12/27/1977
https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu...
"This building is a gift of Paul Mellon, of his late sister, Ailsa Mellon Bruce, and of the Andrew Mellon Foundation."
"The National Gallery symbolizes our belief in the freedom and the genius of the human mind which is manifested in art."
"Support for the arts and humanities flows through many different kinds of channels, leaving room for art and scholarship to develop naturally."
"This beautiful building is an important addition to that unique repository of knowledge and culture, the Smithsonian Institution."