>From the University of Southern California News Service
3620 South Vermont Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2538
Tel: 213 740 2215  Fax: 213 740 7600  http : / / www.usc.edu


Contact:  Melissa Payton (213-740-4748)
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                 Eric Mankin (213-740-9344)
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USC TO PRODUCE FIRST LIVE
WEBCAST OF A MUSEUM OPENING EVENT

        The University of Southern California will produce the
world's first live Webcast of a museum opening event Sunday, Sept. 7,
when USC's Fisher Gallery holds an opening reception for its
new exhibition, "Miquel Navarro and Carmen Calvo."

        Viewers who have downloaded RealVideo software will
be able to access the live coverage from 4 to 6 p.m.  The
software is available free from Progressive Networks at
http://www.real.com/products/player/playerdl.html.

        Viewers can access the Webcast at
http://digimuse.usc.edu/museum.html.  Users with high-speed
connections will receive the reception in high-quality stereo
sound and 8-frame-per-second video.  Users with slower
connections will receive lower-quality audio and somewhat
jerkier 4-frame-per-second video but will nevertheless receive a
continuous view of the events.

        Three camera crews will take viewers to the outdoor
reception in the Fisher Gallery courtyard and into the gallery for
a tour of the exhibition featuring Navarro's architectural
sculptures and Calvo's sculptural paintings and constructions.

        Mari-Tere Alvarez Olier, with the J. Paul Getty Museum, and Robert
Moreno, artist, architect and occaissional professor at USC's School of
Architecture, will interview visitors and university officials at the
reception. USC President Steven B. Sample and USC Provost Lloyd Armstrong
Jr. will provide statments to the webcast; Al Nodel, director of LA
Cultural Affairs; Miquel Corzo, with the Getty Conservation Institute, and
artists Calvo and Navarro are among those expected to attend.  Interviews
will be conducted in both English
and Spanish.

        Interspersed with the live coverage will be taped shots of
the exhibition's installation at Fisher Gallery and tours of the
artists' studios in Valencia, Spain.

        Charles Hellier, technology director for USC's University
Computing Services, directs the team of USC students, faculty
members and professional staff producing the Webcast.  Last
spring, USC produced the world's first live Webcast -- audio
and video coverage transmitted via the World Wide Web -- of a
university commencement.  The same team of computer and
video specialists who produced the commencement Webcast is
producing the reception's Webcast.

        In the weeks leading up to the Sept. 7 Webcast,
computer users can view a brief audio and video promotional
clip featuring Fisher Gallery director Selma Holo.  The clip, with
soundtrack in English and Spanish, may be accessed at the
Website of the gallery's Interactive Art Museum --
http://digimuse.usc.edu/museum.html.

        "The Fisher Gallery staff is proud to play a part in USC's
innovations in multimedia and creative technologies," says
Jennifer Jaskowiak, curator of the exhibition.  "The Webcast will
enable people around the globe -- including the sculptors'
friends and colleagues in Spain -- to participate in the
reception."

        The "Miquel Navarro and Carmen Calvo" exhibition will
continue at USC through Saturday, Nov. 15, and then travel to
Chicago; Mexico City; Monterrey, Mexico; and several South
American cities.

MP.WEBCAST                       -USC-                 AUG. 25, 1997

EDITOR:  The "q" in Miquel Navarro's first name is correct.