Summer at the Walker is filled with indoor and outdoor events everyone can enjoy. Tee up on the terraces in a game of mini golf, jam to in-gallery musical performances, soak up the sun with a cocktail on Esker Grove’s patio, and—of course—cross Vineland Place and take a leisurely stroll through the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Featured events follow below.
Now on View
Five Ways In: Themes from the Collection
Galleries 4, 5, & 6
Does a portrait need to resemble its subject? Can a sculpture also be a landscape? Five Ways In examines these and other questions with an exciting selection of new and familiar works from the Walker’s collection. Organized by five chapters—portraiture, the interior scene, landscape, still life, and abstraction—the presentation features a diverse range of artists whose approaches to their subjects are often unconventional, innovative, and even surprising.
Gallery 7
Human-size sticks of chalk fill the gallery, which has been transformed into an environment open to spontaneous mark-making. With a chalkboard spanning the walls and floor, this work by Puerto Rico–based artists Allora & Calzadilla encourages visitors to exchange ideas, evolving into a social and political portrait of the community. Express yourself and see what others have added to this ever-changing space for all ages.
Gallery D
Drawing on disciplines as varied as archaeology, advertising, graphic design, and popular music, Elizabeth Price questions ways objects are made and classified, and what they ultimately communicate about our lives. Featuring the two new moving image works FELT TIP and KOHL (both 2018), the exhibition is artist’s first commission for a US museum. Seen together, the Price’s projects reflect upon the relationship between the material and digital, sites of labor, and markers of class.
Galleries 1, 2, and 3
Experience art from the Walker’s collection that reflects on the world, our place in it, and the connections we build with one another. Featuring works from the 1960s to the present, I am you, you are too explores issues of contemporary life through themes of citizenship and belonging, borders and barriers, public and private.
Closing Soon
Closes July 21
Galleries A & B
The Body Electric presents work by an intergenerational group of artists from the past 50 years who use technology to explore identity, embodiment, class, race, and sexuality. From the inviting and familiar to the provocative and unsettling, the artworks in the exhibition move nimbly from the material world to the space of the screen and back again. Together, they reveal ways that technology changes our collective understanding of the body, everyday life, and sense of self. Contains mature content. Note: strobe effects are in use in the exhibition.
Platforms: Collection and Commissions
Closes August 25
Gallery C
Established and emerging artists, historical and contemporary themes: Platforms showcases new moving image works presented with inspirational films of the past. Beginning July 23, see the Walker’s two newest Moving Image Commissions created by renowned filmmakers Kevin Jerome Everson and Deborah Stratman. Find out more at walkerart.org/platforms.
Political Presence
June 4–July 21
Marwa Arsanios’s Who is afraid of ideology? Part 1, 2017
Pauline Boudry/Renate Lorenz’s Telepathic Improvisation, 2017
Harun Farocki’s Inextinguishable Fire, 1969
Reimagining Life
July 23–August 25
Maya Deren’s Meshes of the Afternoon, 1943
Kevin Jerome Everson’s music from the edge of the allegheny plateau, 2018
Deborah Stratman’s Vever, 2018
Resonance: A Sound Art Marathon
Saturday, May 18, 12pm
Free
Sculpture sings and sound takes shape as the visual (instruments, sculpture) and the aural (sonic landscapes, jazz, found sound) are layered in conceptual confluence. An ear freshener and eye opener, the day is inspired by the Walker’s 1980 New Music America festival and the trajectory of jazz experimentation at the Walker. International artists—including Matana Roberts, Craig Taborn and Camille Norment, Walter Kitundu, Tarek Atoui, Haroon Mirza, Philip Blackburn, Jules Gimbrone, and Christine Sun Kim —perform in auditory and visual accord with the audience. This free marathon of new music performances begins at 12 noon and ends at 10 pm.
Saturday, June 29, 1–10 pm
Walker Art Center/Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
Gates open 1 pm; music starts 2:30 pm
Start your summer at the best outdoor music festival of the season! One day, two stages, eight bands—all overlooking the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and city skyline. Soak up the sun, hit up the food trucks, grab a beer, and dance the day away. Band lineup features: The National, Courtney Barnett, X, Heart Bones, Bad Bad Hats, deM atlas, Adia Victoria and The Beths.
