Although a museum’s programming and physical building often garners the most attention, it is the people behind the scenes who make any museum possible. The ongoing series People Make a Museum celebrates the staff, volunteers, artists, and others whose work forms the life and character of the Walker Art Center.
Move an elephant? Frame 200 drawings? Construct an indoor orchard? Nothing is impossible for the incredible exhibitions team at the Walker. Taking time out from their busy schedules, this talented team shares stories of their favorite projects and exhibitions.
Since its earliest days as a public art center, the Walker Art Center included a radical concept—a working design studio embedded within a museum. We asked the eclectic team of the Walker's Design Studio to reflect on some of their favorite projects and aspects of working at the Walker.
How Do You Care for an Artwork that Has No Physical Form? A Conversation on Media and Time-Based Works in the Walker’s Collections
How do museums collect and care for works of art that lack traditional physical forms, like VR, video, and works made of light? Joe King, the director of Collections and Exhibition Management at the Walker, discusses the unique and joyful challenges registrars have in the preservation and presentation of digital and durational artworks.
25 Years Curating Performing Arts at the Walker: An Interview with Philip Bither
What led a rock-’n’-roll–loving teenager from the suburbs of Chicago to head the Walker’s Department of Performing Arts for over a quarter century? On the eve of his 26th performing arts season, Philip Bither sat down to reflect on his unorthodox journey to becoming a professional curator, the unique power of the live experience, and what lies on the horizon for performing arts.
Whether public, private, or for a school group, all tours at the Walker are led by a professional museum Educator. This amazing and energetic group of Walker staff are always here to help translate the sometimes, shall we say complex, artwork jargon into language anyone can understand.
In the fall of 2022, as the Walker’s staff worked to return the museum’s activities to pre-pandemic levels, local artist Sho Niakdo was let loose among the offices, library, fabrication shops, and other spaces of the museum to craft a photographic time capsule of the people who make the Walker a reality.
Most Walker staff work behind the scenes in supporting the presentation of world-class art. Meet one of these indispensable groups is the Event Production Department, who makes the live performance, film screenings, and lectures possible.
