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Walker Art Center company history timeline

1879

In 1879, lumber baron Thomas Barlow (T. B.) Walker’s art gallery was a unique venue for the art of its time.

1915

As T. B. Walker continued to collect, he expanded the space, and by 1915 it included 14 rooms, each with a different theme.

1916

In 1916, Walker purchased the land now known as Lowry Hill.

1927

On May 21, 1927, the Walker Art Galleries opened on the present site of the Walker Art Center.

1933

In 1933 a new extension made it by far the largest of the English regional art galleries, and it began to collect first historic British art and later European art on a considerable scale.

1939

In 1939, the Minnesota Arts Council and the federal Works Projects Administration took control of the Galleries and renamed them the Walker Art Center.

In 1939, the Minnesota Arts Council was granted control of the building on Lowry Hill, along with its art collection, in order to create a civic art center.

1940

With the assistance of the Works Progress Administration, building improvements were made and the Walker Art Center opened in January 1940.

1948

In 1948 it received the famous collection of early Netherlandish and Italian paintings formed by William Roscoe early in the nineteenth century.

1957

The John Moores exhibitions, beginning in 1957, enabled the Gallery to acquire many important modern British paintings.

1966

Show Citation 44Docket Memorandum, “Walker Art Center (Minneapolis),” October 27, 1966, Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

He joined the curatorial staff of the Walker Art Gallery in 1966 and remained there for his entire working life, retiring as Curator of Fine Art.

1968

Docket Memorandum, “Center Opera Company, Inc.,” June 25, 1968, Martha Baird Rockefeller Fund for Music records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

1970

Show Citation 77Martin Friedman to Norman Lloyd, July 29, 1970, Series 280, Subgroup 1.9 (A83), Rockefeller Foundation records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

1972

Ford provided $10,800 to each museum to fund the program.Show Citation 66Howard R. Dressner to Julia W. Dayton, August 4, 1972, Walker Art Center, July 1 – July 30, 1972, PA 72-313, Reel 1753, Ford Foundation records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

1973

J. Kellum Sith, Jr. to Martin Friedman, May 23, 1973, Series 280, Subgroup 1.9(A83), Rockefeller Foundation records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

1982

Martha R. Wallace to Martin Friedman, February 22, 1982, Series 1, RG 1, Henry Luce Foundation records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

1983

Robert E. Armstrong to Martin Friedman, May 31, 1983, Series 1, RG 1, Henry Luce Foundation records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

1984

Robert E. Armstrong to Martin Friedman, February 14, 1984, Series 1, RG 1, Henry Luce Foundation records, Rockefeller Archive Center.

1986

Reflecting its pre-eminence among British provincial galleries, the Walker Art Gallery became in 1986 a national gallery, funded by central government.

1987

He left the Gallery in 1987 becoming Keeper of Art at the National Museum of Wales and then Assistant Director at the Victoria and Albert Museum.

2005

The Walker’s expansion, which was designed by Herzog & de Meuron, opened in April 2005.

2017

In June 2017, the opening of the gallery's art garden was delayed due to protests over Sam Durant's sculpture Scaffold.

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