ADVISORY/Autry National Center Hosts Inaugural Gala, Kevin Costner to Receive Western Heritage Award; Autry Also Honors Laureate Poet N. Scott Momaday with Humanities Prize.

Entertainment Editors/News Editors/Lifestyle Editors

ADVISORY...for Friday (Oct. 3)

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 29, 2003

The world's single cultural center devoted to America's western heritage, the new Autry National Center, created from the merger of the Southwest Museum of the American Indian and the Autry Museum of Western Heritage, is hosting a star-studded inaugural gala on Friday, Oct. 3. Honoring actor Kevin Costner for his dedication to and respect for the American west and Native Americans through numerous philanthropic efforts, and for raising cultural awareness and appreciation of the west through his films, the Autry National Center will present Costner with the first annual "Western Heritage Award." Best known for "Dances With Wolves," Costner continues his love for western life in his current film "Open Range," whose producer David Valdez will present the award.

Gala entertainment includes celebrity host Bob Eubanks as master of ceremonies, music from The Les Brown Band of Renown, and auctioneer Gerald Bowie presiding over the live auction. In addition to Costner and his fiancee Christine Baumgartner, the celebrity guest list includes a who's who of western entertainment, with Jackie Autry, "Wyatt Earp" producer Rob Word, Lance Henricksen from "The Last Cowboy," newly re-elected SAG president Melissa Gilbert from "Little House on the Prairie" with husband actor Bruce Boxleitner from "How the West Was Won," Grace Boyd, widow of cowboy William "Hopalong Cassidy" Boyd, Barbara Sinatra and more.

WHO: Autry National Center honorees:
     Kevin Costner, Actor - Western Heritage Award
     N. Scott Momaday, Novelist, Playwright, Poet - Humanities Prize

WHAT: Autry National Center Inaugural Gala "Rendezvous"

WHEN: Friday, October 3, 2003
      4:30 p.m. - Press Check-in opens
      5:30 p.m. - Guest arrival, Cocktail reception
      6-8 p.m. - Silent Auction, followed by Live Auction under tent
      7:45 p.m. - Photo opportunity with Kevin Costner and Jackie
                  Autry
      8 p.m. - Gala program

WHERE: Autry National Center
       4700 Western Heritage Way
       Griffith Park, Los Angeles

PRESS: For media credentials, please contact Barbara Casey or Jessica
del Mundo at Casey Sayre & Williams 310-396-2400, or via e-mail at
[e-mail].