Old Patent Office is New State of the Art

Submitted by Anonymous on Mon, 06/26/2006 - 8:16am.

The U.S. Patent Office has been somewhat of a nomad over the years. The historic Old Patent Office

Building was is Washington D.C. proper.

In the 1850s, Clara Barton worked here as a clerk to the Patent Commissioner, the first woman federal employee to receive equal pay.

The USPTO was until recently in "Crystal City", Virginia or Arlington, Virginia. Currently, they are in Alexandria, Virginia. However, the historic Old Patent Office Building has a new tenant.

The halls of the old Patent Office Building -- now named the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture -- rocked with music on every floor. An elaborate buffet was set up amid flashing lights in the grand hall where Abraham Lincoln once held an inaugural ball, and Andrew Jackson -- in a portrait by Ralph Earl --looked down on a busy bar scene not far from a contemporary artwork by David Beck. The work, a mixed media construction said to be an interpretation of the building, was the only item commissioned for the opening by both its tenants.

The Washington Post has a gallery with audio for you viewing pleasure.