with a breath of fresh air. Each May and October, the appearance of the 145-foot-high inflatable “dome” will signal a period of intense intellectual exchange as the Structure transforms the Museum into a world-class think tank, focused on exploring art’s singular ability to interpret, influence, and transcend the challenges of contemporary culture.

EXTENDING THE MUSEUM EXPERIENCE Through form and content, the Seasonal Inflatable Structure will allow the Hirshhorn to engage existing and new audiences in creative thinking about the role of art and culture in contemporary life as well as about the evolving role of museums. It will also provide new educational platforms for exhibitions currently on view, via conferences and other public events. The Structure’s design, by architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro, also known for redesigning Lincoln Center and creating Manhattan’s High Line park, will invest the Hirshhorn’s iconic building with a playful accessibility. The Structure will billow out above the Museum’s open core and push out from under its weight on one side in a gossamer globule, containing a cafe. Inside, the Inflatable Structure will fill and cover the central courtyard of the building, creating a new public space that will be classroom, theater, workshop, and forum — a veritable hive of learning. Symposia, film screenings, debates, and performances within the Structure will become part of the Museum experience as those inside see and are seen by visitors in the galleries above through transparent panels in the skin of the structure. This unusual space will inspire new approaches to learning. Many aspects of the content delivery — from presentations using multiple platforms to discussions instigated by visual prompts and the intense interactivity planned for participants — will mirror the way younger audiences, or “digital natives,” learn. Opportunities for online participation, live blogging, and interactive Web content will extend every program and event to thousands of people far beyond the Hirshhorn’s walls. Visitors worldwide will be able to take part in the developing dialogue. And the Structure will serve as a “Smithsonian-wide” asset, available for use by all parts of the Institution, enhancing our larger educational mission.

“If we can develop an educational program that’s national and global in outlook, we can have an impact on cultural policy in the U.S.”

– Richard Koshalek, Director, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden; The Wall Street Journal, September 21, 2010.

A NATURAL LEADER The Hirshhorn is ideally suited to lead a global dialogue on the power of art and creativity as a force for change in all disciplines. Each year, visitors find a springboard to new thinking in its vibrant collection of modern and contemporary art. The Museum’s location on the National Mall is an ideal venue to attract diverse people — politicians and students, diplomats and environmentalists, artists and economists — to confront issues from their varying perspectives. The Seasonal Inflatable Structure’s inaugural season in October 2012 will include the following programs:

• “New Meanings and Applications of Cultural Dialogue and Diplomacy,” a three-day international gathering presented in conjunction with the Council on Foreign Relations.

• “Art and Destruction,” a major symposium on the effects of destruction in nature and war on human psychology and identity, presented with the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton University and complementing the Museum’s exhibition on view.

• “Open Sources,” an experimental public forum and global dialogue about the impact of technology on culture and the evolving role of museums in creating cultural spaces on the Web.

A RARE OPPORTUNITY To make the Seasonable Inflatable Structure at the Hirshhorn a reality, the Smithsonian seeks a total of $15 million — the $5 million necessary to fabricate and launch the Structure plus an endowment of $10 million to sustain it and fund programming. We invite visionary benefactors to help create a new cultural engine that will engage visitors, art lovers, scholars, and educators in a constantly changing work of imagination: a visionary architectural achievement that is a work of art in itself.