RELEASE ON RECEIPT





                 EXHIBIT SPACE IN ROTUNDA TO BE DEDICATED OCT. 17
                 WELCOME TO THOMAS JEFFERSON'S ACADEMICAL VILLAGE

        CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Oct. 16 -- Visitors to Thomas Jefferson's 
Academical Village and the Rotunda at the University will be welcomed by a 
newly refurbished exhibit space in the lower east oval room. A private 
ceremony dedicating the space will take place on Oct. 17.
        The Jefferson Restoration Design Committee sponsored the rejuvenation 
with an anonymous gift from a committee member and with the strong support of 
President John T. Casteen III.
        "The intent," said Murray Howard, curator and architect for the 
Academical Village, "was to refresh the exhibition experience and also 
recapture the spirit of the space as an early meeting room. The result is a 
room more useful than before, and more appropriate to the many purposes that 
the Rotunda serves."
        The room, which has long been used as a shared area for welcoming 
visitors and office space, has been completely redesigned as a starting point 
for University visitors. Each year, 130,000 to 150,000 people tour the Rotunda.
        "Our visitors first glimpse of Mr. Jefferson's Rotunda now will be as 
impressive and dazzling as what they will view in the rest of the building," 
said Wendy McWhorter, Rotunda administrator. "I'm grateful the Jefferson 
Restoration Design Committee has taken this project under its wing."
        The reworking of the space allows for the prominent display of a bust 
of Jefferson -- an early, finely detailed bisque casting of a sculpture by 
the 18th-century French sculptor Jean Antoine Houdon. Research is being done 
to determine the exact date of the casting.
        Selected objects previously on view in the room will be displayed in 
an antique Sheraton cabinet. New wall panels, using colorful pictures, 
drawings and text reproduced through computer imaging, provide explanations 
of the history of the University with particular emphasis on the Academical 
Village. Some of the panels deal with more topical endeavors and will be 
replaced from time to time to showcase other current topics.
        The room will continue to serve dual purposes. In addition to its 
exhibit function, the room will be used as a conference or teaching room as a 
less formal version of the board room above. Howard designed two mahogany 
tables with Federal-period bases for flexible use. They can be used 
separately, put together as one 16-foot long table, or configured into an 
8-foot square. Special brass fittings allow for the reconfiguration and 
compartments under each top store the small leaves that comprise the center 
of each table. The versatility will allow for many types of gatherings.
        The tables were produced by L. & J. G. Stickley Inc. of New York 
State and the exhibit design was prepared in conjunction with Gibson Design 
Associates and fabricated by Gropen Exhibit Design, both of Charlottesville.

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                                                      October 15, 1997

        For additional information, Murray Howard can be reached at 
(804) 982-5829.  Television reporters should call our TV News Office at 
(804) 924-7550.