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[[underlined]] The Resident Associate Program Mounts an Art Exhibition [[/underlined]]

On December 15 the Resident Associate Program opened an exhibition of 16 works of art commissioned by the Program since 1972. Entitled "RAP Commissions Art," the show is on view through April in the gallery at the base of the escalator in the S. Dillon Ripley Center. The first exhibition in this space, "RAP Commissions Art" offers a sampling of the fine serigraphs, lithographs, and posters commissioned to celebrate Smithsonian, Resident Associate, and city-wide occasions and to help support the Program's outreach projects.

Beginning in 1972 with Vera's gold illustration of the Foucault Pendulum in the National Museum of American History, the lineup of commissioned artists includes such important artists as Nancy Graves, Alexander Calder, Gene Davis, Larry Rivers, Lowell Nesbitt, Richard Haas, Philip Guston, Otto Piene, Raphael Soyer, and, most recently, Sam Gilliam and Willem de Looper. The opportunity to purchase quality art for under market value is one of the benefits of RAP membership. Most of these works have been accepted into the collections of the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the National Museum of American Art.

[[underlined]] Child Care Centers [[/underlined]]

The Smithsonian Child Care Center, recently renamed the Smithsonian Early Enrichment Center, Inc., is fully operational and fully booked. Although it is licensed by the District of Columbia for a capacity of 50 children, it has been decided (and budgeted for) as having an optimal capacity of 40 children. The current environment includes 45 children, five of whom are part-time. Having reached this optimal enrollment the Center is now operating in the black. In addition, the Center has entered into a licensing agreement with the Institution which permits it to market the curriculum it is using (to which the Smithsonian holds copyright) to publishers in both written and electronic media. The royalty income the Center will realize from this Agreement should guarantee its future financial stability.

The architectural/engineering 35% design drawings for the Center's infant facility should be submitted by mid-March. This second center will accommodate children under age two (the minimal age has yet to be decided by the Board of Directors). Both centers will operate under one director and be governed by the corporation's Board of Directors. The capacity of the new center will be 30 children, bringing the total for the two to 70. This compares favorably with most of the Federal child care centers in this area. The tuition fees for the infant center will be higher than those for the toddler center, since the staffing requirements are at a higher ratio.

[[underlined]] New Releases from the Smithsonian Press [[/underlined]]

Smithsonian Institution Press books continue to win recognition in the professional book publishing arena. Most recently the United States Information Agency has selected [[underlined]] Drawn From Nature: The Drawings of Josephe Prestele [[/underlined]] to appear with a selection of books that best represent the highest order of design and production at this year's USIA Leipzig Book Show. Similarly, the Association of American University Presses has singled out for design and production honors three recent SIP publications: [[underlined]] Best Addresses; The Hold Life Has; [[/underlined]] and [[underlined]] Alberto Giacometti. [[/underlined]]