On one wall of Trevor Schoonmaker’s glass-encased, second-floor office perch at the Nasher Museum is a treasured piece of personal memorabilia – a signed copy of Maya Angelou’s poem “On the Pulse of Morning.” It is no mere piece of collected ephemera. It was the esteemed poet’s gift to a young Schoonmaker, whose father was an academic colleague of Angelou’s at Wake Forest University. Growing up on a college campus, roaming the tree-filled acres, was a precursor to Schoonmaker’s role as the director of Duke’s Nasher Museum, where he is, full circle, surrounded by another lush canopy of greenery and, soon, a much-anticipated sculpture garden. A music lover and father of two girls, ages 15 and 11, with his art consultant wife, Schoonmaker, 54, joined the Nasher staff in 2006 as a curator, with a specific emphasis on contemporary African art, something he gained a passion for after a life-changing stay in Africa in his early 20s. He returned to the U.S. after that trip, attended graduate school and then pivoted to New York City where he found his place in the city’s tight art community, worked for small galleries and began a curation career in earnest, focusing on global artists. He was named director of the Nasher in April 2020, and he continues to lead with a soft-spoken optimism and still-boyish curiosity as he works to shape a future collection strategy that is uniquely Duke.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? On a personal level, my wife and our girls. Professionally, playing a role in shaping this museum. I’ve been here almost 20 years.
What is your idea of perfect happiness? Living in harmony with nature, with my family, at the coast.
If you could be something other than an art museum director (and all of the many things you do) what would it be? A marine biologist or a biodiversity conservationist. I’ve always been an amateur naturalist.
What is your favorite journey? Traveling solo to Nigeria in 1992 (which exposed him to contemporary African art and culture, charting his career path).
What is your most marked characteristic? Optimism.
When and where were you the happiest? By the ocean at the North Carolina coast with my family.
What is your greatest extravagance? Books, music and native plants. (He is an avid gardener.)
Which living person do you most admire? My mother, who is 85. She founded the North Carolina Center for Laws Affecting Women in the ’70s when there were very few women even practicing. She’s incredible.
What talent would you most like to have? I love music and wish I could sing better. I can carry a tune, but have a voice for silent film.
What is the trait you like most about yourself? Sense of humor.
What is the trait you like most in others? Creative vision and the courage to do what others have not done.
What do you most value in your friends? Wit and humor.
Who is your favorite hero of fiction and why? Inigo Montoya (from William Goldman’s 1973 novel and later the film “The Princess Bride”). He embodies loyalty, honor and empathy and evolves over the course of the film. He’s hilarious and has the best lines.
Who is your favorite hero from sports? Tyrone “Muggsy” Bogues, a beloved Wake Forest point guard who played 14 seasons in the NBA – at just 5 feet 3 inches. I love his court-vision and tenacity – he was a hero of mine for sure. And I got to play pickup with him.
Which words or phrases do you most overuse? What I’m prone to the most is saying out loud the obscure quotes from films, song lyrics and even jingles from commercials from my youth that are ever-present in my head, as if everyone else understands the reference.
What makes you laugh the most? My two daughters, who are very funny in different ways. And my friends. They’re quick-witted.
If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? I’m pretty content being me. I wish I could sleep better.
What is your motto? “Roll with the punches” (said by his dad) and “Be like water” (Bruce Lee).
What is the possession that you most treasure and why? Letters from my father, who passed in 1993.
What is your favorite music for relaxing, driving, working out? Music is central for me. I’d say Afrobeat, particularly Nigerian musician Fela Kuti; the band Fishbone; Sinéad O’Connor.
What is your favorite go-to snack and when do you attack it? North Carolina salted peanuts and Bavarian pretzels, eaten after work or late at night.
What is your favorite spot on the Duke campus? Our new sculpture garden – under construction and set to open Oct. 18 with a big celebration.
What is the best advice you ever received about life – and who gave it? My parents always encouraged me to pave my own path, to take the road less traveled – don’t take the conventional way and it’ll be more enriching. What is one thing you’d like to tell Duke alums about your role at Duke and how you do your job at the Nasher? You’re always working with community and you’re always standing on the shoulders of others. It’s about building something together.