Release Date: January 16, 2002

National Gallery of Art's Education Program "Art Around the Corner" Wins Mayoral Award

(Updated: September 19, 2008)

Washington, DC -- The National Gallery of Art's education program, Art Around the Corner, won the 2001 Mayor's Arts Award in the category of Outstanding Contribution to Arts Education in Washington, DC. The award, given to an individual or organization that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to evoke interest and understanding of the arts, is one of the most prestigious honors conferred by the Mayor of Washington, DC. It is awarded through the DC Commission on the Arts and the Humanities. Mayor Anthony Williams made the presentation at the 17th Annual Mayor's Arts Awards Ceremony held on 17 December at the recently restored Lincoln Theater in the historic Shaw Community neighborhood.

Art Around the Corner is a multiple-visit program developed by the National Gallery of Art in partnership with four inner-city elementary schools in the District of Columbia. The program, which began as a pilot in 1993, targets fifth-and sixth-grade students. Students and teachers come to the National Gallery or Art seven times during the school year and docents lead sessions in the classrooms once each semester. Inquiry-based tours, in-Gallery writing assignments, and studio projects link the Gallery's collections with the District of Columbia Public Schools' curriculum standards and the learning objectives of individual classroom teachers. More than 2500 students have participated in the program since 1993. Schools participating for the 2001-2002 school year are Fletcher-Johnson Educational Center, Savoy Elementary School, Seaton Elementary School, and Thomson Elementary School.

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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