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A visitor sending good vibes during the celebration of Reckoning and Resilience: North Carolina Art Now in the museum's sculpture garden.

In this report, spanning July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022, the museum opened to the public with free admission as pandemic restrictions lifted. Words, pictures and numbers tell stories of a lively, productive year. The museum acquired a number of amazing works of art. Of these, 33 works are by artists new to the collection. American Dance Festival, our partner for the past 10 years, activated our Great Hall with two live dance performances. Nine artists gave gallery talks and eight artists took part in a museum podcast. Nearly 40,000 people visited the galleries between September and June. Of those, about 3,275 Duke students and faculty visited by appointment to study art and visit the galleries. Eight Duke students earned credit for museum internships. We welcomed back the first guided K-12 tour in two years and hosted the first teacher workshop in two years.

From the Director

Nasher Museum Director Trevor Schoonmaker poses with MamaRay with (from left) Joan Kahn, Stefanie and Douglas Kahn (P’11, P’13). Photo by J Caldwell.

I am very pleased to present our 2022 online Annual Report (July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2022) — a year of new inspiration, and even greater inclusion and accessibility as the museum reopened to the public with free admission.

Free Admission for All
Our biggest news of the year was the gift of $1 million by New York art collectors and Duke graduates Jennifer McCracken New and her husband Jason New to grant free general admission to all visitors. Their enormously generous gift allows us to continue to create a place of welcome and belonging for everyone. Now more than ever, we must remove barriers to our collections, exhibitions and programs. Through art, we can build the inclusive, diverse community that we want to see, one that is truly reflective of society. This extraordinary gift embodies that goal!

First Commissioned Sculpture
We were excited to welcome into our space a monumental bronze sculpture, MamaRay by Wangechi Mutu—our first sculptural commission. MamaRay is a triumphant goddess figure, a protective guardian who further connects our building to the surrounding green landscape and the sky above our glass-and-steel roof. We are so grateful to Joan Kahn, who provided funds that made the commission possible.

 

A YEAR IN PHOTOS

Choreographer Raphael Xavier's version of The Xcope is commissioned by American Dance Festival and performed live at the Nasher Museum
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Nasher Museum Receives $1 Million Gift to Offer Free Admission for All

New York art collectors and Duke graduates Jennifer McCracken New and her husband Jason New have given $1 million to the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University to grant free general admission to all visitors. The free adm...

Published

Highlights from Recent Acquisitions

Acquisitions to the Collection

Featured Featured exhibition

Helen Frankenthaler: Un Poco Más (A Little More)

February 12 – September 11, 2022

Helen Frankenthaler (1928–2011) is most known for her bold, colorful abstract paintings. Raised in New York City, she was a trailblazer in Abstract Expressionism, an art movement initiated in the late 1940s that emphasized...

Featured Featured exhibition

Jean Charlot:
Visions of Mexico, 1933

December 11, 2021 – June 12, 2022

From an early age, French-born artist Louis Henri Jean Charlot (1898–1979) was fascinated by the ancient Americas. Through his grandfather, a native of Mexico City, and great-uncle, a collector of Mexican art and manuscrip...

Featured Featured exhibition

Reckoning and Resilience:
North Carolina Art Now

January 13 – July 10, 2022

Reckoning and Resilience: North Carolina Art Now brings together 30 emerging and established artists working across the state. This group survey, featuring approximately 100 works, presents an expansive view of co...

Befitting a time when 'representation' is the art world’s hottest flashpoint, these [Reckoning & Resilience] artists insistently represent the human face and figure with freehanded eloquence and the vitality of resistance.

Brian Howe, IndyWEEK

The Nasher Museum Podcast featuring nine Reckoning and Resilience Artists

In the spring of 2022 we relaunched the Nasher Museum Podcast!

This series of episodes featured nine artists whose work were part of the exhibition Reckoning and Resilience: North Carolina Art Now. The artists are in conversation with members of the community.


