Walker Art Center facts for kids
 |
|
 |
|
| Established | 1927 |
|---|---|
| Location | 725 Vineland Place Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States |
| Type | Art center |
The Walker Art Center is a cool place in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It's a center for contemporary art, which means it shows art from our time. It's one of the most visited modern art museums in the U.S.
The Walker Art Center, along with the nearby Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, welcomes about 700,000 visitors each year. The museum has a huge collection of over 13,000 modern and contemporary art pieces. These include paintings, sculptures, drawings, photos, and even costumes!
The Walker Art Center started way back in 1879. It began as an art gallery in the home of a rich lumber businessman named Thomas Barlow Walker. He officially opened his collection as the Walker Art Gallery in 1927. With help from a government program called the Federal Art Project, it became the Walker Art Center in January 1940. The Walker celebrated its 75th birthday as a public art center in 2015.
The main building you see today was designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and opened in 1971. It got a big update in 2005. Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron added more gallery space, a theater, a restaurant, and a shop.
Contents
What You Can See and Do
Visual Arts: Amazing Artworks
The visual arts program has been a key part of the Walker Art Center since it started. This program includes many different art shows in the galleries. It also has a permanent collection of art that has been bought, given, or specially made for the center. Since the 1960s, the Walker has asked artists to create new works and stay there as "artists in residence."
The Walker's collection focuses on modern and contemporary art, especially from after 1960. It holds more than 13,000 pieces. These include books, costumes, drawings, videos, paintings, photos, prints, and sculptures. In 2015, the Walker celebrated its 75th anniversary with a special show. It was called Art at the Center: 75 Years of Walker Collections.
Some famous artworks you might see include:
- Chuck Close, Big Self-Portrait
- Franz Marc, Die grossen blauen Pferde (The Large Blue Horses)
- Edward Hopper, Office at Night
- Andy Warhol, 16 Jackies
Performing Arts: Live Shows
Live performance art is a big part of what the Walker does. It's known for showing this type of art. In 1940, the Walker started hosting local dance, poetry, and music shows. These were often put together by volunteers.
By 1963, this group became the Center Opera. It focused on showing new works that had cool visual designs. In 1970, the Center Opera became its own group, the Minnesota Opera. In the same year, Performing Arts became an official department at the Walker Art Center.
Since the 1960s, the Walker has asked artists to create 265 new performance works. Every year, they put on about 25 shows. These include performance art, theater, dance, spoken word, and music. It's one of the biggest programs of its kind in a museum in the country. Many artists have worked with the Walker for a long time. These include choreographers Bill T. Jones, Meredith Monk, and Merce Cunningham. The Walker even had a big show about Merce Cunningham in 1998.
The Walker also got 150 art objects from the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 2011. These included sculptures, sets, and costumes by artists like Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns.
Moving Images: Films and Videos
The Walker's film and video programs show both new and old movies. In the 1940s, the Walker realized that moving images were important to modern life. Artists back then were trying out new ways to use light, motion, and sound in films. They wanted to make film art different from regular movies.
In 1973, the Film/Video Department officially started. The Edmond R. Ruben Film and Video Study Collection was also created. This collection helps save and show art films. Today, the Ruben Collection has more than 850 films. It includes classic and modern movies, documentaries, and experimental films. It has works by famous artists like Salvador Dalí and Marcel Duchamp. It also features many modern artists.
Design: How Things Look
The Walker has its own team of designers and editors. They create all the printed materials for the center. This includes designing and planning books, magazines, and show catalogs. They also make signs for exhibitions and create ads.
The design team also puts together design-related projects and programs. These include talks, exhibitions, and special art projects. For over 60 years, this team has organized many important shows about architecture and design. They have also hosted hundreds of architects, designers, and critics. In the 1940s, the Walker even built two "idea houses." These showed off the newest building materials and designs.
Digital Media: Online Art and Info
The Walker's Digital Media group manages `mnartists.org`. This is an online place for artists and art groups in Minnesota. It helps the local art community connect. The Walker also works with the Minneapolis Institute of Art on ArtsConnectEd. This is an online tool for art teachers. It uses resources from both museums' collections.
In 1998, the Walker got `äda'web`. This was an early website that showed "net art." In 2011, the Walker's own website got a new look. It became more like a news site. It featured essays, interviews, and videos by staff and guest writers. It also shared news about art and culture from around the world.
