Refurbished American Art Museum puts the public back in public art

Washington, D.C. — Nowhere does the "public" in public art figure more prominently than it does at the nation's capital. At a time of soaring admission prices, our national museums remain free to all. And the great memorials on the National Mall speak to our shared heritage — or at least that was the plan.

Visiting Washington to see the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, which re-opened their shared building in July after six years of renovations, I happened into the debate over the future of the National Mall. While the Smithsonian museum has opened up its collections and become more viewer friendly (more on that below), the Mall plan is mired in bureaucracy and an onslaught of special interests. Questions about the integrity of the Mall date back to the 1930s, when protesters blocked bulldozers preparing for the Jefferson Memorial, and heated up earlier this decade over the construction of the World War II Memorial.

The latest plans for a Martin Luther King Memorial on property near the Lincoln Memorial have brought the issues into high relief. Opponents of new construction say the Mall is already crowded and other locations must be found for new projects. But that sentiment didn't cool the love-fest Nov. 14, when a group of high-profile politicos and celebs, including Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey and Maya Angelou, gathered for a symbolic groundbreaking ceremony.

There's no question that King, the great leader of our civil-rights movement, deserves a prominent memorial. And, after all, the Mall was the site of his famous "I have a dream" speech of 1963. Yet with countless worthy groups vying to place a memorial or new museum on that hallowed ground, there's concern for the integrity of the place. With its grand proportions and sense of openness (first set down in 1791 by Pierre L'Enfant and expanded by the McMillan Commission a century ago), the Mall stands as a symbol of our national identity. But without a comprehensive plan, the nearly two-mile stretch of land between the Capitol steps and the Lincoln Memorial risks dissolving into chaos — a parking lot for monuments.

So, who makes the decisions?

"In the end, it always comes through Congress," says Thomas Luebke, secretary of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, which advises on design issues at the Capitol. "They make the laws and can change the laws. We hope it is done with the consultation of the various agencies."

That would be the National Park Service, which maintains and manages the Mall; the National Capitol Planning Commission; the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; The National Capitol Memorial Advisory Commission; the Department of Defense ... the list goes on. You might be wondering how anything gets built — and, in fact, projects can take decades to wend through the system.

Information

The Smithsonian: www.si.edu

The National Mall: www.nps.gov/nacc/home.htm

In 2003, Congress passed an amendment to a 1986 law declaring the Mall complete. But three new projects were already authorized and in the pipeline, Luebke said: the Martin Luther King Memorial, The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Center and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Concerns about the Mall boil down to two issues: How to better maintain such a popular venue for holidays, festivals and demonstrations of free speech. And how to envision its future design.

"Personally, what I'd like to see is a visionary idea about how we can continue this amazing composition that describes our national history," Luebke said. "What that looks like, I don't know. It won't be what we thought it was 100 years ago."

Have suggestions? Visit the National Park Service's interactive Web site at www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan.

The people's museum

When the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, which share an historic building, closed for renovation in January, 2000, portions of the collections went on the road. Here in Western Washington, we got to see "Scenes of American Life" at the Frye Art Museum and "Contemporary Folk Art" at the Tacoma Art Museum. And, at SAM, the iconic "Lansdowne" portrait of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart.

Now, re-opened with new amenities — including a forthcoming courtyard landscaped by Seattle designer Kathryn Gustafson — the place feels like it really is the people's museum. A state-of-the-art conservation studio is walled in glass, so that visitors can observe artworks being cleaned and restored. A wonderful open storage area allows access to paintings, sculptures, ceramics, folk art and assorted objects not currently up in the galleries. Rows of glass cases display closely hung paintings and sculptures; pull-out drawers hold smaller items under glass. I wish more museums did this, because curators can overlook things the rest of us might like to see. The combined collections include nearly 5,000 objects, including crowd-pleasers like Albert Bierstadt's grand "Among the Sierra Nevada," video installations by Nam June Paik and the amazing James Hampton folk-art treasure: "Throne of the Third Heaven," a silvery room-size tableau fashioned of found objects all covered in metallic foil.

The National Portrait Gallery made another welcome change. Formerly the museum only displayed portraits of significant people who had been dead at least 10 years. Now, portraits of our distinguished contemporaries also grace the walls, among them Hillary Rodham Clinton, Bill Gates and artists Andres Serrano and Chuck Close.

Smithsonian explained

Most of us know that a large part of our cultural heritage is housed at the sprawling Smithsonian Institution. But what is the institution and how did it come to be?

The Smithsonian sprouted from the bequest of British scientist James Smithson (1765-1829) — a man who had never set foot in the United States. Smithson left the U.S. government his entire estate of $100,000 in gold sovereigns (more than $9 million in today's dollars) with the stipulation that it be used to found "an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men."

Lucky for us. Now the Smithsonian Institution is the world's largest museum and research organization, administering 19 museums, the National Zoo and seven research centers. Most are in Washington, but some are located as far afield as New York City and Panama.

The stately Greek Revival building that now houses the Smithsonian's American art collection and portrait gallery is one of the oldest public buildings in Washington. It first opened in 1840 as the Patent Office and during the Civil War served as a military hospital and barracks. Walt Whitman administered to the troops there and called it "the noblest of Washington buildings." In1865, the top floor was gussied up to house Abraham Lincoln's inaugural ball.

After a fire destroyed the upper floors of the West and North wings in 1877, parts were rebuilt in the more ornate Victorian style of the period. Over the years, various government offices operated there, but by the 1950s, the building was slated for demolition. Fortunately, good sense prevailed. In an early example of historic preservation, President Dwight D. Eisenhower saved it from the wrecking ball. An act of Congress transferred the former Patent Office to the Smithsonian. In 1968, designated as a National Historic Landmark and extensively renovated, the building reopened as the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the National Portrait Gallery. Each facility had a separate space and entrance. Administrative offices shared the building as well.

The latest round of renovations, accomplished with a mix of government and private money, combined the two entities into one spacious museum. A glass-covered courtyard designed by Pritzker prize-winning architect Norman Foster is scheduled for completion in late 2007. The courtyard's interior landscape, designed by the firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, will include trees, plantings and one of Gustafson's signature water features.

Sheila Farr: sfarr@seattletimes.com