Members’ Weekend

One benefit of membership in the James Smithson Society is attending the Annual Members’ Weekend. Each year, members gather from around the country to celebrate the Smithsonian programs made possible in part by their generous annual contributions.

Members’ Weekend features three days of enrichment and social gatherings with fellow members and Smithsonian leaders and scholars. A few of the highlights include a keynote address by Secretary G. Wayne Clough, in-depth tours led by Institution curators and scholars, and a reception and dinner at the newly renovated National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center, that will showcase the Star-Spangled Banner.

Following is the schedule for the 2009 Smithson Society Annual Members’ Weekend

*Programs subject to change

Thursday, April 23

• Reception in the Mary Livingston Ripley Garden
  6:00 - 7:30 pm
  Guild-level and Endowed-Life members
  

Friday, April 24

• Welcome Reception
  7:00 - 9:00 pm
  Freer Gallery of Art
  
• Smithsonian National Board Dinner
  Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture
  Guild-level members, Smithsonian National Board members

Saturday, April 25

• Morning Program
  8:30 - 11:30 am
  Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture
  
• • Breakfast
    8:30 - 9:30 am
    
  • Behind the Scenes Tours (bus transportation provided)
    9:30 - 11:30 am
    
  • • National Museum of American History Exclusive tour of the exhibition First Ladies at the Smithsonian with Curator Lisa Kathleen Graddy.
    • Smithsonian Institution Libraries Behind-the-scenes tour of the Smithsonian's Dibner Library of the History of Science and Technology with Head of Special Collections, Lilla Vekerdy.
    • National Portrait Gallery Private tour of the Presidents in Waiting exhibition led by Senior Historian Sid Hart.
    • National Museum of Natural History Special viewing of two new exhibitions Written in Bone and Orchids Through Darwin's Eyes - The 15th Annual Orchid Show.
    • National Museum of African American History and Culture Exclusive tour of the new exhibition The Scurlock Studio and Black Washington: Picturing the Promise with Curators Paul Gardullo and Michelle Delaney
    • Smithsonian American Art Museum Special behind-the-scenes tour of the exhibition 1934: A New Deal for Artists, led by Deputy Chief Curator George Gurney.
• Keynote Address by Secretary Clough
  12 noon - 1:00 pm
  Freer Gallery of Art
  
• Reception and Dinner
  7:00 - 10:30 pm
  National Museum of American History, Kenneth E. Behring Center
  

View previous Smithson Society Annual Members’ Weekend.

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