Memorial service to be held Saturday for Lou Stancari

Friends and colleagues of Lou Stancari, the award-winning Washington set designer, are holding a memorial service for him on Saturday at the National Museum of the American Indian.

The service will be conducted from 2 to 5 p.m. in the Patrons Lounge of the museum at 4th and Independence Avenues S.W. Stancari had worked at the museum since 1991, most recently as the photo archivist.

Stancari, 63, died Jan. 15. A native of Monterey, Ca. Stancari had lived in Washington since 1976. An activist in Washington's theatre scene, he was an early member of the Signature Theatre in Arlingon. HIs set design for the company's "Sweeney Todd" won the Helen Hayes Award in 1992.

He was also nominated for his work at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

"Although Lou's title was photo archivist, he functioned as the curator of photography," Ann McMullen, a curator at the American Indian museum said. "His was the critical voice in interpreting and developing the photo archives collections, both in terms of historic and contemporary works, and in serving the museum's diverse constituences--tribal members, tribal communities, scholarly researches and publishers."