The Arts and Industries Building on the National Mall has been closed for extensive renovations since 2004. But in anticipation of its reopening next year, the Smithsonian announced on Wednesday that it is starting a programming and exhibition series this summer at the Patent and Trademark Office’s headquarters in Alexandria, Va.
This first product of this collaboration between the Smithsonian and the patent office will be the Innovation Expo, which will showcase patented technologies from American companies and run from June 20 to 22. The star will be none other than the United States patent system, and its role in promoting innovation and technological development.
This expo, the Smithsonian said, will serve as a model for the sorts of events to be held at the Innovation Pavilion in the remodele A&I Building, which is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2014.
“The Arts and Industries Building has always been about celebrating innovation and progress, and it has been one of my goals to reopen the building and return it to that purpose,†said G. Wayne Clough, the secretary of the Smithsonian. The collaboration with the patent office, which is not a part of the Smithsonian, is to run for seven years.
The Smithsonian noted that the A&I Building’s interior will not be completely finished even in 2014 and its final use is still up in the air. The commission created to study the proposal for a new National Museum of the American Latino, has suggested A&I as a possible location.
