Remembering James Dayton, Architect and Walker Board Member (1965–2019)

The Walker Art Center and Twin Cities community received a terrific blow when James Dayton unexpectedly passed away on February 13, 2019. Jim, as he was known to his family and friends, joined the Walker Board of Trustees in 2004, and during the past 15 years served faithfully on the Acquisitions, Building, Campus Planning, Capital Campaign, Governance, Individual Gifts, and Landscape committees. Without question, he was a tremendous leader of the Walker and devoted an incredible amount of his time to the institution as vice president and ultimately president of the board.

It is important to note that Jim was an extremely talented architect who whose expertise in that discipline benefited the Walker immeasurably over the years.  For example, after serving as a member of the Walker’s Landscape Committee for a number of years, he encouraged staff and trustees to think more holistically regarding its site and urged the formation of a Campus Planning Committee.  Former Executive Director Olga Viso and the board agreed that was a great idea and immediately recruited Jim to serve as chair the committee. His exemplary four years of service in that capacity was absolutely essential in unifying the Walker and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden into a more welcoming and environmentally sustainable 19-acre destination for the next generation of art enthusiasts. Walker visitors for years to come will benefit from Jim’s vision and leadership in making this transformation happen.

John Christakos, president of the Walker’s board and a dear friend of Jim’s, acknowledges his many significant contributions to the Walker, but also notes what made him a special person: “Jim felt a deep commitment to this community, and he dutifully served it in so many ways. What I’ll remember most is Jim’s uncanny ability of making you feel like the most important person in the room with his trademark firm handshake and his always-welcoming, warm smile. He was a role model to me and, I know, to many others.”  Christakos adds, “I recently came across something on Jim’s website that captures what made him so special. There, among the typical categories of an architect’s website like ‘work’ and ‘awards’ was another category, simply called ‘friends,’ where Jim highlighted the work of others. This is classic Jim Dayton—unselfish, kind, generous, and giving to all of those around him. He will be deeply missed.”

Jim was also a longtime contributor to the Walker, generously supporting the annual fund, exhibitions, and capital campaigns. Moreover, he loved and was energized by the Walker exhibition and design programs and could be frequently seen walking through the galleries and attending talks by fellow architects and designers.

In 2005, former Walker Senior Curator Andrew Blauvelt invited Jim to participate in Drawn Here:  Contemporary Design in Conversation series, which paired him with Thomas Fisher, director of the Minnesota Design Center at the University of Minnesota. Their conversation gives an excellent sense of Jim’s easygoing manner and expansive thinking about architecture. Blauvelt—currently director of the Cranbrook Art Museum and curator-at-large at the Museum of Arts and Design—reflects on Jim’s influence on the community:

James Dayton Design is among a handful of practices around the state and especially within the Twin Cities that have contributed so much to forming a strong reputation nationally for the practice of modern architecture in Minnesota. There is a strong quality and identity to the work, a regional sensibility (in the best sense of that word)—something unique and authentic to the place—and Jim’s architecture is part of that vocabulary and now legacy. Jim brought with him, back to Minnesota, from his days in California working with Frank Gehry, a sensitivity to materials and forms seen in such early works as Bookmen Lofts and the MacPhail Center for Music. In fact, his architectural designs seemed to spring up all around me when I was resident in the emerging North Loop neighborhood in Minneapolis. Emblematic is his design for the Bachelor Farmer, which fits so seamlessly into the neighborhood and seemed like a quintessential Jim project—warm and inviting but also distinctive without being pretentious or clichéd, indebted like the cuisine served within it to a Nordic sensibility, but somehow uniquely Minnesotan. It was also inviting to his friends, other artists and designers, who added their voices to the mix for the establishment’s twin bars and private dining rooms. He created a space for good work to happen. This generosity I also knew first-hand when Jim chaired the committee I served on overseeing the recent Walker addition and Wurtele Upper Garden and the renovation of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. He always lent his professional advice to help guide the process, a difficult task when juggling multiple architects and visions.

Thomas Fisher, who interviewed Jim 14 years ago and knew him well, comments, “He was one of a group of very talented, younger architects in the Twin Cities as good as the best practitioners anywhere in the US. His experience working with Frank Gehry’s office showed not only in the forms and details of his buildings but also in his interest in the visual arts and in other design disciplines, like shoe design. Jim combined architectural talent with personal modesty and interpersonal skill, able to connect to people in ways that put them at ease. His passing is a huge loss not just to his family and friends but also to the architectural community and to the Twin Cities, which Jim loved and to which he contributed so much.”

John Cook, senior project architect and practice group leader at HGA, and Joan Soranno, design principal at the same firm, spent many hours with Jim in their capacity as the architects of the Walker’s new entrance overlooking the Sculpture Garden. “Jim was the classic gentleman architect,” Cook notes. “His greetings were warm and genuine, his conversation friendly and inviting, and his critique positive and supportive. These authentic characteristics were also present in his work. Jim’s contributions to our built environment are representative of his fine sense of craft and finesse.”

Cook met Jim as a high schooler during a summer job at MSR he assisted with building models and making blueprints. “It was clear to me at that time that his true aspiration in life was to become an architect,” he recalls. “I followed his career path through Yale, his formative years with Frank Gehry, and finally with his own firm, James Dayton Design. Our paths crossed at times while competing for project work, and the exchanges were always filled with laughter and best wishes. The fabric of our close-knit Twin Cities architectural community now has a hole in it.”

Soranno recalls working with Jim on the Walker’s recent campus expansion project. “Jim guided the committee, board and HGA through the complex planning process by demonstrating skill, patience, expertise, unselfishness, and trust throughout the entire effort. John and I will be forever grateful for his valuable contributions to that project.  He was a pillar in the architectural community; his voice and advocacy for design excellence will sadly be missed. Most importantly, I’m going to miss his warmth, graciousness, and friendship.”

Jim’s outstanding architectural work is well represented in our community and beyond and will remain a lasting testament to his vision and passion. His sincere dedication to many nonprofit and civic institutions will also leave an enduring mark. His greatest achievement, however, was his role as a dedicated husband and father to his wife, Megan, and his children, Emma and Joe. The Walker joins them and the rest of public in mourning his untimely passing.