Tickets
Purchase tickets at Etix.com.
Lost Films & Restorations
July 10–August 9
Walker Cinema
$10 ($8 Walker members, students, and seniors)
Series pass: $40 ($32)
Join us this summer to celebrate gems of American independent cinema with five recent film restorations. Experience superior sound and image revived from the original negatives—recently rediscovered, rescued from obscurity, or lovingly remastered by the directors themselves.
Teknolust
Directed by Lynn Hershman Leeson
Wednesday and Friday, July 10 and 12, 7 pm
“Remember, no one’s supposed to know you’re real.” —Teknolust
A spectacularly stylish, colorful sci-fi comedy, Teknolust examines the ever-shifting frontier of the real and the virtual. Tilda Swinton plays the mad-genius scientist Rosetta Stone and her three Self-Replicating Automata (SRAs), which she cloned from her own DNA. When one of the sperm-fueled cyborgs leaves the lab and begins to explore the world, sexuality, gender, and technology collide. 2002/2019, 4K DCP, 85 min.
Restored by the artist and presented in conjunction with The Body Electric, on view in the galleries through July 21.
True Stories
Directed by David Byrne
Wednesday and Friday, July 17 and 19, 7 pm
“If you can think of it, it exists somewhere.” —David Byrne
Wearing a black cowboy hat and a bolo tie, David Byrne cruises the fictional hamlet of Virgil, Texas, in a red Chrysler convertible. His musical satire drifts through malls, nightclubs, and factories telling stories inspired by tabloid headlines. Byrne’s 4K restoration features new surround sound and music by the Talking Heads and other artists from the film. 1986/2018, 4K DCP, 90 min.
Cane River
Directed by Horace Jenkins
Wednesday and Friday, July 24 and 26, 7 pm
“A work of visionary artistry and progressive imagination.” —New Yorker
Set in one of Louisiana’s first “free communities of color,” two lovers defy their families. While delighting in its feisty feminist heroine, Cane River exposes subtle prejudice within the Creole community. IndieCollect and the Academy Film Archive collaborated to restore this lost treasure. Hailed as a “major rediscovery,” Horace Jenkins’s classic now finds its rightful place in the canon. 1982/2018, 4K DCP, 90 min.
The Last Movie
Directed by Dennis Hopper
Wednesday and Friday, July 31 and August 2, 7 pm
“An incredible film, shot through with a crazy dream logic.” —Village Voice
Dennis Hopper’s rebellious, much-mythologized masterpiece was widely misunderstood and nearly forgotten until its 2018 digital restoration from the original 35mm negative. Filmed high in the Andes mountains and fueled by Hopper’s Easy Rider delirium, The Last Movie was over-budget, experimentally edited, and written off by the studios. Seen today, the film’s anarchic critique on the destructive nature of American movies is nakedly revealing. 1971/2018, 4K DCP, 108 min.
Say Amen, Somebody
Directed by George Nierenberg
Wednesday and Friday, August 7 and 9, 7 pm
“One of the most joyful movies I’ve ever seen!” —Chicago Sun Times
Immersive musical performances are interwoven with intimate, behind-the-scenes personal moments with two of Gospel music’s driving forces: Thomas A. Dorsey and Willie Mae Ford Smith. Newly restored by Milestone Film and Video, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Academy Film Archive, Say Amen, Somebody raises spirits with emotional full-stereo sound. 1982/2019, 4K DCP, 101 minutes.
Self-Select Cinema
Tuesday–Sunday, daily from 12 noon Free
Discover our free self-select cinema experience unique to the Walker. Choose from more than 300 titles from the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection or view one of the feature playlists—all accessible via touchscreen controls and projected on the big screen.
Featured Playlist: The Body Electric
March 30–July 21 Free
Take a deep dive into the themes of The Body Electric. A curated playlist of moving image works by artists such as Ant Farm, Nam June Paik, and Joan Jonas will be available for self-selection in the Mediatheque through July 21.
Major support to preserve, digitize, and present the Ruben/Bentson Moving Image Collection is generously provided by the Bentson Foundation.
