Viewing page 46 of 143

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

- 31 -

[[underlined]] NAMING THE FREER AUDITORIUM IN HONOR OF EUGENE AND AGNES E. MEYER [[/underlined]]

VOTED that the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution recognizes the long-standing relationship between the Meyer family and the Freer Gallery and the magnitude of their gifts for the renovation of the auditorium and hereby names the auditorium in the Freer Gallery of Art The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Auditorium.

* * * * *

In recognition of the major gifts of the Philip L. Graham Fund, Katharine Graham, the Island Fund in the New York COmmunity Trust, and the Eugene and Agnes Meyer Foundation totalling $1,040,406 for the renovation and initial programming of the Freer auditorium, the Freer Gallery of Art has proposed naming the auditorium in honor of Eugene and Agnes Meyer.

The Meyer family support and interest in the Gallery dates to the Freer's opening in 1923. Eugene and Agnes Meyer met Charles Long Freer in 1913 by chance at an exhibition of Chinese painting. They found they shared an interest in Far Eastern art and immediately established a mutual bond that endured throughout their lives. In his will, Charles Freer names the Meyers as two of the five people whose gifts of objects could be accepted by the Gallery he had bequeathed. Ultimately, Eugene and Agnes Meyer bequeathed the finest items of Far Eastern art in their collection to the Freer.

Katharine Graham, daughter of Eugene and Agnes Meyer, is a member of the Freer Gallery Visiting Committee. As a trustee of the Philip L. Graham Fund and the majority stockholder of the [[underlined]] Washington Post [[/underlined]], Mrs. Graham has been influential in arranging the gift of the auditorium renovation. Although the [[underlined]] Washington Post [[/underlined]] is not contributing to the auditorium renovation, it has supported several Smithsonian educational programs including some at the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery and the National Museum of American Art.

The auditorium in the Freer Gallery seats about 300 and will be renovated to include improved access to the facility for individuals with mobility impairments, hearing disabilities, etc. The auditorium will be used for both Freer and Sackler Gallery presentations and will nearly double the seating capacity of the Ripley Center auditorium, which seats only 180. Sackler programs in the Ripley auditorium are frequently filled to capacity and people have often been turned away. In addition, the demand for use of the Ripley auditorium by other parts of the Smithsonian restricts the Freer/Sackler use of the facility.

As the Regents, by policy, have reserved themselves the authority for the naming of Smithsonian facilities, the following motion is suggested:

VOTED that the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution recognizes the long-standing relationship between the Meyer family and the Freer Gallery and the magnitude of their gifts for the renovation of the auditorium hereby names the auditorium in the Freer Gallery of Art The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Auditorium.