NASA's 50th birthday marked in art exhibit

WASHINGTON, May 20 (UPI) -- The Smithsonian Institution says it will honor the U.S. space agency's 50th birthday with a traveling art exhibition.

The exhibition -- "NASA-ART 50 Years of Exploration" -- features 73 works by some leading U.S. artists, including Annie Leibovitz, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol and Nam June Paik.

Drawn from the collections of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Air and Space Museum, the exhibit includes drawings, photographs, sculpture and other media. Officials said the works depict "private and personal moments, triumphs and tragedies from NASA's first five decades."

"Through the NASA Art Program, artists have been given an inside glimpse into the missions and programs which make up the space agency," said Bert Ulrich, the program's curator at NASA headquarters in Washington. "Through their imaginations, artists have shared an entirely new interpretation of the NASA story with the public.

The exhibit opens Oct. 25 at the Art League of Bonita Springs in Bonita Springs, Fla., and remains there until Jan. 19, when it will travel to 10 other museums through 2011.