Sound for Silents: Film + Music on the Walker Hillside
Thursday, August 15
Dusk (about 8:30 pm)
Free
Join us at sunset on the Walker hillside for an electrifying evening of new live music paired with silent film on the big screen. Celebrating its third year, Sound for Silents features a newly commissioned score debuted live by Twin Cities–based funk, soul, and hip-hop collective Astralblak. Food trucks and drink vendors will be on hand with a variety of tempting options. Tunes from DJ Sean McPherson of 89.3 The Current add to the mix for the perfect summer night out.
7 pm DJ and Food Trucks
8:30 pm Screening and Performance
Family Programs: Free First Saturday
Saturdays May 4, June 1, July 6, and August 3
Free First Saturdays feature free gallery admission on the first Saturday of every month, plus performances, games, art-making, and kids’ films from 10 am to 3 pm. Family friendly food options are available or bring something from home to snack on in the museum’s public spaces.
Everyday Extraordinary
May 4, 10am–3pm, Free
An order of French fries and a can of soup? These common items become extraordinary in Five Ways In. Discover artworks by Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol and then transform the “everyday” in your own remarkable piece.
Fab Fams
June 1, 10 am–3 pm, Free
Kick off Pride Month in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden with a family festival curated by Drag Story Hour. Doña Pepa and Old Man Zimmer will lead a special day full of glittery mustaches, karaoke singing, storytelling, and more!
Lions, Tigers and Roosters—Oh My!
July 6, 10 am–3 pm, Free
Zoinks—animals have taken over the Garden! Meet an octopus, a kangaroo, a llama, a rooster, a horse, and a rabbit—and only some of those are sculptures. Then, hold on to your fanny pack as local band Koo Koo Kanga Roo host the hottest dance party of the summer!
Stomping Ground
August 3, 10 am–3 pm, Free
Nicole Smith presents a day-long celebration of Minnesota’s art and culture. Watch hip-hop performances from local musicians, get creative with artists from your community, and discover the hidden artistic gems right on our doorstep!
Out and About: Third Saturdays
June 15, July 20, August 17
Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center
505 15th Avenue, Minneapolis
The Walker is breaking out of the museum to host family friendly art-making workshops at community organizations around the Twin Cities! On the third Saturday of each month this summer, Hennepin County Library will host us at the Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center. Swing by with your family to experience workshops and activities in a new setting.
Access Programs:
June 9, July 14, August 11, 8–11 am, Free
Play a round of mini golf on the terraces for free, wander through the galleries
and Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, then create, design, or build something new with local artist Nancy Ariza.
Sensory Friendly Sunday is a monthly event designed for kids, teens, and adults with sensory processing differences, autism spectrum disorder, or developmental disabilities. The galleries will be closed to the general public, allowing visitors to enjoy the museum in a calm environment with accommodations such as quiet spaces, noise-canceling headphones, and sunglasses available.
While walk-ins are welcome, we encourage you to reserve your space ahead of time. Register online at walkerart.org/sensory-friendly-sundays.
Contemporary Journeys Tours
Fridays, July 12 and August 30, 11 am, Free
Enjoy a comfortably paced tour of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, followed by a creative project in the Art Lab.
Contemporary Journeys is the Walker’s program for people living with early- to midstage dementia and their care partners, family, and friends. The guided tours and hands-on art-making activities are designed to encourage creative exploration and social connection in a safe and supportive environment. Register in advance at tours@walkerart.org or by calling 612.375.7609.
Teens:
Friday, May 24, 6:30pm
Free with ID
Come hang at the Walker’s totally free night just for high school students! Spend the evening in the museum with musical performances, art-making, free food, free gallery admission, and a good time.
Teen Art-Making Workshops
Picture Yourself: Pop-Up Gallery Show
Saturday June 22, 1 pm, Free
Take photos in our mini portrait studio, then display them in the adjoining exhibition space. Come and see what your photos look like off Insta and in the gallery.
Intro to Performance Art
Saturday, July 27, 1 pm, Free
What even is performance art? How do you create a performance piece? Explore ideas and building blocks with multidisciplinary theater performer Marcela Michelle.
Portfolio Prep
Saturday, August 10, 1 pm, Free
Thinking about applying to art school? Get advice from MCAD admissions staff on creating a portfolio of your work.
