NAME Kimerly Rorschach
PROFESSION Director, Nasher Museum
HOME BASE Duke, the art world
AGE 49
“I like building things up dramatically.”
Since her arrival at Duke last fall, Rorschach has scuplted a dynamic university art museum out of amorphous ambitions.
As head of the Nasher, Rorschach wants to administer a much-needed shot in the arm to Duke’s artistic body. “Duke wants to make an impact with this museum. Duke is a peer of Harvard, Yale, Stanford and Princeton, but our museum was not. We need to get there, and we need to get there fast, and that’s what I enjoy doing,” she says.
The Yale grad has overseen the completion of the $23-million structure and directed fundraising efforts. She is also organizing the grand opening of the museum this October.
Two galleries in the new 65,000-square-foot space will showcase traveling exhibitions with an emphasis on contemporary art.
“I love contemporary art because it’s so exciting,” she says. “You have to decide whether it’s worthwhile or not, it hasn’t yet been vetted or discarded by history.”
Rorschach sees Nasher also filling an artistic void in the Durham community but stresses that, first and foremost, it will be an educational museum at Duke.
“My goal is that every Duke student—whether they be an economics major or a basketball player or an art history major—that every Duke student visits the museum at least once during their career at Duke.”
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