MINNEAPOLIS, October 25 2016—On November 11, 2016 the Walker Art Center will unveil the first phase of its long-awaited campus renovations. Designed by award-winning HGA architects John Cook and Joan Soranno, the newly constructed Walker outdoor plaza on Vineland, main entrance, and spacious lobby will be open to the public. In addition the Walker is reestablishing its address at 725 Vineland Place and extending gallery hours to better accommodate visitors. To welcome everyone into these new spaces, the Walker is hosting an Open House from December 1–4 with free gallery admission and special programming throughout the weekend. The renovation of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and new Wurtele Upper Garden is the final phase scheduled to be completed in June 2017.
The unveilings in November include:
-The newly acquired sculpture X by Los Angeles-based artist Liz Larner located on the Walker outdoor plaza leading up to the new entrance.
-The Walker main entrance and lobby, designed by HGA to enhance visitor orientation, circulation, and connection to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.
-The recently announced restaurant Esker Grove overlooking the gardens, led by James-Beard-award-nominee Doug Flicker, to open full service in early December.
-The new Target Project Space located in Esker Grove featuring a rotation of new commissions. The first commission is by Minnesota-based artist Frank Big Bear, a monumental collage piece titled The Walker Collage, Multiverse #10.
-Artist Philippe Parreno’s indoor-outdoor commission, a three-part installation of active sculptures on view in late November. The lit
marquee is specifically designed to amplify the new Wurtele Upper Garden entrance and emphasize the association between the interiorand exterior of the campus. In concert with the sculptural marquee, Parreno has choreographed the lights at night on the hillside. In Cargill Lounge overlooking the same hillside, a kinetic set of blinds will be programmed to rhythmically ascend and descend during the day.
-The Little Walker Shop, a more focused assortment of merchandise conveniently located in the main lobby. It will serve as an extension of the Big Walker Shop located next to the Hennepin Lobby.
NEW WALKER ART CENTER HOURS
Beginning November 11, Walker’s galleries will have new extended hours of operation:
Monday Closed
Tuesday 11 am – 5 pm
Wednesday 11 am – 5 pm
Thursday 11 am – 8 pm
Friday 11 am – 6 pm
Saturday 11 am – 6 pm
Sunday 11 am – 6 pm
Target Free Thursday Night begins an hour earlier, running from 4 pm to 8 pm weekly. Museum admission prices are not affected by these changes.
NOVEMBER 2016
Exhibition opening: Question the Wall Itself
November 20, 2016
Question the Wall Itself examines ways that interior spaces and décor can be fundamental to the understanding of cultural identity. The multimedia exhibition showcases work by 23 international, multigenerational artists who explore the political and social dimensions of interior architecture as well as its complicated relationship to history and their own backgrounds. The show presents a breadth of pieces conceived as rooms—from the anteroom, prison cell, and living room to the library, showroom, and garden. Through the artists’ examinations of such spaces—both public and private—the contexts of these environments are revealed. Featured in the exhibition, which includes several new commissions, are works by Jonathas de Andrade, Uri Aran, Nina Beier, Marcel Broodthaers, Tom Burr, Alejandro Cesarco, Marc Camille Chaimowicz, Theaster Gates, Ull Hohn, Janette Laverrière/Nairy Baghramian, Louise Lawler, Nick Mauss, Park McArthur, Lucy McKenzie, Shahryar Nashat, Walid Raad, Seth Siegelaub, Paul Sietsema, Florine Stettheimer, Rosemarie Trockel, Cerith Wyn Evans, Danh Vo, and Akram Zaatari.
Thanksgiving Weekend: Aardman Family Film Fest
Friday – Saturday, November 25 – 26
$10 ($8 Walker members, students, seniors)
Walker Cinema
Friday: Shaun the Sheep Movie, 1 pm
When Shaun decides to take the day off and have some fun, he gets a little more action than he bargained for. A mix-up with the Farmer, a caravan, and a very steep hill lead them all to the Big City and it’s up to Shaun and the flock to return everyone safely to the green grass of home. 2015, digital, 85 minutes.
Saturday: Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, 1 pm
Wallace and his loyal dog, Gromit, set out to discover the mystery behind the garden sabotage that plagues their village and threatens the annual giant vegetable-growing contest. 2005, digital, 85 minutes.
