WALKER ART CENTER ANNOUNCES PLAN

TO RELOCATE SCULPTURES DURING MINNEAPOLIS

SCULPTURE GARDEN RECONSTRUCTION

NEW PARTNERSHIPS WITH WEISMAN ART MUSEUM, MINNEAPOLIS INSTITUTE OF ARTS, AND GOLD MEDAL PARK ALLOW FIVE SCULPTURES TO REMAIN ACCESSIBLE TO THE PUBLIC

MINNEAPOLIS, February 12 2015The Walker Art Center is pleased to announce a number of sculptures from the institutions collection on view in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden will temporarily relocate to the Weisman Art Museum, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Gold Medal Park this summer and remain on view during the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Reconstruction Project.

Thanks to the support of the citizens of Minnesota, the state legislature, and Governor Mark Dayton, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board received $8.5 million in public bonding support to fund the much-needed reconstruction of this major cultural asset of the state. In addition, the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization has dedicated up to $1.5 million for innovative storm water management systems in the project. This will be the largest and most comprehensive work on the Garden since it opened in 1988 and will require its closure for up to a year and a half beginning in the fall of 2015.

Nearly all Garden artworks will be placed in storage during construction, but thanks to innovative partnerships with the Gold Medal Park Conservancy Fund, the MIA, and the Weisman, several of the most beloved sculptures will relocate through short- or long-term loans, and remain accessible to the public. The loans are renewable each year and the partnering organizations have agreed to the arrangement for up to 5 years, after which time the loans will be reevaluated.

Brower Hatchers Prophecy of the Ancients (1988), Mark di Suveros Molecule (1977-83), and Tony Craggs Ordovician Pore (1989) will be loaned short-term to Gold Medal Park, which sits adjacent to and reunites with the Guthrie Theater, the Gardens former neighbor. Jacques Lipchitzs Prometheus Strangling the Vulture II (1944/1953) will be loaned long-term to the MIA, aligning with the institutions robust bronze collection, and Frank Gehrys Standing Glass Fish (1986) will be on long-term loan to the Weisman, housed in the iconic Frank Gehry designed building on the University of Minnesota campus.

We are thrilled so many cherished works will remain in the public eye, said Weisman director Lyndel King. The Frank Gehry Standing Glass Fish, in particular, will have a fitting home in Gehrys first major museum project, the Weisman. Frank is working very closely on the works relocation and conservation.

It is beyond exciting to be a part of an innovative solution that is built on partnership with a focus on community, added Wendy Nelson of the Gold Medal Park Conservancy Fund. The opportunity to keep significant works on view for the public and to celebrate the historic connection between the Walker and the Guthrie with the sculptures again as neighborsstunning, really. A perfect representation of why our city continues to thrivecollaborative leadership with a focus on WE. Gold Medal Park was honored to join in this community gift and message.

Works currently installed in the Garden will be removed and transported to partner locations starting as early as June 2015.

Public funding for the project will cover Garden reconstruction costs. Transportation and maintenance costs for the temporary relocations of art will be the responsibility of the Walker and its partners.

Its important to all of us that some of the most beloved art works remain on public view while the Garden is under extensive reconstruction. Were grateful to our local partners for making this possible, said Olga Viso, the Walkers Executive Director. As a contemporary art center that champions new art and emerging artists, this project also presents an exciting opportunity for the Walker to add new artworks for the reopening in spring 2017, as we look forward to a renewed Minneapolis Sculpture Garden for the next generation and beyond.