Nancy Nasher, Law '79 and a member of the Board of Trustees, and her husband David Haemisegger gave a $1-million gift to the Nasher Museum of Art to endow a curatorship, museum representatives announced Thursday.
The Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curatorship of Contemporary Art is named after Nancy Nasher's late mother and father. Raymond Nasher, Trinity '43, was the museum's founder and namesake.
The Board has also voted to name the museum's 173-seat lecture hall the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family Lecture Hall, recognizing their ongoing support for the museum. With the recent gift, the Nasher family and its foundation have donated more than $11 million to the museum.
"My father would often remark that art is like air and water-it is needed to survive and to enjoy life to its fullest," Nancy Nasher said in a statement. "David and I are proud to support my father's vision for Duke to have one of the best university art museums in the world. It has become our own vision."
Nasher and Haemisegger also serve on the museum's board of advisors.
Kim Rorschach, the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans director of the Nasher, said the curren t curator of contemporary art, Trevor Schoonmaker, will likely inherit the curatorship.
The donation will cover the salary of the curator, freeing up funds that could provide additional programming for the museum, Rorschach said.
She added that the gift will help the museum reach its goal of acquiring $10 million in endowment funds to lure exhibitions and acquire new pieces.
"We're delighted that we're off to a great start with this very important gift and what it does for this museum and for contemporary art," Rorschach said.
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