One of the most celebrated art museums in the country, the Walker Art Center is known for commissioning and presenting innovative contemporary art; fostering the cross-pollination of the visual, performing, and media arts; and engaging diverse audiences in the excitement of the creative process. The museum has evolved from a small-scale, primarily regional institution into a major local, national, and international artistic resource. Founded in 1879 by lumberman Thomas Barlow Walker, the Walker was established at its current location in 1927. Edward Larrabee Barnes' award-winning building opened in 1971 and was expanded in 1984. 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1971 is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A 17-acre urban campus, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron opened in April 2005. The design for the new Walker engages the surrounding neighborhood with a new four-acre park as well as vistas onto the downtown Minneapolis skyline. The expanded facility doubles the size of the existing building and features new galleries, education areas, a new 385-seat theater, and food by Wolfgang Puck in the fine-dining 20.21 restaurant and the Gallery 8 café. The Pritzker Architecture Prize is awarded annually by the Hyatt Foundation to honor a living architect. ... The Forum Building in Barcelona Herzog & de Meuron is a Swiss architect firm with an international reputation, founded in 1978 by Jacques Herzog (born 19 April 1950 in Basel) and Pierre de Meuron (born 8 May 1950 in Basel), its two main partners. ... This article is about the city in Minnesota. ... Wolfgang Puck (born 8 January 1949 in St. ...

The Walker's decades-long emphasis on commissioning and collecting innovative works by artists from around the world, along with its exceptional record of supporting and acquiring emerging and mid-career artists, distinguishes its collections from those of other institutions. Focusing on modern and contemporary art from the mid-20th century to the present, the Walker's collection has increased dramatically since it moved to its current site in 1971, and has grown 40 percent in the last decade alone. The term contemporary art encompasses all art being done now. ...

The Walker Art Center's Performing Arts program is one of the largest in the country and is committed to presenting innovative artistic visions in contemporary dance, music, theater, and performance art through presentations, residencies, and commissions. The new McGuire Theater provides stage size and technological capacity normally found in venues twice as big, and serves as a "research and development" space for new pieces, expanding the Walker's ability to commission new works, support the development of ground-breaking performances, and foster mutual inspiration among film/video, new media, visual, and performing artists. Performance art is art where the actions of an individual or a group at a particular place and in a particular time, constitute the work. ...

Widely recognized for its presentation of moving image arts that define and influence our time, the Walker Art Center showcases film and video in a year-round program featuring both contemporary and historical works. Exploring our global community, culture, and society, Walker Film/Video programs draw from a range of genres, including contemporary world cinema, American independents, artist videos, short experimental works, and socially relevant media. The Walker's Edmond R. Ruben Film Study Collection is distinctive for its holdings of works by visual artists that range from classics by Luis Buñuel, Salvador Dali, Fernand Léger, and Marcel Duchamp to extensive contemporary work by William Klein, Derek Jarman, Matthew Barney, Bruce Conner, Yoko Ono and Nam June Paik. Portrait of Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portoles (February 22, 1900 – July 29, 1983) was a Spanish filmmaker. ... Salvador Dalí as photographed in 1934 by Carl Van Vechten Salvador Domenec Felip Jacint Dalí Domenech (May 11, 1904 - January 23, 1989) was an important Catalan-Spanish painter, best known for his surrealist works. ... Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (February 4, 1881 - August 17, 1955) was an artist. ... Marcel Duchamp (July 28, 1887 – October 2, 1968) was an influential French/American artist. ... Derek Jarman Derek Jarman (January 31, 1942 - February 19, 1994) was a British film director, stage designer, artist, and writer. ... Matthew Barney (born March 25, 1967 in San Francisco, California) is a contemporary media artist working with film, video installations, sculpture, photography and drawing. ... Bruce Conner is a key experimental filmmaker and assemblage artist. ... Ono on the cover of 1971s Fly Yoko Ono Lennon (born February 18, 1933 in Tokyo, Japan) is a Japanese-born American musician and artist. ... Paik Nam-june (born July 20, 1932) is a South Korean-born American artist, particularly noted for his video art. ...

The Walker’s Education and Community Programs provide a diverse set of programs for a variety of audiences from school-aged children and adults to mixed audiences such as families. The department itself is broken down into various sub-departments to address and plan programs for specific audiences, including adult programs, community programs, teen programs, family programs, school programs, and tours. Education and community programs are designed to offer diverse audiences opportunities to engage with contemporary art at the Walker through interactive programs accommodating multiple learning styles; to learn about the creative process first-hand by interacting with living artists; to initiate and sustain relationships with diverse communities throughout the Twin Cities; and to offer resources and materials in support of local school curricula. Twin cities are either: two towns or cities that are geographically close to each other, and often referred to collectively; or two distant cities which, perhaps because of similar circumstances, such as industrial decline, or demographics, agree to partner each other and share expertise (e. ...

See also

• Minneapolis Institute of Arts
• Minneapolis Sculpture Garden

The Minneapolis Institute of Arts is an art museum located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. ... Spoonbridge and Cherry is a centerpiece of the park The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is a 11 acre (45,000 m²) park in Minneapolis, Minnesota near the Walker Art Center, which operates it in coordination with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. ...

External link

• Walker Art Center