Nasher Sculpture Center: a thoroughly modern milieu
Published: May 26, 2009
Since 2003, the Dallas Arts District has laid claim to the world’s first museum dedicated exclusively to modern sculpture — the Nasher Sculpture Center.
The museum is named after its founder, the late Raymond D. Nasher, a global art collector and philanthropist. He and his wife Patsy brought their collection and their vision to Dallas to create one of the finest collections of contemporary sculpture in the world.
The globally significant collection includes masterpieces by Calder, de Kooning, di Suvero, Giacometti, Hepworth, Kelly, Matisse, Miró, Moore, Picasso, Rodin, Serra, and many more. The museum offers rotating exhibitions of works from the Nasher Collection as well as special exhibitions from other museums and private collections.
Hundreds of thousands of patrons visit the museum every year — not only to see its sculpture collection, but also to view the distinctive 55,000-square-foot museum building itself.
The structure was designed by world-renowned architect Renzo Piano and is made up of travertine, steel, and oak. It is enclosed by glass facades that extend the view of the galleries into the garden for a continuous observation from the street all the way through the building and across the length of the outdoor gallery.
The garden gallery — designed in cooperation with Piano and architect Peter Walker — includes 1.42 acres of beautifully manicured lawn space plus more than 170 oaks, elms, willows, pines, crape myrtles, and magnolia trees.
A stroll through the outdoor gallery offers encounters with a collection of impressive outdoor sculptures such as Jonathan Borofsky’s Walking to the Sky, a 100-foot high stainless steel pole with painted fiberglass human forms seeming to stroll into the heavens. The garden also features a custom installation, a free-standing “skyspace” called Tending, (Blue), by James Turrell located at its north end.
The garden’s sculptures, pools and fountains are especially enchanting during evening hours, when the specialized lighting reveals new points of view.
The museum also hosts numerous events, programs and classes that take advantage of its auditorium, education and research facilities.
Patrons can visit the museum Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. A free self-guided audio tour is available via the front desk. Admission for adults is $10, $7 for seniors, $5 for students, and free for members and kids 12 and under.
Because the Nasher Center is located near the Dallas Museum of Art and in the same neighborhood as many other cultural establishments, visitors can plan out a full day of art patronage. Visitors can park in the Dallas Museum of Art parking lot across the street for $20. Additional parking lots and metered spaces in the area vary in price.
For lunch, patrons can plan on grabbing a cultured nosh at the Nasher Café located inside the museum. The café is open Tuesday through Sunday until 4 p.m. and Thursdays until 8 p.m.
Art students and others with a passion for the arts are allowed to bring their own pad, pencil, graphite, oil pastels, or conte crayons for sketching in the galleries and garden. The museum just asks sketchers not to block walkways and art works for other admiring patrons. To arrange a sketching group visit, organizers can call Colleen Borsh, education assistant, at (214) 242-5170.
- by Jenn Emerson, Dallas Reporter for HelloMetro
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