As of Monday ALL Smithsonian museums, museum shops, etc. are CLOSED and
will remain closed until the federal shutdown ends.
As for the Vermeer exhibit at the National Gallery of Art, the Richard
King Mellon Foundation of Pittsburgh has guaranteed that the Vermeer
exhibit will remain open through the end of its scheduled run of Feb. 11 -
regardless of when the federal government reopens.  The foundation has
promised to pay the costs of keeping 33 extra guards on duty so that the
Vermeer exhibition will not again be closed.  (Thanks to the Washington
Post once again for the reporting.)
I wish people in Congress realized the extremely serious and potentially
long lasting negative financial impact this shutdown will have on the
Smithsonian, coming as it does during one of the peak tourist seasons in
Washington.

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* Felicia Pickering    *                       *
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