Walker Art Center to Open Expanded Facility April 17, 2005

The Walker Art Center will open its expanded 17-acre urban campus in spring 2005 with a weekend of activities including a

Grand Opening Gala

on Friday, April 15; a

Members’ Opening

on Saturday, April 16; and a

Public Opening

on Sunday, April 17. Details on opening events will be announced.

The new Walker will encompass 260,000 square feet, double its current size, and include:
•a suite of new galleries for showcasing the collection and special exhibitions;
•education areas woven throughout the building for making and learning about art, as well as an expanded teen center;
•a new 385-seat theater for dance, music, and theater;
•a refurbished screening room for film/video and new media presentations;
•street-level and roof-top terraces, plazas, gardens, and lounges;
•a newly commissioned outdoor skyspace by James Turrell;
•an expanded library;
•and increased amenities for visitors, including a new full-service restaurant and informal café operated by Wolfgang Puck Catering and Events, and a new underground parking facility.

A new entrance plaza, on Minneapolis’ central artery, Hennepin Avenue, will open the Walker to the city and yield dramatic vistas onto the downtown skyline, while an entrance to the west will open onto a new four-acre public park (to be completed in phase two of the project). The Pritzker Prize-winning architects Herzog & de Meuron and the Minneapolis-based architectural firm Hammel, Green and Abrahamson, Inc. are collaborating with the Walker on the design.

For information on ongoing Walker without Walls programs, call 612.375.7622, or visit www.walkerart.org.