The Education & Community Programs Department received major support from Target Stores. Free First Saturdays continued to be sponsored by Coldwell Banker Burnet. Teen Programs were made possible by the Surdna Foundation and Best Buy Children’s Foundation. The mobile art lab Walker on Wheels (WoW) was funded by the Medtronic Foundation. Artist-in-residence programs across disciplines as well as Free Thursdays were made possible by the Wallace Foundation. ArtsConnectEd, the award-winning educational Web site developed in partnership with the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, was supported by the Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning. ArtsConnectEd teacher training was funded by the Blandin Foundation and ADC Telecommunications.
In June, the Walker commemorated the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden’s 15th anniversary with a full weekend of events for visitors of all ages. The celebration began with a Walker After Hours: Rock the Garden 2003 outdoor concert headlined by the band Wilco, which drew an audience of more than 7,000 people. After Hours and Rock the Garden were sponsored by Target Corporation with promotional assistance provided by the Star Tribune and Cities 97. The following day, the Walker offered a free series of family activities in the Garden, highlighted by an afternoon performance by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company with guest vocalist Cassandra Wilson. The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden Celebration was made possible by Accenture and Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., with additional support from Toro Company. Children’s programs were sponsored by Best Buy Children’s Foundation. A private brunch for Walker donors and Board members held earlier in the day was made possible by U.S. Trust Company.
In closing, I would like to thank the many individual and corporate members whose unrestricted support made so many of the Walker’s remarkable programs possible. I also want to express my gratitude to Walker Director Kathy Halbreich, the Walker staff, and my colleagues on the Board for their extraordinary devotion to this institution.
Roger Hale, President, Board of Directors
