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Everybody loves Ray: and why not? His Nasher Sculpture Center will finally put Dallas on the map of don''t-miss arts destinations.

Article Excerpt
IN A CITY PRONE TO TALK EXPANSIVELY about its cultural aspirations but do little about them, Dallas developer and philanthropist Raymond Nasher has long stood out for his pragmatic deeds and modest words. "I hope there will be people around the world who will want to come and see this," he says of his $70 million Nasher Sculpture Center, whose October 20 opening is the most eagerly anticipated arts event in the city's history. Although Nasher's expectations are characteristically understated, he has given Dallas a cultural attraction that actually deserves the superlatives that so liberally festoon the civic lexicon (in the excessive use of the term "world-class," Dallas' boosters truly are world-class). The Nasher Center--which was designed by Renzo Piano and will house the Raymond and Patsy Nasher Collection, widely touted as one of the finest caches of modern sculpture extant--is about to claim a place on the short list of Texas sites (Marfa's Chinati Foundation, Fort Worth's museums, Houston's Menil Collection) that rank as must--sees on any global sophisticate's itinerary.

Four decades ago, Nasher revolutionized Dallas'--and the world's--retail landscape with his NorthPark Center luxury mall; now, at age 81, he's poised to have a similar impact on the inner city. Hardly the latest designer vault for some plutocrat's fragile treasures, the Nasher Center will display its wealth in a setting of breathtaking openness and transparency. Variously described by Piano as a "noble ruin" and a "museum without a roof," the sequence of parallel Italian-travertine gallery walls, isolated like rows of columns at the ruins of Paestum or Karnak, are sheltered by high-tech glass and novel cast-aluminum sunscreens. Motorists and pedestrians passing by the center's Flora Street entrance will be able to acre sculpture garden; visitors can stand within the landscaped oasis and...

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