Education and Public Programs: Learning and Fun
Learning is a big focus at the Walker. They offer many education programs and ways for people to connect. The department has programs for families, schools, teens, and tours. They also run `mnartists.org`. Each part of the department offers activities in visual art, performing arts, film, digital media, and design.
The staff works with Walker curators and local groups, artists, and schools. They also have special groups like the Teen Arts Council. These groups help the Walker connect with its audience even more.
The Walker Campus
The Walker Art Center is on a 17-acre campus in the city. Its main building is 8 stories tall and has 10 art galleries. It also has a cinema, a theater, a shop, a restaurant, and a café. There are also other spaces for special events and talks.
The first building was designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes and opened in May 1971. Barnes designed it in a simple, modern style. It had a plain brick outside and big white spaces inside. The galleries spiral up around a central staircase. They open onto terraces on the roof. The Walker's design was praised when it opened. Barnes even won an award for his work.
In 2005, Barnes's building got a $67 million expansion. This was designed by Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron. The new part was built like a "town square." It was meant to open up the building and create places for people to gather. The main part is a cool geometric tower. It's made of aluminum mesh panels and glass windows. This tower holds the theater, restaurant, and shop. Windowed halls connect the tower to the old building.
In 2015, the Walker announced plans to connect the Walker and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. They added a new entrance for the Walker and a new green space. The 26-year-old sculpture garden was also rebuilt. This project also added green roofs and systems to collect rainwater. Hundreds of new trees were planted around the campus. The updates were finished in November 2016. The sculpture garden reopened in spring 2017.
History of the Walker Art Center
The Walker Art Center started with a Minneapolis businessman named Thomas Barlow Walker. He had one of the biggest art collections in the country. In 1879, he opened part of his home to show his art to the public for free. In 1916, Walker bought land to build a museum for his growing collection. His museum, the Walker Art Galleries, opened on May 21, 1927.
In 1939, the Minnesota Arts Council took control of the building. They wanted to create a public art center. With help from the Works Progress Administration, the building was improved. The Walker Art Center opened in January 1940. Around this time, the Walker officially started focusing on modern and contemporary artworks.
The Walker's current building, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, opened in 1971. It was made bigger in 1984. The Minneapolis Parks and Recreation teamed up with the Walker Art Center to create the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. It opened on the Walker's campus in 1988.
In 1984, the famous artist Keith Haring stayed at the Walker. He created many well-known works and murals there. The most recent building expansion opened in April 2005. It almost doubled the size of the Walker Art Center. This expansion, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, added more gallery space, a theater, a restaurant, a shop, and special event areas.
Important Dates
- 1879 – Lumber businessman Thomas Barlow Walker opens the first public art gallery west of the Mississippi River.
- 1927 – Walker Art Galleries opens in Minneapolis.
- 1940 – With help from the Works Progress Administration, Walker Art Galleries becomes the Walker Art Center. It starts focusing on modern art.
- 1942 – The Walker buys its first modern art piece: Franz Marc's Die grossen blauen Pferde (The Large Blue Horses).
- 1946 – The Everyday Art Gallery opens. It's the first museum space in the U.S. just for design.
- 1948 – Edward Hopper's Office at Night is bought.
- 1963 – The Walker Art Center starts the Center Opera Company. This later becomes the Minnesota Opera.
- 1967 – Andy Warhol's 16 Jackies is bought.
- 1969 – Chuck Close's Big Self-Portrait is a major new artwork.
- 1971 – The new Walker Art Center building opens.
- 1972 – The Film/Video Department is created.
- 1988 – The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden opens. It includes Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen.
- 1996 – The New Media Initiatives Department is formed. It launches Gallery 9, a website for net art.
- 2005 – The newly expanded Walker Art Center opens in April.
- 2012 – The Walker Art Center hosts the first Internet Cat Video Festival.
- 2015 – The Walker starts rebuilding the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
Leadership
Directors of the Walker Art Center
- Daniel Defenbacher, 1940–1951
- Harvey Arneson, 1951–1961
- Martin Friedman, 1961–1990
- Kathy Halbreich, 1991–2007
- Olga Viso, 2007–2017
- Mary Ceruti, 2019–present
See also
In Spanish: Centro de Arte Walker para niños
- Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
- MNartists.org
