Sarah Schroth Named Director of Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Durham's esteemed Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University has appointed a museum director.

Sarah Schroth, the Nancy Hanks Senior Curator at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, has been named the museum’s new director, Duke President Richard H. Brodhead announced Thursday.

Schroth has been serving as its interim director since November. She succeeds Kimerly Rorschach as the Mary D.B.T. and James H. Semans Director of the museum. Rorschach left Duke to become president of the Seattle Art Museum.

“Sarah is one of the most respected and admired curators in the country. With her appointment as director, we can be certain of the Nasher’s continued rise as an arts force on campus, in the region, and nationally,” Brodhead said. “Her talent and imagination fueled the museum's initial success, and her plans for further integrating the Nasher with other creative activity across the campus, and in the community, will create a new level of excellence for the arts at Duke.”

An expert on Spanish art of the 17^th century, Schroth, 62, joined the Duke University Museum of Art -- as it was then known -- in 1995. In her new role, she will serve as the Nasher’s chief executive, with responsibility for its artistic excellence and intellectual direction. She reports to Provost Peter Lange, the university’s senior academic officer.

“I am thrilled with the selection of Sarah as director of the Nasher,” Lange said. “She has been a superb curator, bringing wonderful shows and working closely with Trevor Schoonmaker and the visiting and faculty curators to give the Nasher its outstanding and distinctive artistic profile during its founding years.

“In addition, she has worked with me three times as interim director, on each occasion providing excellent leadership while doing two jobs. Now that she will be the director, I am anticipating continued outstanding and innovative programming in this next phase of the Nasher's development into one of the pre-eminent university museums in the country and the world.”

While at Duke, Schroth has organized numerous shows ranging from old masters to contemporary art, including the award-winning 2008 exhibition, “El Greco to Velázquez: Art during the Reign of Philip III.” As a result of that exhibition, which she organized with the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Schroth was named knight-commander in the Order of Isabel la Católica by King Juan Carlos I of Spain. She also has collaborated on major exhibitions with the Museo del Prado, the Seattle Art Museum and others, and has published widely.

Schroth has worked closely with Duke faculty in shaping their scholarship into exhibitions, such as by working as co-curator with Kristine Stiles on “Rauschenberg’s Legacy” and with Patricia Leighten on “Light Sensitive: Photographic Work from North Carolina Collections.” She also has been a coordinating curator with faculty guest curators, such as Mark Antliff on “The Vorticists.” Her teaching interests are patronage studies in the field of Spanish art, and museum studies with an emphasis on exhibition planning, connoisseurship and conservation.

Before coming to Duke, Schroth worked at the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, Texas; the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.; and the Ackland Art Museum at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. She majored in art history at Mary Washington College and, after working at the Atlanta College of Art and living in Spain, earned her Ph.D. from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University. She went on to receive the David E. Finley Fellowship at the National Gallery of Art’s Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts.

“I’m delighted to have this opportunity to lead the Nasher in what promises to be a very exciting time in its history, as we approach its 10th anniversary celebration in 2015, undertake new initiatives in undergraduate education and expand the scope of our exhibitions,” Schroth said. “It’s been my privilege to have served under a great director in Kim Rorschach, whose model I am honored to follow; to have worked closely with Raymond Nasher, the museum’s founding patron, whose legacy of connoisseurship and patronage I hold dear; to have supervised a relentlessly hard-working and uncomplaining staff as interim director; and to have enjoyed the support and guidance of Dick Brodhead and Peter Lange throughout my time at Duke. Having been present at the creation of the Nasher, I welcome the opportunity to continue and expand on the work of so many.”

Richard Powell, John Spencer Bassett Professor of Art, Art History & Visual Studies and a member of the Nasher’s board of advisors and faculty advisory committee, chaired an 11-person committee that conducted an international search for the position.

The Nasher Museum opened in 2005 as a major center for the arts on Duke’s campus and in the surrounding Research Triangle area. It promotes engagement with the visual arts among a broad community, including Duke students, faculty and staff, the greater Durham community, the Triangle region, and the national and international art community. The museum presents an ambitious schedule of exhibitions, many of which travel to major institutions around the world, and has a growing collection of international contemporary art. Each year, more than 100,000 people visit the 65,000-square-foot museum, which was designed by architect Rafael Viñoly. Additional information is available on the museum’s website.

Learn more about art in Durham online.

Nasher Museum Celebrates Summer with Art, Dance, Music, Food

This summer, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University will present four new exhibitions and a series of free programs, including gallery talks, craft and drawing sessions, contemporary dance, guest chefs in the café, live music, book discussions and more.

“Our summer exhibitions, from old masters to young emerging artists, offer something exciting for every visitor,” said Sarah Schroth, interim director and Nancy Hanks Senior Curator of the Nasher Museum. “We are proud to present programs -- our widest variety ever -- that encourage people with many interests to come visit us.”