Terrace Thursdays
For Fun. For Free. For Everyone.
Terrace Thursdays are back and better than ever. Get into your summer groove on the Walker’s rooftop—overlooking the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and the city skyline—with hot music, dancing, fashion, and more. Each Thursday showcases a different lineup of inspirational individuals breaking boundaries in art and identity. Meet your people, meet new people, grab a drink, and make the most of summer.
Can’t handle the heat? Cool off in the galleries while you draw on the walls in Allora & Calzadilla: Chalk or stroll through Five Ways In.
June 13, 6–11 pm
Fashion Show: Niizho-Manidoog/Two Spirit (Premiere by Delina White of IAmAnishinaabe)
Maggie Thompson of Makwa Studio
July 11, 6–11 pm
Vogue Night Summertime Fine Ball (Hosted by Fatha Jazz Bordeaux)
DJ Madre T. Rosa
DJ Niesha
Video artist Hal Lovemelt
July 25, 6–11 pm
Seaberg & the Black Velvet Punks
The Florists
DJ Chamun
Performance: Taja Will’s Blood Language
August 8, 6–11 pm
Dua Saleh
Indigo Crew
New Black City
Kao Lee Thao
August 22, 6–11 pm
Arena Dances
DJ Rowsheen
Women’s Wood Shop
La Luchadora (Jessica Lopez Lyman)
Programming for Terrace Thursdays 2019 was designed in collaboration with a committee of local artists, activists, and community organizers. Thanks to Scott Artley, Machen Davis, Anthonia Eboreime, Nicky Leingang, Yoni Light, Oskar Ly, Meena Mangalvedhekar, Wintana Melekin, and Taja Will.
SculpTour
June 6, July 18, August 1, 6 and 7:15 pm
Free
Sculpt your muscles in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden—it’s SculpTour! Abigail Johnson and Annika Hansen will lead you on a (literally) breathtaking tour with workouts inspired by works in the Garden. Get ready. Get sweaty. Get SculpTour-ed.
Mn Artists Presents: Anat Shinar and Amal Rogers
Thursday, May 2, 5pm
Free
Mn Artists, the Walker’s platform for local makers, brings its online network into the museum. Minnesota-based choreographers and performance artists Anat Shinar and Amal Rogers will explore the ways that marginalized artists are asked to turn their trauma into understandable narratives for audiences. This darkly comedic evening includes performances, art-making, discussion, installations, and more.
Mn Artists Presents: CarryOn Homes
August 29, 5–9 pm
Free
Join CarryOn Homes, a multidisciplinary, international artist group, to ask: how and why do we learn the way we do? CarryOn Homes gathers Minnesota-based creatives who have experienced immigration or emigration to re-envision the museum as an experimental classroom. Through installations, performances, workshops, and more, participants can share resources and discover new paths for education.
Mn Artists is made possible by generous support from the McKnight Foundation.
Saturday, September 21, 6 pm–12 midnight
Join us for the Walker Art Center’s annual benefit and party of the year! Tickets on sale at walkerart.org/avantgarden or by calling 612.375.7641.
The Walker Art Center is a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences. Avant Garden proceeds support the Walker’s award-winning artistic and educational programming.
Through September 29
Walker Terraces
Tuesday, Wednesday, Sunday, 11 am–5 pm
Thursday, 11 am–9 pm
Friday–Saturday, 11 am–6 pm
Closed Mondays
$10 ($8 Walker members and ages 7–18); free for ages 6 and under with paid adult.
Play a round on the Walker’s rooftop this summer, with unbelievable views of the Minneapolis skyline. The one-of-a-kind course features 10 unique, artist-designed holes—including two brand-new additions.
New Members Play for Free
Become a new Walker member and get a free round of golf for everyone covered by your membership (up to $52 value). Starting at just $5/month. Join at walkerart.org/membership or call 612.375.7655.
Members Night: Mini Golf
Wednesday, July 10, 5–10 pm
Nothing says summer like a rooftop party. Join us at our annual bash for members—this year on the Walker terraces! Free for members but capacity is limited. Reserve your tee time at walkerart.org/memberevents or call 612.375.7655.
Art Inside and Out!
