The Walker Contemporary Art Museum
Going to museums and galleries is often one of the most enjoyable things to do. However, with the coronavirus pandemic, it has been quite difficult to engage in one of the most educative and exciting pass-times. However, this has given the world and art lovers the option of visiting the museums and galleries from the comfort of their homes. I recently took advantage of this new way of visiting these historic places and visited the Walker Contemporary Art Museum in Minneapolis. I chose to visit this museum specifically because it is a multidisciplinary one. The fact that it is one of the most visited contemporary and modern museums in the United States also intrigued me. It is prudent to note that this art museum is located adjacent to the Cowles Conservatory and the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Walker Contemporary Art Museum is home to over 13,000 permanent collections of various artistic pieces, including costumes, books, media works, drawings, photography, paintings, sculpture, and prints. The museum was begun in 1890 as a personal art gallery by Thomas Barlow Walker and celebrated its 80th anniversary as a public art gallery in the year 2000.
The Walker Contemporary Art Museum currently sits on about 260,000 square feet. It is an 8-story building with ten art galleries, a restaurant, shop, theatre, café, and spaces for other special events and lecture rooms. The main building is a piece of art itself. It is designed in a minimalistic style that allows the view with ample space to see the architecture’s precision. The expansive white spaces give it the illusion of more space and allow sufficient light for the visitors to feel the art. This gives the museum an indoor-outdoor feeling simultaneously as they enjoy the art and architecture of the building itself. The exterior is made of plain and modular brick. The building comprises a unique arrangement of galleries that spiral up around the main staircase before opening onto the rooftop terraces.
It is noteworthy that the museum has several programs for various fields of art, including music, visual arts, performing arts, and moving images, among others. The visual arts program includes a continuous cycle of exhibitions in the galleries that run alongside the collection of commissioned, donated, and acquired works. The galleries represent the works of contemporary and modern art, especially those that run after 1960. This program has also incorporated artists such as Robert Irwin and Barry McGee, among others who hold residency. On the other hand, the performing art program includes local dance, concert, and poetry. These are often organized by volunteers. This led to the development of the Center Opera. The Museum
The moving image program is about video and film productions. In this program, the center features both historical and contemporary works. The program highlights the challenges that producers would go through as they attempted to make movies. Through these efforts, moving images have also been considered an important part of contemporary life. The museum also offers programs on news media and education. Through these programs, the visitors are made aware of pertinent issues facing the contemporary world and how they are organized in the gallery. Significant, this museum also offers design programs. The museum has a professional in-house editorial and responsible communication. Through this program, one learns to create and plan for publications, magazines, and books.
Conclusively, while I could not be there in person, I must say that the virtual visit was also educative. The museum engages the visitors equally, whether virtually or physically. However, the virtual visits do not allow one to enjoy the ambiance in the museum adequately.