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Acoustiguide Audio Programs at Major Exhibitions Worldwide this Spring, January 2002

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National Gallery of Art Expands Audio Program
The Director's Tour: Masterpieces at the National Gallery

(Washington, D.C.) - The National Gallery of Art redesigned and expanded its self-guided audio program, The Director's Tour: Masterpieces at the National Gallery, which now includes more than 130 works of art from the 13th to 20th centuries. With this enhanced Acoustiguide tour, visitors can learn about the collection at their own pace, and in any order they choose, from those who know the art best: Gallery director Earl A. Powell III, curators, and conservators.

Interviews with curators provide fascinating insights into selected works, against a background of music by such well-known composers as Chopin, Handel, Liszt, Mozart, Brahms, and Bizet. Mary Cassatt's The Boating Party (1893/1894) is enhanced by Chopin's Nocturne in B Major.

"Building on the Gallery's commitment to making the nation's art collection accessible to everyone, we have expanded the tour to include paintings in almost every gallery in the West Building," said Earl A. Powell, III, director, National Gallery of Art. "Now visitors can learn more about such masterpieces as Titian's Venus with a Mirror, John Singleton Copley's Watson and the Shark, Johannes Vermeer's Girl with the Red Hat, and Vincent van Gogh's Self-Portrait."

Acoustiguide produced the audio program in conjunction with the National Gallery of Art. The tour is provided on Acoustiguide's state-of-the-art MP3 digital players. These lightweight wands, resembling elongated cell phones, are compatible with hearing aids and have special features for the visually impaired.

The Director's Tour: Masterpieces at the National Gallery is available for rental in the West Building Rotunda for $5, or $4 for senior citizens, students, and individuals in groups of 10 or more. The program complements the family audio program, Adventures in Art, also available for rental in the West Building, Rotunda for $3; for an additional $2, adults may rent an extra headphone to follow along.

The Director's Tour: Masterpieces at the National Gallery and Adventures in Art, the family audio tour of the Dutch and Flemish galleries, may be rented together for $7, or $6 for senior citizens, students, and individuals in groups of 10 or more.

General Information
The National Gallery of Art and its Sculpture Garden, located on the National Mall between Third and Ninth Streets at Constitution Avenue, NW, are open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Sculpture Garden is open until 7 p.m. through Labor Day. Admission is free. For general information, call (202) 737-4215; call the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf (TDD) at (202) 842-6176; or visit the Gallery's Web site at www.nga.gov.