Wall-to-Wall Walker: A Daylong Celebration on Saturday, December 5
It’s
Wall-to-Wall Walker
on Saturday, December 5, 10 am–8 pm, Walker Art Center’s daylong celebration with extended hours of all things Walker: music, film, performance, and an array of artworks from the new collection exhibitions Event Horizon and Benches & Binoculars. Come early for family fun and shopping at the Local Artist Gift Mart; stay late with friends and enjoy gallery tours, cocktails, dinner, film in the Cinema, or a performance in the McGuire Theater.
Highlights of the day include the Free First Saturday program The Big Event (10 am–3 pm), which features gallery and art-making activities, film screenings, and a performance by jazz cellist Erik Friedlander; special free mini-tours of the new exhibitions Event Horizon and Benches & Binoculars (3–7 pm on the hour); a Local Artist Gift Mart in Target Gallery, featuring unique wares and a chance to meet the artists who made them (12 noon–4 pm); chocolate tastings; and special dining options in the Gallery 8 Café (open 11 am–5 pm), 20.21 Restaurant & Bar (open 5:30–11 pm), and The Walker Pub (open 6–11 pm) in the Bazinet Garden Lobby.
Evening events include screenings of the 2009 British Television Advertising Awards at 4, 7, and 9 pm, the Walker’s popular annual showcase of award-winning advertisements from across the pond. Also, jazz/new music phenom Erik Friedlander presents his Walker-commissioned work Block Ice & Propane at 8 pm in the McGuire Theater. In this work, Friedlander pairs cinematic cello compositions with short tales and family and “road cycle” images created by his father, celebrated photographer Lee Friedlander.
Tickets for the British Television Advertising Awards screenings, which sell out quickly, are $10 ($8 Walker members), and tickets for Erik Friedlander’s Block Ice & Propane are $22 ($18 Walker members). Tickets to both events are available at walkerart.org/tickets or by calling 612.375.7600.
Wall-to-Wall Walker: A 10-Hour Open House
Extended Gallery Hours 10 am–8 pm
Free First Saturday
Free First Saturdays Are for Families!
The Big Event
Saturday, December 5, 10 am–3 pm, Free
Gallery Activities: Event Horizon, 10 am–2 pm
Galleries 1, 2, 3
Explore works from the collection with a variety of fun hands-on adventures. Walker guides are available to answer questions and pass out activities.
Art-Making for the Entire Family: Cabinet of Curiosities, 10 am–3 pm
Star Tribune Foundation Art Lab
Get inspired by the works of artist Joseph Cornell and bring a box to life as you fill it with hand-made treasures. Led by artist-instructor Andy Ducett.
Films About Toys, 10 am–3 pm
Tops by Charles and Ray Eames, 10 am–3 pm
U.S. Bank Orientation Lounge
Capture the dizzying world of spinning tops in this short classic. 1969, 7 minutes.
Toccata for Toy Trains by Charles and Ray Eames, 11 am
Cinema
Shot from a toy’s perspective, this visual journey follows antique trains moving within a fanciful setting to a toccata composed by Elmer Bernstein. 1957, 13 minutes.
Mouse Heaven by Kenneth Anger, 11:15 am
Cinema
Count the multiplying Mickey Mouse characters in this whimsical film featuring America’s icon of animation. 2004, 10 minutes
Local Artist Gift Mart: Kids Playspace, 12 noon–4 pm
Target Gallery
Kids can play with a selection of artist-designed products while parents shop. Adult supervision is provided.
Performance: Erik Friedlander, 1 pm
Jazz cellist Friedlander combines inventive music with travel stories and images created by his renowned photographer father.
Free First Saturday is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. Program support by Medtronic Foundation. As part of the Walker Art Center’s Raising Creative Kids Initiative, additional support is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Tours
Gallery Tours
3–7 pm on the hour, Free
Join Walker tour guides for special mini-tours of Event Horizon and Benches & Binoculars.
Walker Shop
Member Double-Discount Shopping and Local Artist Gift Mart
11 am–9 pm
Walker Shop and Target Gallery
The Walker Shop offers members a 20% discount on its incomparable selection of artful gifts. Head to the Target Gallery (from 12 noon–4 pm) to browse more unique wares—and visit with the artists who made them—at the Local Artist Gift Mart. Create local. Shop local. Buy local. Meet Diane O’Donnel from Alessi (from 12 noon–6 pm in the Shop) and enjoy chocolate tastings, with a personal appearance by B.T. McElrath (from 12 noon–4 pm).
Film/Video
2009 British Television Advertising Awards
4, 7, and 9 pm
$10 ($8 Walker members)
Cinema
Brimming with creativity and chosen by top advertising executives and producers across the globe, these sly, sexy, hilarious, and thought-provoking British spots have been a Walker highlight for 21 years. The program this year includes dancing marionettes, monkeys, and nudists as well as American celebrities Snoop Dogg, Rob Lowe, and Anjelica Huston hawking products to UK audiences. You’ll also catch an ’80s flashback for Virgin Airlines, a scandalous piece for Guess apparel, and highlights from the history of 20th-century Britain condensed into 120 seconds for a bread commercial. Among the standouts this year is a spectacular skydiving stunt for Honda that was broadcast live. Not to be missed. 2009, video, 80 minutes.
The 2009 British Television Advertising Awards sponsored by Thomson Reuters.
Media Partner City Pages.
Performing Arts
Eric Friedlander’s Block Ice & Propane
Walker Commission
8 pm
$22 ($18 Walker members)
Balcony Bar open 7:30 pm and after performance
McGuire Theater
“One of today’s most ingenious and forward-thinking musical practitioners.” —Billboard
This collection of cinematic cello compositions by jazz/new music phenom Erik Friedlander (John Zorn, Laurie Anderson) was inspired by years of family road trips with all the trimmings: campers, tourist traps, picnic tables, truck stops, lonely highways, stark panoramas. In Block Ice & Propane, new compositions are paired with family and “road cycle” images created by his father, celebrated photographer Lee Friedlander, films by Bill Morrison, and engaging short tales about the kind of travels familiar to so many of us. Taking inspiration from American roots music, Friedlander executes extraordinary finger-picking technique and reverberant tunings, creating a fresh form of American cello music that is lyrical, plainspoken, and emotional.
Development support for Block Ice & Propane provided by the Walker Art Center; the Hopkins Center, Dartmouth College; Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA); and Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University. Support for the Walker’s commission provided by the William and Nadine McGuire Commissioning Fund and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Dining
Soup to Nuts: Special Dining Options
11 am–11 pm
Gallery 8 Café, 11 am–5 pm
20.21 Restaurant & Bar, 5:30–11 pm
The Walker Pub, 6–11 pm
Round out the day or make a night of it with pub fare, cocktails, or dinner. Grab some lunch and snacks at Gallery 8 Café, or stop by the pub in the Bazinet Lobby for classic British ales and drinks ($1 off with your movie ticket stub) and a variety of sweet and savory treats. Head to 20.21 Restaurant & Bar for hors d’oeuvres and cocktails, with drink specials before the show; or reserve a table and enjoy a British-inspired tasting menu or more familiar Asian-themed Wolfgang Puck fare.