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Patent Office is new state of the arts

The Washington Times 6/23/06

PartyLines: people,places and politics

By Ann Geracimos

Patent office is new state of the arts

" Some 1,300 people were on the guest list for Wednesday's six-hour gala celebrating the new look of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. An estimated 1,500 came, trumperters heralding their arrival at the F street entrance, where security screening had to be abandoned for the night. The halls of the old Patent Office Building, now named the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, rocked with music on every floor. An elaborate buffet was set up amid flashing lights in the grand hall where Abraham Lincoln once held an inaugural ball, and Andrew Jackson, in a portrait by Ralph Eark, looked down on a busy bar scene not far from a contemporary artwork by David Beck. The Work, a mixed media construction said to be an interpretation of the building, was the only item commissioned for the opening by both its tenants. After nearly seven years spent on renovation and restoration, the magnificent structure deserves a party, and it is receiving quite a few of them. In addition to Wednesday's open house, donors are being feted with private dinners, and the public is incited for what is billed as the Grand Opening Family Festival, complete with an ice cream social. One of the orginal ideas of L'Enfant plan was to have this building be halfway b! etween the US Capitol and the White House, between O and 16th Street " Artists were everywhere and not only on the walls: Nelson Shanks, Lee Friedlander, Sean Scully, Bill Christenberry, Lou Stovall, Morgan Monceaux and others." This is a big thing!" remarks Mr Monceaux whose portratit of the late musician Ray Charles was among new acquisitions featured in a" Gifts to the Nation" hallway. The Baltimore artist, who cradled in his arms a well-worned Teddy bear, was a striking figure in black leather pants and a large silver lock worn around his neck. The bear, he explained, was the last one "given me by my mother before she died ." The Lock, a big one, signaled " I'm in service to my muse."

2006-11-17 17:19:04 GMT

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		Patent Office is new state of the arts The Washington Times 6/23/06 PartyLines: people,places and politics By Ann Geracimos Patent office is new state of the arts " Some 1,300 people were on the guest list for Wednesday's six-hour gala celebrating the new look of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. An estimated 1,500 came, trumperters heralding their arrival at the F street entrance, where security screening had to be abandoned for the night. The halls of the old Patent Office Building, now named the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture, rocked with music on every floor. An elaborate buffet was set up amid flashing lights in the grand hall where Abraham Lincoln once held an inaugural ball, and Andrew Jackson, in a portrait by Ralph Eark, looked down on a busy bar scene not far from a contemporary artwork by David Beck. The Work, a mixed media construction said to be an interpretation of the building, was the only item commissioned for the opening by both its tenants. After nearly seven years spent on renovation and restoration, the magnificent structure deserves a party, and it is receiving quite a few of them. In addition to Wednesday's open house, donors are being feted with private dinners, and the public is incited for what is billed as the Grand Opening Family Festival, complete with an ice cream social. One of the orginal ideas of L'Enfant plan was to have this building be halfway b! etween the US Capitol and the White House, between O and 16th Street " Artists were everywhere and not only on the walls: Nelson Shanks, Lee Friedlander, Sean Scully, Bill Christenberry, Lou Stovall, Morgan Monceaux and others." This is a big thing!" remarks Mr Monceaux whose portratit of the late musician Ray Charles was among new acquisitions featured in a" Gifts to the Nation" hallway. The Baltimore artist, who cradled in his arms a well-worned Teddy bear, was a striking figure in black leather pants and a large silver lock worn around his neck. The bear, he explained, was the last one "given me by my mother before she died ." The Lock, a big one, signaled " I'm in service to my muse." 2006-11-17 17:19:04 GMT Site Home