Release Date: December 5, 2001

National Gallery of Art Celebrates the 2001 Holiday Season

Washington, DC -- The National Gallery of Art celebrates the 2001 holiday season with magnificent decor and free programs, including caroling, gallery talks, and Sunday concerts. The stage is set with the Gallery's grand display of traditional holiday plants. Three hundred red and white poinsettia, twelve Christmas trees, and an abundance of amaryllis will decorate the West Building Rotunda and Garden Courts beginning 6 December.

Holiday activities include:

Gallery Talks
Join Gallery lecturer Philip Leonard for a 50-minute discussion of paintings with holiday themes in the permanent collection. Meet in the Rotunda of the West Building.

Reading the "Adoration of the Magi"
26 December at 1:00 p.m.
30 December at 12 noon
2 and 4 January at 12 noon

Reading the "Adoration of the Shepherds"
27, 28, and 29 December at 1:00 p.m.
3 January at 12 noon

Holiday Caroling
Visitors are invited to sing along with guest ensembles in the Rotunda of the West Building at 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. on 8, 9, 15, and 16 December, and in the Sculpture Garden Pavilion Café from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on 15, 16, 22, and 23 December.

Rotunda
8 December: Combined choirs of the Washington Saengerbund, the German Catholic Mission, and The United Church, from Washington, DC
9 December: Encore, from Potomac, MD
15 December: The Alexandria Children's Chorus and Bel Canto Singers
16 December: Park Road Community Church Choraleers, from Washington, DC

Sculpture Garden Pavilion Café
15 December: Yorktown High School Madrigal Singers, from Arlington, VA
16 December: Eleanor Roosevelt High School Suspenders, from Greenbelt, MD
22 December: (TBA)
23 December: (TBA)

Concerts
Concerts take place on Sundays in the West Building, East Garden Court, and are free to the public. Performances are from 7:00 p.m. to approximately 8:30 p.m. Audiences are admitted on a first-come, first-seated basis starting at 6:00 p.m. The Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, entrance to the West Building remains open until 7:00 p.m. and the Garden Café is open until 6:30 p.m.

9 December
Festive Russian Choral Music
Yale Russian Chorus
Mark Bailey, conductor

23 December
Traditional Christmas Music
Alessandra Marc, soprano
Joseph Holt, pianist

6 January
Gala Viennese New Year Concert
National Gallery Orchestra
George Manos, conductor

General Information

The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden are at all times free to the public. They are located on the National Mall between 3rd and 9th Streets at Constitution Avenue NW, and are open Monday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The Gallery is closed on December 25 and January 1. For information call (202) 737-4215 or the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176, or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.

Visitors will be asked to present all carried items for inspection upon entering the East and West Buildings. Checkrooms are free of charge and located at each entrance. Luggage and other oversized bags must be presented at the 4th Street entrances to the East or West Building to permit x-ray screening and must be deposited in the checkrooms at those entrances. For the safety of visitors and the works of art, nothing may be carried into the Gallery on a visitor's back. Any bag or other items that cannot be carried reasonably and safely in some other manner must be left in the checkrooms. Items larger than 17 x 26 inches cannot be accepted by the Gallery or its checkrooms.

For additional press information please call or send inquiries to:

Press Office
National Gallery of Art
2000B South Club Drive
Landover, MD 20785
phone: (202) 842-6353 e-mail: pressinfo@nga.gov

Deborah Ziska
Chief of Press and Public Information
(202) 842-6353
ds-ziska@nga.gov

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