The Big Bash Open House Party
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The Big Bash Open House Party

Join us to celebrate the launch of the Walker’s new main entrance with tours, music, cocktails, art-making, performances, and a talk by the project’s architects at 6:30 pm.

Cocktail Hour, 5–9 pm

Bazinet Main Lobby
Raise a glass to the stunning new lobby and surrounds as you investigate the Esker Grove restaurant space and anticipate its opening later in December.

TAC Lab, 5–9 pm

Cargill Lounge
Join the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC) as they create a space for creativity and exploration. Come see their ideas in action at this season kickoff for Teen Programs. Meet new people, make something, and check out the galleries. Follow Walker Teens on social media for the latest on what we’re doing, what we think is interesting, and events around town.

Activity: Extrapolation Factory, 5–9 pm

Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Imagine what lifestyles will be like in the future. Join the Extrapolation Factory for a drop-in workshop to learn about unexplored options for life on Earth and to suggest ways we might interact with our environment. This event, led by the Walker artists-in-residence Chris Woebken and Elliott P. Montgomery, will help museum visitors invent new visions that will be part of an exhibition in June 2017. Read an interview with Extrapolation Factory here.

DJ Frank Lyon, 5–9 pm

Hennepin Lobby
Head to the Hennepin lobby for music from DJ and and Walker member Frank Lyon.

Live Music: Saltee, 6 pm and 7:30 pm

Bazinet Main Lobby
With a broad musical palette, Minneapolis trio Saltee features Jacqueline Ultan (cello), Mike Michel (guitar), and Greg Schutte (drums). The indie, urban, organic, neo-classical groove trio is driven by Afro-Cuban rhythms, raw and manipulated cello, and dj-phonic guitar, creating the ultimate soundtrack experience.

Screening: Self-Select Cinema, 12 noon–5 pm

Bentson Mediatheque
Discover the history of cinema on opening day of the Walker’s newly remodeled on-demand cinema. Explore ways that moving image works can offer a fresh perspective on art, humamity, technology, and nature. A series of thematic playlists helps you navigate titles from the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection in this unique space for free screenings.

Screening: The Politics of the Domestic, 6–9 pm

Bentson Mediatheque
Enjoy a program of short experimental films from the 1960s to the present day that questions the impact of advertising and design on our everyday lives. Each artist tells a unique story about the lasting effects of consumerism on our relationships to each other and the natural, material, and political environments. Various directors, 1965–2015, 94 minutes. Programmed by the Bentson Critical Group.

  • Paul Sharits, Sears Catalogue 1–3, 1965, 28 seconds.
  • Charles and Ray Eames, Fiberglass Chairs, 1970, 9 minutes.
  • Frank and Caroline Mouris, Frank Film, 1973, 9 minutes.
  • Peggy Ahwesh, Beirut Outtakes, 2007, 8 minutes.
  • Martha Rosler, Vital Statistics of a Citizen, Simply Obtained, 1977, 39 minutes.
  • Moyra Davey, Notes on Blue, 2015, 28 minutes.

Making an Entrance: A Design Conversation, 6:30 pm

Free tickets available at the Bazinet Main Lobby desk from 5:30 pm
Walker Cinema

The Walker’s light-filled new main entrance was designed to dramatically enhance visitor circulation and strengthen the Walker’s connection to the neighboring Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Join Joan Soranno and John Cook of HGA Architects and Engineers, Thomas Fisher of the Minnesota Design Center, and Walker executive director Olga Viso for an Architecture MN magazine–hosted conversation on the ideas and considerations that drove the design and its integration with the larger campus transformation. Program length 60 minutes.

Open Library, 5–9 pm

Usually only accessible by appointment, the Walker Art Center Library will be open to the public this evening. Browse the shelves and take a look at books about your favorite contemporary artist. Selected materials about the history of the Walker will also be on view.

MemBAR, 5–9 pm

Fiterman Upper Garden Entrance
Kick back with a drink on the house at our private member bar and enjoy music by member DJ Frank Lyon. Pick up your free drink ticket from the Bazinet Main Lobby Desk.