When it’s too nice outside to be inside, explore more than 60 sculptures in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden on the Walker’s campus. Make a day of it—picnicking is encouraged! Open daily, from 6 am to 12 midnight.
June–August
Garden Tours
Saturdays & Sundays, 12 noon, Free
Gallery Tours
Saturdays & Sundays, 1 pm, with gallery admission
Garden Tours in Spanish
Saturdays, June 1, July 3, August 6, 1 pm, Free
Drop-in public tours are available every Saturday and Sunday. Tours of the galleries begin at 1pm and tours of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden start at 12 noon. Each tour is led by Walker Tour Guides, they provide an overview of an exhibition on view and are included in the cost of admission. Tours of the Garden are free.
Walker Shop
Limited-Edition Prints! Whether you’re a novice art collector, purveyor of inspirational goods, or supporter of shopping local, browse the unique selection of limited-edition prints available in the Walker Shop to start—or add to—your collection. Choose from the work of artists Frank Big Bear, Edward Henderson, Mark Manders, Joan Miró, Robert Rauschenberg, T. L. Solien, and others.
Spring for Fresh Fashion: Jewelry & Accessory Makers Mart
Saturday, May 4, 11am–4pm
Skyline Room
Celebrate spring in style! Shop for beautiful jewelry and stylish accessories from 28 local makers presenting original, hand-crafted designs. Bring a friend, support local artists, and treat yourself.
Featured artists include: Acanthus Jewelry, Dominique Bereiter, Yen Chee, Bridget Clark, Elara Coleman, Nicole Collodoro, Desdamona Doolittle, EMDsign, FOAT, Camille Hempel, Madison Holler, Karin Jacobson, jlux.co, Tia Keo, La Donna Jewelry, Julie Meyer Handbags, Robin Ann Meyer Scarves, Karen Morris Hats, Meghan Nelson, Beth Novak, Rox Jewelry, Jovy Rockey, Meg Smith, Molly Spilane, Barbara Stellmach, Amy Torello, Vikse Jewelry, and Helen Wang.
Saturday, May 11, 11am
Walker Shop
Make your Mother’s Day weekend memorable at the Walker Art Center! Enjoy brunch specials and a mom-osa at Esker Grove (through Sunday), along with a pop-up of four local makers in the Walker Shop. Find a special item, create the ultimate gift package with a goodie from all four, or treat yourself.
Celestia Aromatherapy
A woman-owned, earth-conscious company that creates aromatherapy blends for body and space. All products are vegan, handmade, and organic.
Honeycomb Collective
Pick up a one-of-a-kind floral arrangement. Honeycomb Collective uses unique varieties in surprising combinations with beautiful design elements that incorporate vintage materials.
Mademoiselle Miel
Artfully prepared and presented, choose from a variety of beautiful and delicious honey bonbons and artisan chocolates.
Jessica Kelly Handbags
Local, custom-designed, and handmade cross-body bags and purses, created from 100% machine washable cotton fabric.
Sitting at the base of the Walker Hillside, Esker Grove provides Walker visitors a chance to relax indoor or outdoor on the patio, chat, and enjoy chef Doug Flicker’s cuisine along with craft beer, artisan cocktails, and Spyhouse Coffee service. Walker members save 10% on food and nonalcoholic beverages.
The Walker Art Center is a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences. Focusing on the visual, performing, and media arts of our time, the Walker takes a global, multidisciplinary, and diverse approach to the creation, presentation, interpretation, collection, and preservation of art. Walker programs examine the questions that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures, and communities.
One of the most internationally celebrated art museums, the multidisciplinary Walker Art Center in Minneapolis is known for presenting today’s most compelling artists from the United States and around the world. In addition to presentations of works from its world-renowned collection, the Walker organizes and hosts exhibitions that travel worldwide and annually presents a broad array of contemporary performance, music, dance, theater, design, moving image, and education programs. The adjacent Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, one of the country’s first urban sculpture parks, features at its center a beloved Twin Cities landmark—Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen—as well as some 40 sculptures by multigenerational artists from Minnesota and around the globe on the 19-acre Walker campus. Visit walkerart.org for more information on the Walker’s upcoming events and programs.
Share your summer with us on Social Media:
@WalkerArtCenter
#WalkerArtCenter