Raymond D. Nasher
Chairman, The Nasher Company
Dallas, Texas

Real Estate Development

Internationally-acclaimed philanthropist, collector and business leader, Raymond D. Nasher has devoted his life to integrating the arts into his business and to encouraging other business leaders to make the arts accessible in their communities.

In 2003 he opened the Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas, TX-the only urban center in the world devoted solely to the presentation and advancement of modern sculpture-as a gift to the city of Dallas and the nation. Designed by Renzo Piano, this $70 million project was fully funded by The Nasher Foundation. It features, as its core collection, sculptures from The Raymond and Patsy Nasher Sculpture Collection, many of which have been exhibited in museums worldwide. In addition to rotating exhibitions and international art symposia, the Center presents cooperative programs with the Dallas Museum of Art, the Dallas Symphony, the Orchestra of New Spain, the Arts Magnet High School, the Dallas Wind Symphony and Black Dance Theatre. The Center is expected to draw 200,000 visitors and add $11 million annually to the Dallas economy.

In the mid-1960s he developed Dallas' NorthPark Center-the first retail center in the United States to feature museum-quality art installed within the complex and placed in the surrounding landscape. This award-winning Center, recognized as an international model, features the work of Andy Warhol, Jonathan Borofsky, Henry Moore, Beverly Pepper, George Segal and Frank Stella, among others.

In 2001 he pledged $10 million to Duke University to build the Nasher Museum of Art, which is being designed by Rafael Viñoly and is scheduled to open in fall 2005. It will include works from The Raymond and Patsy Nasher Sculpture Collection.

He serves on the Advisory Board of the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts and is part of the leadership team raising $275 million for the Dallas Arts District, which will include an opera house, multiform theater, city performance hall, a redesigned Artist Square and a free-form performance area. He has served as Ambassador of Cultural Affairs for the City of Dallas and he has been a board member of all the major arts organizations in Dallas including the Dallas Museum of Art, The Dallas Opera, the Dallas Symphony, the Dallas Theater Center, and Ballet Theater of Texas. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Modern Art Museum, Fort Worth, TX, as well as numerous other national and international arts organizations.

To further business involvement with the arts, he founded and serves as the Chairman of the Dallas Business Committee for the Arts (DBCA). Since it was established in 1989, the DBCA has increased business support to the arts from $4.2 million to $26.5 million in 2003. He serves as the Chairman of the national Business Committee for the Arts and as Vice Chairman of The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.

Nominated by the Dallas Business Committee for the Arts, Dallas, TX.

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