By Cliff Bellamy

cbellamy@heraldsun.com; 419-6744

DURHAM -- Mary Duke Biddle Trent Semans was praised as a "leading light" for her many years of advocacy for the arts in Durham and at Duke during a gala held in her honor Saturday at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University.

Kimerly Rorschach, director of the Nasher, helped present Semans with a book of tributes from various community members. Visitors at the gala also were allowed to write tributes to Semans online in a computer alcove.

During her tribute speech, Rorschach called Semans "a leading light in Durham and far beyond, in her nurturing of arts and culture. ... She's always been there to encourage us, support us and lead us."

The gala was held in the museum's Great Hall, which bears Semans' name. In his tribute, Duke University President Richard Brodhead likened the Great Hall to a piazza, the kind of public space that is needed for an important social and cultural life. Those spaces come about "because people care about them and come together and see them built," people like Semans, he said.

He then praised Semans' tireless work along with the late Raymond Nasher to get the standalone museum built. "Would there be a Nasher without you? ... Would there be 100 artistic and cultural events that enrich our lives without you?" he asked. "I don't think so."

Semans took the podium and in turn poured out her praises to several people she said helped the Nasher get built. She praised Nasher for his tireless advocacy for the museum. He "always had a vision for great things, and an art museum above all," Semans said. The process of establishing the museum was difficult from the start, because "there were people who did not understand the cultural dimension" a museum could give a university, but Nasher kept pushing.

A crucial moment also came during the administration of former Duke President Nan Keohane, who insisted on including the museum in a fundraising campaign. "Had she not put it in the campaign, it might not have been done by now and we might not be here at all," Semans told the audience.

A granddaughter of Benjamin N. Duke, Semans is a graduate of Duke, a former member of the school's Board of Trustees, and a trustee and past chairwoman of the Duke Endowment.

In 1956 Semans' mother Mary Duke Biddle, who was a musician and opera singer, established a foundation that bears her name to encourage Duke to become more involved in the arts. After Mary Duke Biddle's death, Mary and her late husband James H. Semans directed the foundation to fund projects related to the arts, particularly music. The foundation helped to fund the Mary Duke Biddle Music Building, built in 1972.

The Semanses also were instrumental in encouraging Durham to perform a street opera, and a production of George Bizet's "Carmen" was performed in Brightleaf Square in 1985.

In 2006, the Durham Convention & Visitors Bureau honored her with its annual citizen award.