We recently invited a few friends to pick a favorite photo from the Walker People’s Archive and tell us what they love about it. We’re starting to hear back from our correspondents about what they see in this project, a crowd-sourced, online collection of photos and stories that celebrates the Walker’s 75 years as a public art center by capturing your most vivid Walker memories.
The first blast of photo love comes from Andrea C. Brown, WPA Contributor and Associate Director, Digital Marketing and E-Commerce, Walker Art Center
Andrea writes: “I love this photo, and I loved that day. My first memory of the Walker Art Center was organizing an outing for the feminist club at my suburban high school in 1996 to see the exhibit The Photomontages of Hannah Höch. I’m not sure why that exhibition in particular caught my attention, as I had never been that interested in art. That day truly changed my life: as a queer kid growing up in the heyday of the Christian Coalition, the Walker was a beacon of weirdness and radical ideas, and a symbol of a world that was larger than my own. Everything came full circle 16 years later on the November morning pictured in this photo, as I, now a Walker employee, stood with my coworkers in a statement for marriage equality. It was definitely an ‘it gets better’ moment. Perhaps my 16 year-old self had a sense of that during my first visit to the Walker.”
Andrea’s given us a few photos, but this is the cutest one!
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From Kathy Spraitz, WPA Contributor, Walker Tour Guide and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Community Advisory Committee Member
Kathy told us: “This photo nicely depicts so many things the Walker does well. At its center, this photo is about art—in this case, a very famous piece of art in the collection, Franz Marc’s painting The Large Blue Horses. And, at its heart, it is about the people who come to activate the art and the galleries with their curiosity, questions and personal experiences. I like that we see multiple generations of viewers here. I like that we see families. I like that the Walker stages its work so folks ‘on wheels’ can participate. And I like that we see a tour guide at work. Where else would we find tour guides sitting on the ground to engage their visitors?”
Kathy’s contribution to our archive made it to a Walker billboard in January!
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From David Kwiat, WPA Contributor and Theater Professor, New World School of the Arts (Miami, Florida)
David says: “When I look through the archive, the photo that strikes my fancy is ‘Frame Shop Crew.’ I have often wondered about the craft of frame making—and how little attention frame makers seem to get. I write poetry, and I actually have several poems that deal with museums and paintings. This one, ‘On the Subject of Frames,’ is appropriate. I love that these frame makers are included in the WPA.”
On the Subject of Frames
What would it feel like to have been
the Italian frame maker from the 16th Century
who painstakingly carved the decorative
gold leaf gilded frame for
Leonardo di Vinci’s Mona Lisa—
a frame that no doubt took days,
if not weeks to complete,
only to vanish in the midst
of di Vinci’s magnificence?
How do frame makers feel today as they
commiserate with one another over the
dubious tenants, (posters even!)
allowed to take residence in the four-sided
homes they have built?
The next time you see a picture,
duly note the distinction between
the frames serving the art with their craft
from those which are in themselves craftily artful,
as well as the ones achieving neither—
as each painting and frame strives for the realm
of picture perfect.
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And last, but certainly not least, we have this photo from the Walker’s proper archives, a favorite of both Peter Georgas, WPA Contributor, Walker Tour Guide and Public Relations director, Walker Art Center (1964-1979) and Maya Weisinger, WPA Contributor and Learning Initiatives Coordinator, Walker Art Center.
First, Peter writes: “I love this black and white photo of the grand staircase in the original Walker Art Center during the Goodbye Party for the building held in 1969. (I called it the Edifice Wrecks Party, though this nomenclature didn’t quite take off beyond the circle of staff.) The photo holds so many memories. The staircase was the centerpiece of the museum and many important events were held on its landing. 1965 alone saw a performance by the Once Group and Walker Director Martin Friedman’s interview with Marcel Duchamp.
In the upper right, looking down on the scene, is Dean Swanson, Curator, with Donna Nimmer. She was a Walker telephone operator, and every evening she would announce the museum’s closing over the PA system by saying “Head ’em up and move em out!” (though I have to admit I’m not sure whether she really did this while visitors were still in the building). Halfway down the steps, sitting, is Richard Koshalek. A step or two above him, standing with her hand on the railing, is Richard’s wife, Betty. Below them, the blonde wearing a pony skin mini-skirt (the one with a cow-hide design) is Peggy, my wife. I’m three steps down, bending over, talking to Martin’s secretary, Donna Gale, and another staffer whose name eludes me , though I think her first name was also Donna. To my left is Donna Gale’s husband, Jerry, with his arms crossed. The woman just below him is Marge, Don Borrman’s wife. Don was the Walker’s Business Manager. Sitting in a cluster of people, center left, is Martin Friedman. Below Martin, several steps down, standing alone, is Jan van der Marck, Chief Curator. There are many others who deserve to be identified but whose names I do not know or cannot remember. Maybe others can help (if so, email wpa@walkerart.org). Those really were the Good Old Days!”
Peter has shared lots of Walker stories. Here’s one of our favorites.
Maya loves this photo too. She told us: “‘RIP 1927 Grand Staircase’ is one of my favorite pictures in the WPA because it looks like the type of party I would like to attend. Or be seen at. This is a picture that makes me nostalgic for a time I didn’t experience. But those really do seem like the Good Old Days, as Peter says. As a Walker newbie, I can only hope to celebrate as well as our partying predecessors. (Note to self: lobby to bring back ‘Head ’em up and move ’em out!’)
Even in its final days, the staircase seems to be the star of the building—amid gossip, and snacks and fashion (I’m lookin’ at you, Mama Cass dress at the bottom of the stairs). Chief Curator Jan van der Marck’s tie is an amazing specimen. I can’t help but wonder if he’s contemplating the future of the Walker: that foundational staircase is about to be wrecked and he’s facing it wearing a bow tie. Definitely a moment to rest in.”
See Maya’s most vivid Walker memory.
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Do you have a favorite WPA photo to tell us about? Email wpa@walkerart.org and we’ll post what you have to say in a future installment of “I Love that Photo!” Have a photo to add to the archive? It’s not too late! Go to walkerart.org/wpa before March 31st.
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