City: Durham, NC

Category: Tours & Attractions

Telephone: (919) 684-5135

Address: 2001 Campus Dr., Duke University

Description: The Nasher, which opened in 2005, is a spectacular setting for some of the most innovative exhibitions that appear in the Triangle. From the outside, the Rafael Viñoly–designed museum appears as a series of white concrete boxes set among the hardwoods. Inside, its glass-roofed, soaring great hall sets the stage for the cutting-edge art the museum presents in the surrounding galleries. Recent seasons have seen a giant, four-screen video installation by internationally known artist Christian Marclay, a retrospective of photographs from Duke University’s Special Collections Library, and an examination of how Picasso’s art was informed by the artist’s relationship with language. Programming includes lectures and discussions that complement current exhibitions as well as frequent children’s programs and occasional free admission.The museum enjoys frequent loans of masterwork sculpture from the other museum that shares its benefactor’s name, the Nasher Sculpture Center in Dallas. Recent loans have included works of Henry Moore, Marino Marini, and Mimmo Paladino, which grace the great hall. In the Nasher’s permanent collection are more than 13,000 works of art, with concentrations in contemporary art as well as the medieval and renaissance period, African art, Greek and Roman antiquities, and ancient American art. The Nasher Museum Cafe, which does not require admission to the museum, offers an elegant, internationally inspired menu of salads and sandwiches that uses seasonal ingredients. Wine and North Carolina beer are available. Most entrees cost less than $10.