Friday and Saturday: Aardman 40th-Anniversary Program, 3:30 pm
For 40 years, Aardman has entertained and charmed the world, creating much-loved characters and bringing unforgettable stories to life. This special anniversary retrospective includes screenings of such classics as Peter Lord’s Grand Morph’s Home Movies (1981), Nick Park’s Oscar-winning, The Wrong Trousers (1993), and Jay Grace’s Shaun the Sheep: 3DTV (2014) as well as the original cel-animated Aardman cartoon. 2016, digital, 90 minutes.
WALKER OPEN HOUSE
December 1 – 4, 2016
Free access all weekend, 11 am – 6 pm
Target Free Thursday Night Open House Party
Thursday, December 1, 5 – 10 pm, Free
Walker Art Center
The public is welcomed to an evening of festivities in celebration of the newly unveiled spaces. Visitors will enjoy live music, architecture talks, performances, food, drink, and more.
Extrapolation Factory
Thursday, December 1, 5 – 9 pm, Free
Friday – Sunday, December 2 – 4, 11 am – 6 pm, Free
Art Lab
Extrapolation Factory invites visitors to imagine what lifestyles will be like in the future. How will we adapt to shifting climates in years to come? How might we design for healthier ecosystems? What new tools and techniques will be created to make the best of our evolving world? 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 Walker artists-in-residence Chris Woebken and Elliott P. Montgomery, will help museum visitors invent new visions that art part of an exhibition in June 2017.
TAC Lab
Thursday, December 1, 5 – 9 pm
A creative experience designed by the Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council for visitors to come through, hang out, and make some art.
Saltee: Live Music
Thursday, December 1, 6 and 7:30 pm, Free
Guests will be surrounded with the sounds of Saltee, featuring Jacqueline Ultan (cello), Mike Michel (guitar), and Greg Schutte (drums).
Design Conversation: Making an Entrance
Thursday, December 1, 6:30 pm, Free
The Walker’s light-filled new entrance was designed to dramatically enhance visitor circulation and strengthen the building’s connection to the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Join HGA architects Joan Soranno and John Cook, Minnesota Design Center’s Tom Fischer, and Walker executive director Olga Viso for a conversation about the ideas and considerations that drive the entry design and its integration with the larger campus transformation. Cohosted by Architecture MN and AIA Minnesota.
Fragile: Live Animation
Thursday, December 1, 8 pm, Free
Garden Terrace Room
Designed for all ages, this live-animation performance by Robert Leveroos mesmerizes us by what is not said, invites us to look carefully at the intricate mechanisms of the everyday and calls for us to slow down and dream a little bit—together.
Spotlight Tours: Little Earth Arts Collective
Thursday – Sunday, December 1 – 4, various times
Esker Grove
Learn about the newly commissioned work by Frank Big Bear from the Little Earth Arts Collective. The teens from this collective will provide visitors with spotlight tours of his artwork, drawing from stories and experiences gained while working with Big Bear during his artist residency.
Cocktail Hour
Thursday – Sunday, December 1 – 4, 5 – 9 pm
Esker Grove
Guests are invited to raise a glass to the newly unveiled restaurant and bar, Esker Grove, opening in early December.
Bentson Mediatheque
Reopens in December
Visitors discover the history of cinema in the Walker’s renamed, remodeled and free, on-demand theater. Films are available to explore by individual titles or one of the many playlists drawn from the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection. There’s something for everyone, from American and European avant-garde to animation to silent-era classics, with family screenings on Free First Saturdays. The Bentson Mediatheque provides opportunities for individuals, groups, or classes to create their own unique cinematic experience.
WALKER CAMPUS RENOVATION & MINNEAPOLIS SCULPTURE GARDEN RECONSTRUCTION
Scheduled to complete in June 2017, the Walker Campus renovation by HGA and Inside Outside and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden reconstruction by oslund.and.assoc. are the first substantial updates to the 19-acre campus in more than a decade. The renovations include expanded green space next to the Walker and along Hennepin Avenue, five added acres for artwork, modernization of indoor and outdoor spaces with sustainable technologies, and a seamless integration of the Walker and surrounding gardens. New outdoor artworks by leading international contemporary artists include Nairy Baghramian, Katharina Fritsch, Theaster Gates, Robert Indiana, Kcho, Sol LeWitt, Mark Manders, Matthew Monahan, Philippe Parreno, Eva Rothschild, and Aaron Spangler among others. The acquisitions and commissions bring a range of diverse, global voices from seven countries, increase the number of women artists represented, and include many notable career firsts.
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Reconstruction is led by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in partnership with the Walker Art Center and the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization. For more information, please visit: minneapolisparks.org/currentprojects.