The museum’s original traveling exhibition, “Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey,” is on view through July 21. The accompanying catalogue is now available at the Nasher Museum Store. The 176-page book includes many images that highlight the most important and iconic works Mutu has created since the mid-1990s. It also portrays the installation at the Nasher Museum, which includes new collages, a monumental wall drawing, videos and selections from the artist’s sketchbooks. The catalogue includes scholarly essays by Trevor Schoonmaker, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art at the Nasher Museum, art historian Kristine Stiles and critic and musician Greg Tate, paired with an illustrated chronology of Mutu’s work.

For the first time, the American Dance Festival (ADF) brings a 2013 season performance to the Nasher Museum with “This Land Is Your Land” by Seattle choreographer and ADF faculty member Mark Haim on June 25 and 26.  The work, which debuted in Paris in January, is set to a country music score and is based on a simple, continuously mutating walking pattern with 14 performers. Tickets are $15 and available from Duke University Box Office online or by phone, 919-684-4444.

More than 70 works of art spanning six centuries are featured in “The Human Position: Old Master Works from the Collection,” opening June 20. The exhibition includes paintings, sculptures and works on paper from the 14th through the 19th centuries, all from the Nasher Museum’s collection and rarely on view. Artists include European old masters, including Italian Renaissance and baroque painters such as Titian’s contemporary Bonifacio de’Pitati, Spanish court painters Vicente Carducho and Francisco Rizi, French neoclassical artists François Gerard and Merry-Joseph Blondel, master printmakers Dürer, Callot and Rembrandt, and many more. “The Human Position” is on view through August 26.

A contemporary installation, “The Cinematic Impulse,” explores the relationships between cinema, visual art and culture. Artists use a variety of visual strategies to recognize the effects of Hollywood, from photography and video art to film. “The Cinematic Impulse” includes works by Isaac Julien, Christian Marclay, Robin Rhode, Cindy Sherman, Xaviera Simmons, Eve Sussman and more, drawn from the museum’s collections. The show opens June 29 and will be on view through Sept. 8.

An intimate group show featuring works by Pedro Lasch, Susan Harbage Page and Yinka Shonibare focuses on the human consequences of the creation and regulation of borders. The show complements the upcoming exhibition “Lines of Control: Partition as a Productive Space” (Sept. 19-Feb. 2, 2014). Page and Lasch examine the experience of crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, documenting in visual terms the effect such journeys have on material objects and, by extension, their human carriers. Shonibare’s installation, “Scramble for Africa,” assembles 14 mannequins around a table with a map of Africa at its center. The work reimagines the Berlin Conference (1884-85) that resulted in a continent separated and parceled out among European powers, creating divisions that led to conflict and bloodshed.

“Summer Days Nasher Nights” continues every Thursday night and some Wednesdays and Sundays with guest chefs in the café, live music, wine tastings, free films and book discussions. Visitors can explore exhibitions through “Summer Make and Take,” hands-on activities on Tuesday mornings and early Thursday evenings.

The Nasher Museum, at 2001 Campus Drive at Anderson Street on the Duke campus, is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Thursday; and noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday. The museum is closed Mondays. Admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors and members of the Duke Alumni Association, $3 for non-Duke students with identification and free for children 15 and younger. Admission is free to all on Thursday nights. Admission is free to Duke students, faculty and staff with Duke Cards. Admission is also free to Nasher Museum members. 

Learn more about Durham, NC at www.durham-nc.com.

Duke's Nasher Museum of Art Presents Modern Masterpieces Exhibition

Durham, NC is no stranger to great art exhibits, and now the area will play host to yet another major art event at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

An exhibition featuring more than 50 masterpieces by Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Paul Gauguin, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, Camille Pissarro and others will be presented at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, beginning Nov. 4.

The exhibition, “Collecting Matisse and Modern Masters: The Cone Sisters of Baltimore,” tells the story of two Victorian-era sisters whose collection was financed by their brothers’ textile empire in North Carolina during the first half of the 20th century. The Nasher Museum is the third and final venue for the exhibition, which is on view through Feb. 10, 2013.

Matisse called Claribel and Etta Cone “my two Baltimore ladies.” The Cone sisters bought art directly out of the Parisian studios of avant-garde artists, starting in 1905. At a time when critics disparaged Matisse, and Picasso was virtually unknown, the Cones supported them and eventually amassed one of the world’s greatest collections of modern art.

“We are thrilled to present this stunning exhibition, which tells a very special North Carolina story,” said Sarah Schroth, interim director and the Nancy Hanks Senior Curator of the Nasher Museum. “For the first time, visitors will be able to comprehend the complete and fascinating picture of the Cone sisters as collectors through their incredible purchases of master paintings, prints and drawings, as well as fabrics, laces and jewelry from around the world, personal letters and diaries.”

The exhibition, which originated at The Baltimore Museum of Art, includes textiles and decorative arts from Europe, Asia and Africa that the Cones collected, as well as archival materials that highlight the sisters’ remarkable lives. It features an interactive virtual tour of the sisters’ adjoining Baltimore apartments, showing the collection as it was displayed in their home.

The exhibition will be complemented by programs at the Nasher Museum, including two free family day events; talks by art historians; French wine tastings and musical performances; gallery tours and drawing sessions; teacher workshops and more. In addition, UNC-TV is producing a 30-minute documentary about the exhibition.

