The Walker Art Center Plans a $75 Million Renovation for Its 75th Anniversary

In 1940, with funding from the 1939 Works Projects Administration, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis opened to the public. To celebrate its 75th anniversary, the institution has embarked on a $75 million capital campaign that will build up its endowment and support a renovation of its campus and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden.

The Walker has a storied architectural history. In 1971, the award-winning tower by Edward Larrabee Barnes opened, and in 2005, Pritzker Prize–winning firm Herzog & de Meuron completed an expansion of both buildings and the green space. The current renovation plans were designed by Petra Blaisse of Inside/Outside and Joan Soranno and John Cook of HGA, who seek to preserve the visions of their celebrated predecessors.

Slated to start this fall, the renovation will introduce a new entry pavilion and additional green space to the Walker campus. In an expansion by Tom Oslund and Tadd Kreun of Oslund and Associates, the sculpture garden, one of the largest in the country, will grow to 12.7 acres, which provides the opportunity to add new works to the space. The garden is currently home to more than 40 sculptures, including ones by Alexander Calder, Jenny Holzer, and Claes Oldenburg, whose Spoonbridge and Cherry (1985–88), created in collaboration with his artistic partner and wife, Coosje van Bruggen, has become a Minneapolis icon.

The Walker has also announced two new appointments as part of its 75th-anniversary initiatives. Fionn Meade has been appointed artistic director, and Nisa Mackie will take the role of director and curator of education and public programming.

For more information visit walkerarrg .