Things to do / Travel Guide
Address:1750 Hennepin
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Tel:
(612) 375-7600
Come explore the ground-breaking contemporary paintings, sculptures, drawings, photographs and multimedia installations of the Walker Art Center. Joined with the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the largest urban sculpture garden in the country, a visit to this eclectic attraction promises a most memorable art experience.
The Walker Art Center began as the first public art gallery in the Upper Midwest and changed focus to modern art with the acquisition of works by Picasso, Henry Moore and Alberto Giacometti, to name just a few. Today, the Center offers programming in visual arts, performing arts, film and video, and boasts a fabulous collection speckled with works by Roy Lichtenstein, Yoko Ono and Andy Warhol.
The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, located right across the street, is called "the finest new outdoor space in the country for displaying sculpture" by the New York Times, and is home to the popular "Spoonbridge and Cherry" - which has become a beloved symbol of the Twin Cities. Older kids who visit will enjoy the interactive pop art installations which are a lot like video games, and everyone will love grabbing a bite to eat at the Asian-influenced California cuisine at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant or the Gallery and Café which serves soups, salads and sandwiches.
To get to the Walker Art Center: if heading east on I-94 take 231A and go south on Hennepin/Lyndale. If heading west on I-94, take Exit 231B and go north on Lyndale/Hennepin. If heading east on I-394, take Exit 8A and go south on Lyndale/Hennepin. Be sure to set aside about two hours minimum for this unforgettable center of contemporary art.
From Walker Art Center - Minneapolis, Minnesota:
The Walker Art Center's collection has increased dramatically since its current building opened in 1971, and has grown 40 percent (to more than 9,600 objects) in the last decade alone. The expanded Walker will increase total exhibition space from 30,000 to 40,000 square feet, creating 11 exhibition galleries and doubling the space allocated to the collection.