Jeremy Strick, 68, who has directed the Nasher Sculpture Center since September 2009, announced he will step down from that position in June 2024.
Strick told The New York Times, "I’ve always kept an informal list of ideas and projects I wanted to pursue independently. And I thought that now would be a good moment when I still have the time — and, really, the energy — to pursue them."
Strick came to the Nasher from the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. He took charge just in time to be part of the Arts District's great leap forward in late 2009 — with the opening of both the Winspear Opera House and the Wylie Theatre.
Strick expanded and diversified the Nasher's collection with works by such artists as Judy Chicago and the Texas sculptor James Magee.
But his most significant achievement was the one that put the Nasher — and by extension, North Texas — on the global arts map: establishing the $100,000 Nasher Sculpture Prize in 2015. It is still the only international arts award of its size given to living recipients, an award dedicated solely to sculpture. Its winners have included major, trendsetting artists such as Theaster Gates and Pierre Huyghe but also others who have had extensive, significant careers, such as the current winner, Nigerian artist Otobong Nkanga, but who may not be as familiar to Western audiences.
The Nasher Prize isn't simply an award and a dinner. It has included panels, dialogues and lectures held with prestigious institutions in Glasgow, Copenhagen and Mexico City.
Strick's biggest challenge — still unresolved — began in 2011 when it became apparent to Nasher staff that reflected sunlight from the nearby Museum Tower, still under construction, was adding a glare to the Nasher's galleries.
In addition to how this might affect the artworks and the viewers' experience, the glare was particularly irksome because Nasher architect Renzo Piano had the museum's roof specifically designed to soften sunlight coming in from a particular angle. It just so happened that angle now included the rising Museum Tower.
The resulting controversy revealed the deep-seated financial troubles of the Museum Tower's owners, the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System. The tower was finished, with no satisfactory response to the glare, and the pension's financial troubles also persist to this day.
Under Strick's leadership, the Nasher has showcased North Texas artists with its Nasher Public program — including a project to memorialize the Tenth Street Historic Freedman’s Town in Oak Cliff. The center also commissioned contemporary artists to create public works for the Nasher Xchange, which marked the center's 10th season with the artworks placed around the city.
One of Strick's other notable achievements is the current show, Groundswell: Women of Land Art, which centers female artists in a form where they were often overlooked or forgotten.
The Nasher Sculpture Center will launch a search for Strick's successor, led by David Haemisegger, chair of the Nasher's board of trustees.
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