Additional information about visiting the museum can be found on their website.  Information  about planning a visit to Durham can be found online.

Durham Sculpture Project

Durham's arts scene is arguably on the brink of reaching a critical mass. Events such as Third Friday and the bi-annual Art Walk, now in its twelfth year, continue to grow in popularity. The Durham Art Walk Spring Market featured more than 200 talented artists at sites throughout downtown Durham and was attended by an estimated 10,000 visitors. Durham is home to a plethora of galleries, studios and museums with Golden Belt and the Nasher Museum anchoring the arts community.

In typical Durham fashion, a visionary thinker has come forward with an ambitious plan to foster community development, this time, with the arts in mind. John Wendlebo has launched the Durham Sculpture Project, a community arts project which aims to foster socio-economic development in Durham's arts community through the creation of a large scale, high impact sculpture. The Durham Sculpture Project flagship is a 35 ft tall sculpture to be built in Durham under the non-for-profit umbrella of the New York Foundation for the Arts. The sculpture itself will become a high visibility attraction and a focal piece for Durham arts. Additionally, the project will create jobs in the community for artisans and engineers and build upon existing efforts to revitalize downtown Durham.

Wendlebo's vision for the impact of such a project runs much deeper than simply creating a massive work of art. The Durham Sculpture Project will also host a gallery space which will house the Project's fund raising headquarters, permanent exhibit space and short rotation exhibits. From that space, Wendlebo hopes to develop an arts incubator for new ventures and concepts.

Born in France, Wendelbo is a Durham-based artist specializing in sculpture and digital art. He has worked as a designer, fabricator, project engineer and project manager on large scale projects which have appeared in the National Gallery in Washington, DC, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the US Embassy in London and the Regan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, CA.

Nasher Museum Celebrates Five Years

In celebration of its fifth anniversary, the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University presents an exhibition of the museum’s most important contemporary works acquired since 2005, with an emphasis on global, emerging artists of color.

“Building the Contemporary Collection” features work by more than 40 artists, including Barkley L. Hendricks, Christian Marclay, Hank Willis Thomas, Mickalene Thomas, Kara Walker, Kehinde Wiley and Fred Wilson, among others. The exhibition includes painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, video and installation. It is on view March 10 through Aug. 14.

In some cases, the works reflect relationships the Nasher Museum has built with artists through exhibitions. Most of the artists are living, and many have achieved global reputations or gone on to greater recognition.

“These are exciting works by some of today’s most significant artists,” said Trevor Schoonmaker, Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Curator of Contemporary Art, who organized the exhibition. “The exhibition also reflects our interest in and commitment to the art and culture of the African diaspora.”

“Building the Contemporary Collection” will be complemented by programs at the Nasher Museum, including free Family Day events, a gallery talk, teacher workshops and other programs. These include an opening event on March 16 with artists Barkley L. Hendricks and Mickalene Thomas and art collector Jason Rubell, a 1991 Duke graduate, and an artist talk on March 23 with Carolee Schneemann.

Feature in Full - Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University

Raymond D. Nasher was one of the country's leading collectors of modern and contemporary sculpture and is the namesake and founder of the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University. Opened in 2005, with an exhibition of art from Nasher's collection, the museum is located in a $24 million showplace building on the campus of Duke University.

Propelled to the international art stage in 2008, the then-three-year-old Nasher Museum hosted "El Greco to Velázquez: Art During the Reign of Philip III," a major collection of rare paintings and objects from the "Golden Age of Spain."

The exhibit was shown in only two locations in the U.S., Boston and Durham, and was ranked #3 on Time Magazine's Top 10 Museum Exhibits of 2008 list.

According to national studies by D.K. Shifflet & Associates, a third of one percent of travelers can be drawn to a destination using art exhibitions and museums as the main reason for travel, but nearly 12 times that number (3.9%) will participate in that activity regardless of the reason they are drawn to a destination. The Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University positions Durham well in this market.

In addition to the top-notch art, the museum features a celebrated restaurant. The Nasher Museum Café was praised in Food & Wine as "an ever-changing exhibit of culinary art" based on Chef Giorgios Bakatsias' contemporary menu of seasonal recipes with fresh ingredients.

The current exhibition “Color Balance: Paintings by Felrath Hines and Alma Thomas” (running through September 5th) is an example of the museum’s goal to “foster understanding and appreciation of the visual arts by providing direct experiences with original works.”

In addition to the art exhibitions, the museum also has a “Summer Days, Nasher Nights” series which will feature Chef Fredi Morf this Thursday, July 22. He will join his former student, Nasher Museum Café Chef Laura Baucom. The menu includes summer gazpacho with cucumber granite, pan-seared grouper with ratatouille, and golden polenta cake with warm peach crisp with ginger ice cream for dessert. Reservations are encouraged.

Interested in visiting the museum and enjoying a relaxing meal in the cafe? Visit now to see “Color Balance: Paintings by Felrath Hines and Alma Thomas” then return this fall for “The Record: Contemporary Art and Vinyl” opening September 2, 2010 and running through February 6, 2011. “The Vorticists: Rebel Artists in London and New York, 1914-18” also opens September 30 and runs through January 2, 2011.