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Lease Negotiations with the General Services Administration

Preliminary negotiations have begun regarding the long-term lease of the Custom House.  A target date of June 1, 1992, has been set to complete lease negotiations.

1992 Exhibition at the Custom House

Plans are on schedule for the Museum's premier exhibition, "Pathways of Tradition."  The exhibit is expected to open in the Rotunda of the Custom House on November 15, 1992; bid solicitation for installation is expected to begin in May.

General Services Administration contractors are restoring the historic frescoes and statues in the exhibition area.  Completion of the current phase of that work is scheduled for July 20, 1992.  Exhibit installation is scheduled to begin not later than September 15, 1992.  The exhibition will be removed in its entirety from the Custom House by mid-February after closing to the public on January 24, 1993.

Staffing

During the current fiscal year the Museum has hired or will hire approximately 38 new employees in New York and Washington.  A number of these are senior management positions and include the Deputy Director, Chief Curator, Assistant Director for Public Programs, Assistant Director for Research, and Outreach Chief Curator. Currently there are 21 staff members in Washington, D.C. and 47 in New York.

National Campaign

As of April 17, 1992, the National Campaign for the National Museum of the American Indian had raised $3,728,320.  Within that amount $1,824,192 is restricted to Mall museum construction; it includes a $500,000 grant from the Knight Foundation and a $25,000 grant from the Oklahoma-based McCasland Foundation.  The ConEdison Company of New York, Inc., has provided $30,000 for the Museum's educational endowment fund.  More than 43,600 have joined the membership program of the Museum, providing gross revenue of approximately $1.3 million.

The International Founders Council (IFC) has been formed to serve as the volunteer leadership committee for the National Campaign.  Initial members are Secretary Adams and Gene Keluche (Co-Chairmen), Mrs. Ann Simmons Alspaugh, James and Barbara Block, Barber B. Conable, Mrs. Jean Knox, and David Rockefeller.  Recruitment is continuing.  The IFC and the Campaign's National Honorary Committee will have a consultation on June 15 with the Museum's architectural programming consultants, Venturi, Scott Brown & Associates.

An aggressive program of contact with Native American tribes and organizations has been initiated, and a full-scale communications program (advertising, publications, portable displays, audio-visual materials, and recognition items) is under way.

The Campaign has sponsored or has benefitted from several special events in the past several months and looks forward to an extremely busy summer.  In