Like many great moments in Duke's history, it started as a tale of athletic finesse.
When Raymond Nasher, Class of '43, and his late wife Patsy purchased a Ben Shahn illustration of tennis players in 1954, it was the couple's first art acquisition. It was also an aesthetically pleasing reminder of Mr. Nasher's days on the University tennis team.
Trading green tennis lawns for a platform of green Chinese slate Sunday, Nasher again stood up in front of a crowd of adoring Duke fans-this time, fans of the fine arts. Surrounded by his family, he proclaimed his namesake, the Nasher Museum of Art, open for business.
"Every person here owns a part of this place," Nasher said to the crowd, which included President Richard Brodhead and Durham Mayor Bill Bell. "This museum is a contribution both to this University and to this city."
Such a contribution-aside from loaning much of his personal collection, Nasher donated $10 million to fund construction-offered the opportunity for vast improvements. Before closing in May 2004, the old campus art museum was relegated to a small classroom building on East Campus. It had only four parking spots. By contrast, the new building, designed by architect Rafael ViA±oly, is 65,000 square feet, 14,000 of which are devoted to gallery space. Nearly 3,000 people came on Nasher's opening day-far more patrons than the now-defunct Duke University Museum of Art could have held.
And though admission will always be free for Duke students, The Herald Sun paid for all Durham residents to enjoy the opening day ceremonies for free.
"The architect and Mr. Nasher went to great lengths in designing this space," said Wendy Hower-Livingston, manager of marketing and communications for the museum.
There are classroom spaces, a museum shop in recesses on the main floor and a gourmet cafe. Dining space spills over onto a patio studded with minimalist aluminum furniture.
The collection itself is similarly well-edited and spatially articulated. Though the Nashers earned respect in the international art-collecting world as purveyors of modernist sculpture, their collection is quite diverse. Guatemalan textiles and Mexican terracotta sculptures stand a short distance from the biggest names in '60s, '70s and '80s contemporary art-among them Jeff Koons, Max Ernst, Alexander Calder and Jasper Johns.
And on the back wall, the Nasher women-Patsy Nasher and daughters Andrea, Joanie and Nancy-hang immortalized in four prints by Andy Warhol in his distinctive pop art style.
But the artwork displayed barely scratches the surface. The museum houses over 13,000 pieces of art, most of which are currently in storage below the main floor.
And though these works will not be extracted for public viewing for a while, students working at Nasher have seen the museum's off-limits underbelly already.
"There is a room full of statues and just rooms and rooms of paintings-they all slide out electronically," said Kathryn Minshew, a sophomore and student security guard.
Student opportunities to work and play within Nasher are part of attempts to be-and stay-both educational and accessible.
"It's amazing, getting to be an insider. I feel kind of important, being responsible for several million dollars worth of art," Minshew said, laughing. "Plus, you come inside-you just walk through these doors, and you're just in this incredible space."
Nasher's interior reflects the architect's vision for a natural, organic outdoors-indoors feel. Green slate floors are designed to match the greenery outdoors, "drawing the eye inward through the glass," Hower-Livingston said, while the beige concrete walls are a neutral canvas for shadows.
And the emphasis on integration with nature is not unique to the interior. Sculptor Patrick Dougherty is constructing a series of organic sculptures-swirled hives made out of brush and sticks-outside Nasher's entrance. Each successive hive is placed farther out of the woods and ultimately right up to the glass doors-meant to convey a seamlessness with surrounding nature.
Dougherty's work was part of the opening ceremony, along with entertainment. And although most performances were given by student groups, the day itself was geared toward the greater Durham community-in particular, to children.
"The beast! I just love that beast," six year-old Leland Hargette said excitedly, pointing to a huge dragon puppet-the sleeper hit of the opening festivities. It flapped and bobbed its head at the urging of five performance artists A la a Chinese New Year float.
Several small activity tables were also placed around the museum for kids. Children fashioned Calder-like mobiles out of pipe-cleaners and foam cut-outs or made pre-Colombian-style masks.
The party favors and the scheduled entertainment were also free of charge-hinting that at least on Day One, education in the arts cannot be priced.
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