S. du Pont estate. The premier research and development center for revolutionary technologies, Bell Laboratories, booked a private exhibition of fifty of Gary's sculptures in 1981 for the atrium lobby of their Holmdel facility for the benefit of its employees, as the first in a diversified art program planned to provide the enhancement of the environment and enrichment and cultural benefits for the employees and the visitors to the center. A well-publicized reception for the opening of the solo show at the corporation was attended by the family and friends of the staff. The exhibition was booked for a tour of Japan that began in April 1984. The poster displayed to the right was for the opening exhibition at a national museum in Tokyo that lasted through May, before making a six-month tour to museums in other Japanese cities. Posters were distributed in the cities that were included in the tour and they were displayed in buses, trains, and other public places to announce the exhibition in each museum. A four-month-long museum solo show of his sculpture exhibition was held from July–November 1985 at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco, California. This exhibition was also used as the setting for significant portions of the 1986 film, Howard the Duck, a science fiction comedy produced by George Lucas. This exhibition opened for Jim Gary's unique four-month solo show of his sculpture at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. on April 12, 1990, and, according to the museum director, drew record-breaking attendance to the museum. Gary is the only living sculptor ever invited for a solo show and the museum director indicated that it exceeded the number of visitors to any other exhibitions. Commissioned work and fees for the exhibitions of his work that were so heavily attended became his mainstay. His gallery was closed in favor of marketing through his studio. Signature sculptures of Gary's fine art were among the works displayed in these solo shows and tours, attracting many commissions for private collections. Selected works offered for sale sometimes accompanied the permanent exhibition as it was booked for displays, shows, and exhibits. In 1993 the award-winning Nicky Silver play, Pterodactyls, featured Jim Gary sculptures in its sets when it opened in Manhattan. When the state of New Jersey held the gala opening of its first major science museum, the Liberty Science Center, just