tion to be viewed as the work progresses. in march, miro visits his young colleague's studio he inspects the progress, makes suggestions, and gives his approval. royo works with a team of fellow weavers whom he has carefully trained to complish this imposing tas royo's rolutnary conce allows weaving to be performed from either side using multiple groups of yarn twisted together and passed over varying numbers of warps through the months of april and may, meter by meter the forms of the tapestry gradually begito emerge.

miro has said of his approach to art, "things come to me slowly. my vocabulary of formsas not been the discovery of a day. it took shape alst spite of myself. in this way, they ripen in my spirit." into the steamy month of august, the spirit of "femme" grows until the figure is complete. now, with only a few inches of background remaining, royo welcomes miro to his studio once more to witness the final steps of an eight-month process. royo says, "working together, we have become solosely attuned

that i can almost read his mind. i take direction as much from an expression or gesture as from words or sketches. working with miro has forced me to make a constant effort to do better, an effort from which i have benefited in many respects." for these two catalan artists, it has been a fulfilling experience. what was born in the imagination of one artist has been translated and skillfully brought into being by another. it has been more than five years since miro accepted this project. the end is now in sight, but first "femme" must be prepared for her trip.

hundreds of mothballs are scattered for protection before the tapestry is cut from the loom, covered, rolled and packed for shipment. the finished tapestry roll is 20 feet long, weighing well over a ton, and the task of moving is not a simple one. a window has to be enlarged to accommodate the passage of this huge parcel from royo's studio. ( muffled comments, crane engine rumbling )

the people of tarragona watch as "femme" is cautiously lowered onto the waiting truck to begin a long voyage across the atlantic. first she must travel to barcelona to be crated, before passage by ship to her home in america. royo follows "femme" to washington, d.c., to supervise the installation on the south wall of the east building's central court. there are now many new problems to overcome. the tolerances are extremely close, demanding precise measurement, careful planning and a team effort. the huge roll barely fits into this confined space.

the workers must unroll it evenly and accurately. bolts have been embedded deep into the structural wall, behind the marble facing, to support this massive piece when it slides into place. ( muffled comments ) carefully, royo grooms "femme," as the crew gradually hoistser upwd over the last few yards of a long journey. ( music ) this is the realization of many dreams,

uly a work of collaboration; the fulfillment of a vision shared by the architect and the national gallery, supported by generous patrons, brought to fruition by joan miro and josep royo. on this day, those drms and efforts are reaching a successful conclusion. "femme" is at home. brown: "it's everything we hoped." today, suspended 42 feet above the museum floor,

"femme" is fulfilling her intended role. she stands tall, as the 76-foot mobile by miro's close friend alexander calder slowly circles by. she is in the company of the works of other modern masters such as henry moore and jean arp, of david smith, noguchi, caro, rosati and motherwell. but she stands alone at the head of the south wall as a unifying force and vital core of color in the east building of the national gallery of art.

( music )

( music ) narrator: thomas moran embarked on his first trip to the west in 1871. the united states at the time was still recovering from the ravages of the civil war. americans turned with hope to the western frontier. by painting the pristine grandeur of these remote places,

moran enabled 19th-century americans to visualize a magnificent landscape most would never see. his paintings transformed their perceptions of the west. from 1867 to 1879, the united states government sponsored four western expeditions, now known as "the great surveys." of all the ais who accompanied them, ne is more associated with the surveys than thomas moran. the watercolors he brought back from wyoming, the first color images of yellowstone, played a key role in the creation of the national parks system.

yellowstone had long been familiar to american indians, mountainmen, traders and travelers. legendary,eemingly unbelievable stories made their way east. the canyon was said to be a "fearful chasm the river a "frightful torrent," the sulfur springs wre "diabolical," the place where "hell bubbled up." while the eruption of old faithful was said to be "the most magnificent sight ever witnessed." in 1870, a group of private citizens from montana led by henry washburn, had ventured into yellowstone to see if these stories were true. an account of their experiences appeared in scribner's monthly thfollowing spring. the editors ha hired younmora to turn field sketches made by amateur artists in the party

into publishable illustrations. this commission introduced moran to a landscape he had not yet seen, and changed the course of his career. his interest piqued, moran arranged to join an upcoming expedition to yellowstone led by ferdinand hayden, a geologist who had lobbied congress for funding. moran borrowed $500 from the publisher of ribner's, using his painting "children of the mountain" as collateral. he obtained an additnal $500 and a letter of introduction from jay cooke, a prominent philadelphia financier and a principal investor in the northern pacific railroad. in july of 1871, moran traveled by train to utah, where just two years earlier, the union pacific and the cel pacific had linked to form the first transcontinental railway.

he joined hayden's party in montana. they proceeded to fort ellis and soon entered the fabled region of yellowstone. moran worked closely with the most impressive views.r,see moran made drawings and watercolor sketches, blocking in forms and contours, quickly noting the colors of the terrain and the sulfurous deposits for which yellowstone is named. back in newark, new jersey, moran began what he termed his "big picture,"

"the grand canyon of the yellowstone." for moran, the spiritual, natural and aesthetic realms should blend to create a great impression. to that end, he combined different points of view into oneramatic panorama. moran explained, the precipitous rocks on the right were really at my back when i stood at that point. yet in their present position, they are strictly true to pictorial nature. my aim was to bring before the public the character of that region. narrator: reporting to congress, hayden suggested that the geyser region of yellowstone be set apart as a national park. congressman william kelly of pennsylvania also promoted the legislation, no doubt eager to please jay cooke, a prominent constituent.

for his northe pacific railad the senate debated the proposed bill. man: "i have grave doub about the propriety of passing this bill-- why settlers should be excld for a public park? persons would go and settle and cultivate the ground." ( various voices ) "you cannot cultivate that kind of ground." "but if it cannot be occupied and cultivated, why should we make a park of it?" "here is a regionf country away up in the rocky untains where there are the most wonderful geysers on the face of the earth. it is a very proper bill to pass, and now is the time to enact it." narrator: hayden arranged for mbers of the house and senate to see photographs by william henry jackson and sketches by moran.

jackson recalled, it was his wonderful coloring in pictures of canyons and hot springs that made the convincing argument for their preservation. narrat: moran's patings dispelled any remaining disbelief about the transcendentwonde and provided congressmen with a glimpse of this place none of them had seen. congress passed the bill in the winter of 1872, and in early march, president ulysses s. grant signed it into law. yellowstone officially became the first national park of the united states of america. the significance of preserving this vast and remote tract of land was profound. the nation, not yet a century old, was still seeking its own cultural and national identity.

of the american landscape were now promoted as the country's unique heritage. the new york herald wrot "their beauty, their splendor, their extraordinary ansometimes terrible manifestations of nature form a series of attractions possessed by no other nation." three months later, moran's "the grand canyon of the yellowstone" was bought by the federal government for $10,000. the painting was hung in the u.s. capitol, a triumph for moran. soon after, he began signing his work with the monogram "t.y.m." for thomas "yellowsto" moran.

yellowstone remained a source of inspiration throughout moran's career. in 1892, the artist returned to the park to create new paintings of its wonders. by this time, yellowstone was a popular tourist attraction. the idea of the national park, suggested two decades before, had been fully realized. moran's depictions of yellowstone left a permanent mark on the american consciousness, transforming the public perception of the west fr a frightful land of mystery into a patriotic symbol of the beauty and promise of america. ( music )