Thursdays at the Walker: A Community Connections Space

Each year when the weather cools and the days grow shorter, the Walker transitions from outdoor activities that spread across the campus— rooftop poetry readings, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden tours, and performances and art-making activities on the hillside—to indoor events such as artist talks, dance parties, and other opportunities for audiences to connect in the galleries, theater, and cinema.

Free Thursday Nights, one of the Walker’s key strategies for attracting new visitors and building community relationships, is a weekly program featuring free admission, extended gallery hours, and unique activities. This winter, the Walker deepens its relationship with All My Relations Arts, a hub of the local Indigenous arts scene, through initiatives related to the exhibition Dyani White Hawk: Love Language. Free Thursday Nights programming continues to offer a range of ways to welcome and engage Native communities while celebrating White Hawk’s career and artistic partners.

The Walker is incredibly grateful to the Principal Foundation and Director Jo Christine Miles—who recently joined the Walker’s Board of Trustees—for their sustained support of these activities as the sponsor of Free Thursday Nights. “At Principal Foundation, we believe arts and cultural organizations provide critical opportunities for people and communities to envision achievable, better futures,” says Miles. “We are proud to support the Walker’s efforts to make these opportunities more accessible to people living in the Twin Cities.”