Gallery celebrates its fifth! At precisely 5.55 p.m. on March 25, a '50s-style party, celebrating the fifth birthday of the Bermuda National Gallery will get underway. Entitled "The BNG Sock Hop'' with entertainment by Harvard University's Krokodiloes (who five years ago performed the Gallery's first benefit), the party will feature music, food and dancing, all with a '50s theme.

There is much to celebrate.

Since the West Exhibition Room at City Hall underwent dramatic transformation to house the National Gallery, a total of 35 separate exhibitions have been staged. In addition, the Gallery has established an education programme in conjunction with the Island's schools and provided an impressive array of lectures, musical concerts, poetry readings and drama -- thus giving some substance to the Gallery's avowed intent of becoming Bermuda's cultural centre.

"I do believe we are on the right track,'' says chairwoman Louise Jackson.

"We felt there was little point in having an institution like this unless the entire community became actively involved. We have always considered ourselves to be a multi-cultural organisation, reaching out and relating to everyone so that people will feel comfortable coming into their gallery. We have certainly arrived! "We just have to be sure now,'' she adds, "that we maintain the high standards we have established. This is not as easy as it may seem, as we've had a huge number of shows -- averaging seven a year. We certainly haven't had time to get complacent and that, I think, is a very good thing!'' Director Laura Gorham believes this five-year "milestone'' has already seen two distinct stages.

"In the life of any institution, you have to go through the birthing process.

This was when we did the funding and formed a steering committee, some of whom then became the trustees, to set out the goals. The dream started to fall in place as we saw the physical facility beginning to take shape and finally, the gallery was opened. You have to have very active leadership, especially in the beginning, and I think we had that with our founding chairman, Jay Bluck. He put us on very firm ground, and I can say that our mission was in place from Day One.'' When Louise Jackson had the Island's children help her cut the ribbon on Opening Day on March 15, 1992, says Ms Gorham, she dedicated the Gallery to the children of Bermuda and to their children.

National Gallery marks anniversary number five From Page 23 "At that time, she listed all the things that would be involved -- the collection itself, exhibitions (both local and visiting shows), an education programme and the concept of a cultural centre. Since then, I think it's true to say that we have been carrying out all those aims. One of the most gratifying things is the fact that we now have 176 volunteers who have helped us with dozens of exhibitions, working on the front desk and gallery shop, catering, training as docents and with all kinds of administrative work. We couldn't have done any of this without them!'' From the beginning, a portion of the Gallery has been turned over to the Masterworks Foundation, formed for the purpose of "bringing home'' Bermuda-related artwork. With artists such as Winslow Homer and Georgia O'Keeffe represented in the collection, the Foundation has staged a succession of well received shows.

A brief glance at the list of overall exhibitions since the Gallery opened its doors reveals the immense range of art that has been brought before the public. Besides the major African art show, "Secrecy'', and the immensely successful "Carib Art'' (which spilled over to the Bermuda Society of Arts and the Arts Centre at Dockyard), the current show in the Ondaatje Wing is devoted to an historic collection of colours entitled "Through British Eyes''. Just returned from the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York, this show, curated by John Adams, represents Bermuda's first overseas exhibition.

Other memorable shows include such diverse aspects as Icons and Stained Glass, the Photographs of Richard Saunders, two Biennials, Into Print, pre-1900 Portraiture, The Art of Restoration (The Watlington Collection) and retrospectives on local artists Alfred Birdsey, Same Morse Brown, Sharon Wilson, the Tucker sisters, Bill Ming, Hereward T. Watlington, Desmond Fountain and Charles Zuill.

Another transition was made after three years, when Mrs. Jackson was elected chairwoman to replace Jay Bluck.

"And since she came on board,'' continues Ms Gorham, "we have seen another dream realised, which was the formation of our own African collection to balance the core European collection.'' Assistant director Bonnie Dodwell, who is also director of volunteers, says she is excited by the fact that this month sees the formation of a new education steering committee.

"Until now, the ideas have been plenty and flowing, but limited by lack of funds, time and staff. But we have now come up with a number of excellent programmes which we will be trying out over the next few months. And it's not just for children. We feel it's important to involve our senior citizens as we are aiming to educate the whole community. We are also hoping to have after-school appreciation groups and possibly on Saturdays well, as another way of intensifying our association with the Island's schools. The co-operation in that direction has been growing tremendously. We're hoping to get a junior branch of volunteers up and running, drawn from our high school students.'' Ms Gorham points out that the schools association has already started to bear fruit.

"Any class from the age of eight onwards will now have visited the Gallery.

One of the nicest things about this job is seeing the school children coming through the door looking as if they are expecting a boring time and then seeing the vast majority leaving with big smiles on their faces. We now have a generation of students who have a five-year knowledge of the visual arts, with a certain amount of knowledge of various shows. For example, when we put our own collection of African art on show, the secondary school teachers found that they had kids who had seen the original `Secrecy' show and were therefore starting this second show at a much higher level of understanding. I think the teachers found that quite exciting.'' On the volunteer front, Mrs. Dodwell reports there is now an association of volunteers called The Friends of the National Gallery.

"Just think, I started out with only 35 people, so it's been wonderful see the list grow. It's an ever-changing list because Bermuda is quite a transient place but we do have people who have been helping us for the whole of the past five years and we are very grateful to them.'' Never content to rest on any artistic laurels, the Gallery has just announced that Geneva Humdy-Woodley has been appointed as their new Director of Development.

This Saturday, the actual fifth anniversary of the Gallery opening will be devoted to an Open House with free admission all day, and docents available to answer questions about the gallery and artwork. Families are encouraged to take part and there will be games, a treasure hunt and prizes for the children.

The "BNG Sock Hop'' takes place at the Gallery (and later, in the lobby of City Hall) on Tuesday, March 25 at 5.55 p.m. Tickets are $35 (members) and $45 for non-members. Early booking (295-9428) for this event is advised as space is limited.

FIVE YEARS OLD -- A few highlights (from top left, clockwise): A visit from the Queen in 1994 when she met Bermudian sculptor Bill Ming and (on the right) gallery director Laura Gorham; the historic bathysphere adds atmosphere to the "Bostelmann Paints for Beebe'' exhibition; Mick Jagger as seen by Andy Warhol (Mary-Jean and Peter Green Collection); and "The Affidavit'' by Frank Stella from the Into Print show.

FIVE YEARS YOUNG -- Director Laura Gorham at the Bermuda National Gallery ARTIST ART