Youth Programs

Applications for the 2025–26 school year are currently closed. Please check back in spring to apply to join the 2026–27 cohort.

To apply for WACTAC, you must:

• Be a rising 10th, 11th, or 12th grade student

• Be interested in learning more about contemporary art and museums. You do not need to be an artist!

• Commit to attending weekly meetings: WACTAC meets on Thursdays from 4:30 to 6:30 pm, September through June. Weekly attendance is expected. Before applying, think about sports schedules, work commitments, and any extracurricular activities that could fill your time throughout the school year.

The Walker Art Center Teen Arts Council (WACTAC) began in 1996 out of the desire to connect more meaningfully with teenagers in the Twin Cities. The idea originated in 1992 when the Adolescent Think Tank, which included Walker staff, local educators, and youth organizers, reviewed teen programs from across the country, such as Teen Project at the Center for Contemporary Art in Sante Fe, N.M., and Tim Rollins + KOS based in New York City, as well as local programs at Minneapolis Public Library and University of Minnesota Teen Health Services. In 1994, the Walker Art Center received the museum-wide multiyear “New Definitions/New Audiences” grant from the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Foundation “to engage visitors in a reexamination of 20th Century art”. Teens were a major focus of the grant, and Teen Programs began in earnest to connect youth with creatives and museum professionals.

WACTAC is made up of 10 to 13 teens from area schools from a variety of social, ethnic, and economic backgrounds. They meet weekly after school to discuss and learn about museums, artists, and programming. From the beginning, Walker’s Teen Program has been mindful to let teens guide the direction of WACTAC. Educators facilitate what the teens would like to do and help them think through each step, from budgets to art-making.

WACTAC curates and programs for area teens, such as the biannual Teen Takeover, when museum programming is strictly for and by teens. Their events have presented films, music, performances, and art-making activities. WACTAC has also presented for a wider audience: for example, the opening party for The Squared Circle: Boxing and Contemporary Art, 2003; screening and artist talk for Hip-Hop Moves Festival, East Coast vs. West Coast, featuring Dan Campbell, 2002; and Radio Re-volt: A Tactical Guide to Reclaiming the Airwaves workshop in 2004. WACTAC members created their own magazine in 1997, called Fig. 12, and has since created many teen zines and other publications. In the 1990s they curated the teen exhibition program Hot Art Injection at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis.

Over the years, WACTAC alumni have become artists, museum professionals, and sustained enthusiasts for art. In a survey conducted after the first year of WACTAC in 1997, teens cited that the experience was empowering, but they also mentioned learning practical skills, like time management and creating a budget.

Since the beginning, WACTAC has adapted to changing priorities and learned from past mistakes. For example, in the 1990s WACTAC members could stay on the council as long as they were in high school. Now, council members serve one-year terms, which helps prevent cliques and keeps all the council members on the same level.

Over the years WACTAC has contributed to the vitality of Walker Art Center programming, with enthusiasm and creativity for teens and adults alike.

Explore a free download of the Walker Art Center’s Museum Teen Programs How-To Kit, a publication offering reflections, conversations, and essays on cohort-based teen programs at museums across the United States. Featuring contributions from a range of museum teen education professionals, this publication is intended to be used as a tool for navigating the unique challenges of facilitating impactful creative youth development in museums. Created by and for educators, the How-To Kit provides a plethora of resources and instructions for applied activities.