Subscribe to the Nasher Museum Podcast on:

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RSS

Beyond the Surface

Emma Amos, 22 and Cheetah, 1983. Acrylic and African fabrics on linen, 84 × 62 inches (213.4 × 157.5 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Jolie and Matthew Johnson Fund for Acquisitions; Sotheby’s, in honor of Blake Byrne (T’57); Lori Arthur Stroud (T’79) and Thomas K. Stroud; Ruth (T’81) and John (T’81) Caccavale; Trent A. Carmichael (T’88, P’17, P’19); Gail Belvett; Laurie Cone; and Michelle F. Hooper. © Emma Amos. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.
Emma Amos, 22 and Cheetah, 1983. Acrylic and African fabrics on linen, 84 × 62 inches (213.4 × 157.5 cm). Collection of the Nasher Museum. Museum purchase with funds provided by the Jolie and Matthew Johnson Fund for Acquisitions; Sotheby’s, in honor of Blake Byrne (T’57); Lori Arthur Stroud (T’79) and Thomas K. Stroud; Ruth (T’81) and John (T’81) Caccavale; Trent A. Carmichael (T’88, P’17, P’19); Gail Belvett; Laurie Cone; and Michelle F. Hooper. © Emma Amos. Photo by Peter Paul Geoffrion.

Beyond the Surface includes approximately 40 works, primarily from the Nasher Museum’s collection. With a focus on collage, mixed media and textile works, Beyond the Surface explores how artists bring together disparate materials and ideas to create artworks that engage with all audiences. Through skill and care, artists juxtapose unexpected elements and concepts in their work to tell many different stories. On view now through May 14, 2023.

Artists include Nina Chanel Abney, Emma Amos, Korakrit Arunanondchai, Romare Bearden, María Berrío, Sanford Biggers, Mark Bradford, Nick Cave, Barbara Chase-Riboud, William Cordova, Njideka Akunyili Crosby, David C. Driskell, Sherman Fleming, Derek Fordjour, Charles Gaines, Deborah Grant, Lyle Ashton Harris, Barkley L. Hendricks, Silvia Heyden, Rashid Johnson, Mauricio Lasansky, Kemang Wa Lehulere, Hugo McCloud, Vik Muniz, Wangechi Mutu, Christopher Myers, Alexander Ney, Odili Donald Odita, Ebony G. Patterson, Dario Robleto, Paul Anthony Smith, Jeff Sonhouse, Alma Thomas, SoiL Thronton, Stacy Lynn Waddell, Purvis Young, and Nettie Young.

This exhibition is organized by Lauren Haynes, former Patsy R. and Raymond D. Nasher Senior Curator of Contemporary Art.

Beyond the Surface is supported by the Nancy A. Nasher and David J. Haemisegger Family Fund for Exhibitions and the J. Horst and Ruth Mary Meyer Fund for the Nasher Museum.

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Thank you, Durham, Duke and North Carolina!

We loved celebrating the 30 artists in our exhibition Reckoning & Resilience: North Carolina Art Now on Sunday! Grammy Award-winning producer 9th Wonder and DJ Khrysis brought the people to the dance floor in our Sculp...

43 Images Published

The Art Minute

In 2021 we launched a new feature called "The Art Minute."
One minute, one work of art, one personal story.

Watch Season One (six episodes) and Season Two (four episodes) on YouTube.
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Nice to Meet You, Duke Class of 2025!

The Nasher Museum was thrilled to welcome first-year Duke students into the museum on August 19, 2021, at the first-ever Duke Arts Block Party. Students perused the galleries, leaning in to find a new favorite work of art ...

21 Images Published

Featured Featured Nasher in the News

To Tap Like This is to Feel Joy

Tap dancing is very much about the moves and the sounds. Three hundred people, including several dozen American Dance Festival students, enjoyed that insight during a performance Wednesday afternoon at the Nasher Museum o...

view article on Duke Today | Published June 23, 2022

Featured Featured Nasher in the News

Exploring Afrofuturism on Google Arts & Culture

From the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, get to know artist Wangechi Mutu, a creative force within the Afrofuturism movement.

view article on Google Arts & Culture Keyword Blog | Published February 28, 2022

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Choreographer Raphael Xavier’s “The Xcope”

On Saturday, October 16, 2021, the museum hosted two intimate performances of Philadelphia-based choreographer Raphael Xavier’s version of The Xcope. The Xcope was commissioned by American Dance Fes...

20 Images Published

Financials, July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022

Donor List, July 1, 2020 – June 30, 2021

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