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Thursday, August 9, 2001
Dallas mall offers culture while shopping
Private art collection features modern and contemporary art
By Jamie Stengle
Associated Press

Associated Press

A contemporary ‘Venus de Milo’ by Henry Moore is on display at the NorthPark Center mall in Dallas.

   DALLAS - Shoppers juggling bags and cell phones weave past more than just upscale shops at one North Dallas mall. The shopping center features an extensive collection of modern and contemporary art amid stores like Coach and J. Crew.
   Many stop to admire a Warhol print while other shoppers quickly walk past Jim Dine's "The Field of the Cloth of Gold," a painted bronze depicting a contemporary multicolored "Venus de Milo," or five small sculptures by Henry Moore.
   One shopper, Kiko Cervantes, 46, said he likes art but he usually doesn't stop to read the placards. "I don't come here for the art, I come here to shop. It's something people overlook. If you really want to see art you go to a museum."
   Private artwork
   The artwork comes from the private collection of real estate developer Raymond Nasher and his late wife, Patsy, who spent four decades assembling what is widely regarded as the world's most extensive private collection of modern and contemporary sculpture.
   Nasher's real estate projects included NorthPark Center, completed in 1965. Nasher said it was one of the first enclosed climate-controlled shopping centers in the United States.
   Nasher said he decided when he was planning NorthPark to include art as an educational tool and make it accessible to both children and adults. NorthPark's light-colored walls are meant to be a good background for art, he said.
   "It would be something that would then take them to the museum," he said. "It's a cultural consideration."
   The 50 to 74 pieces of artwork that are usually on display change about every four months.
   "We like to change it around and expose people to all of the work he has," said Karen Roden, Nasher's assistant. "He wanted people to be exposed to art that may not go to a museum to see art."
   1,000 pieces
   Roden said the collection of about 1,000 pieces includes pre-Columbian, primitive and tribal art, prints, paintings, drawings and sculpture.
   Besides NorthPark Center, Nasher's art can be found at his Dallas home and in his office. He lends pieces to museums and has others in storage.
   Dorothy Kosinski, curator of European art at the Dallas Museum of Art, said the art may affect shoppers on a subliminal level.
   "I think it's a great thing," she said. "I think it's a rather special experience that outstrips most visits to a shopping center. The fact that the Nashers have chosen to consistently bring art into the public arena I think is fantastic."
   "I think harmony and meaning and beauty are good things," Kosinski said. "I do think that those elements make a difference in everybody's life."

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