WHAT/WHO: Mayor Vincent C. Gray and Rome Mayor Giovanni Alemanno will sign an agreement that marks the formal start of a sustained cultural, educational, environmental and economic exchange between two world-class capital cities. As part of the ceremony, the Mayors will exchange symbolic gifts.

WHEN: Tuesday, June 7, 2011, 4:30 pm – 5:30 pm

WHERE: John A. Wilson Building, Mayor’s Ceremonial Room (5th Floor)
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20004

BACKGROUND: Rome has long had a sister-city relationship with New York and the two cities have collaborated on multiple projects. Mayor Alemanno and Mayor Gray will extend this relationship to the District. The first act of the exchange is the loan of the ancient Roman sculpture The Capitoline Venus from the Capitoline Museums to the National Gallery of Art, where it will be displayed in the Grand Rotunda.