Four anniversaries at the NMAI

National Museum of the American Indian Celebrates Four Landmark AnniversariesThe Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian inaugurates a season-long celebration of four landmark anniversaries through special exhibitions, events and family programming from September through November 2009. This fall marks the 20th anniversary of the signing of the legislation that created the museum, the 15th anniversary of the George Gustav Heye Center in New York City, the 10th anniversary of the state-of-the-art collections facility in Suitland, Md., and the fifth anniversary of the opening of the flagship museum on the National Mall.

The museum’s celebrations will feature an Anniversary Gala at the Mall museum Oct. 7. CBS news correspondent Hattie Kauffman (Nez Perce) will emcee the reception, and singer Buffy Sainte-Marie (Cree) and Wes Studi (Cherokee) will be among those attending as special guests. Oct. 16 marks the opening of “Brian Jungen: Strange Comfort,” the museum’s first major contemporary art exhibition of a living artist’s work. This significant retrospective demonstrates the museum’s commitment to its contemporary arts initiative and includes a Meet the Artist program Oct. 16 in the Ring Auditorium at the Hirshhorn Museum.Comment:  For more on the subject, see:

IndiVisible at the NMAI
Hawaiian play at the NMAI
Skateboarders at the NMAI