OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 19, 1999

Debra Berke (O) 202/208-4743

Moran Masterpieces and Other Treasures Displayed for
150^th Anniversary

The Interior Museum is celebrating the 150^th anniversary of the Department's founding in 1849 with renovated galleries and exhibits of noteworthy artifacts including two dazzling landscape paintings by the artist Thomas Moran, copperplate prints by Edward S. Curtis, treasures from the National Park Service, and striking photographs of the Navajo Nation.

Artist Thomas Moran accompanied an Interior Department-sponsored survey to the Yellowstone region in 1871 and to the Grand Canyon in 1873. His watercolors and sketches of shooting geysers, boiling streams, and rugged canyons became some of the first visual representations of those lands. For the first time in more than thirty years the Interior Museum is displaying Moran's immense paintings, The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, 1872 and The Chasm of the Colorado, 1873-74. Moran's ability to capture the essence of the wild and expansive western scenery greatly influenced the public and legislators of the 19^th century. The power and emotion in the paintings continue to inspire people today.

The Grand Canyon and the Yellowstone are interpreted in some of the other new exhibits as well. A display related to Major John Wesley Powell, the first scientific explorer of the Colorado River, contains the signed Presidential Commission appointing Powell to be second Director of the U. S. Geological Survey in 1881. A selection of 19^th century Edward S. Curtis portraits shows the native people of the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone areas. The faces in Curtis' photographs express the proud American Indian culture.

At the Museum entrance is an innovative show by two contemporary photographers. Navajo Now presents an unusual juxtaposition of black and white with color, of close ups with aerials, and of people with landscapes to provide a distinctive view of the modern Navajo Nation. Photographer Adriel Heisey created his photographs from a homemade 450-pound aircraft that is modified so that he can fly it himself while at the same time take photographs. The other photographer, Kenji Kawano, worked on the ground making black and white portraits of people which he always posed in pairs.

For the 150^th celebration the Museum is bringing to Washington, D.C. some of the most significant and interesting artifacts from National Park Service sites. The first installation contains a walking stick belonging to Abraham Lincoln, a decorated ceramic bird-shaped vessel from Mesa Verde, a typewriter used by poet and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Carl Sandburg, and a fossil skull of an extinct 3.5 million year old zebra-like horse. Every few months different artifacts will be exhibited with the next selection coming in June 1999.

In addition to the special anniversary exhibits, visitors can view the Museum's permanent displays related to wildlife, land use, and minerals as well as the intricate 1930s era dioramas. The Museum is open Monday through Friday from 8:30- 4:30 p.m. with the exception of federal holidays. Beginning in June 1999, the Museum will be open every third Saturday of the month from 1:00 - 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. Visitors must present some form of photo identification (such as a driver's license, student ID, or employment card) when entering the Interior Building.

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