To boldly commemorate its yearlong 75th Anniversary Celebration, the Walker Art Center partnered with strategy and content studio The D4D to develop a campaign that would frame the work of the past as both a mantra and a roadmap for what’s next. 75 QUESTIONS embodies how the Walker Art Center engages the public, artistic community, and its global audience: to question everything.
Andrew Blauvelt, the Walker Art Center’s Curator of Architecture & Design, welcomed The D4D to apply its experience with the intersection of brands and culture to celebrate 75 years as a groundbreaking public institution. With unprecedented access to the Walker Art Center’s curatorial team and archives, The D4D’s team – lead by Founder Matt Checkowski – embarked on a discovery process with the Walker to define the campaign.
“Through D4D’s investigative process, the Walker’s history of asking provocative and timely questions through the artists we present quickly emerged as the most authentic to our mission and the one with most creative potential to celebrate our 75th anniversary as a public art center,” says Andrew Blauvelt. “A fruitful collaboration emerged between the two design studios to execute a complex idea, with the Walker taking the lead on the media campaign, website, and activation event, and D4D producing an expertly crafted short film and that offers a fitting tribute to the Walker’s 75 year history of excellence and innovation as a public art center.”
“Again and again, the incredible body of artistic expression circled back to the part of the mission statement that states the Walker Art Center examines the questions that shape and inspire us as individuals, cultures and communities,” adds Checkowski. “With that in mind, we created a platform upon which the Walker could curate its own stories, past and present, and discuss the brand in the years to come. 75 QUESTIONS empowers the Walker to engage and share its brand, in an inclusive and interactive way.”
The founding question – “Shall we take it?” – posed to the Twin Cities community that transformed the private art collection of T.B. Walker into a model public art center – was the springboard for the 75 QUESTIONS concept. A brand film, billboards, posters, the Walker’s website, and Instagram feed, present thought-provoking questions against installations, iconic moments, performances, events and unexpected imagery – all facets of the Walker Art Center’s renown artistic programming. Connecting everything is a commitment to inquiry and spirit of joint discovery.
The campaign can be viewed on the dedicated Walker@75 website (walkerart.org/75), on the streets, and throughout the Walker Art Center.
About The D4D
The Department of the 4th Dimension is an award-winning company that’s dedicated to fostering a more inspired humanity through storytelling. The company partners with clients to craft branded content and digital media experiences that are meaningful to their businesses and grow culture. They innovate and engage audiences across a wide range of media: from local brands to Fortune 500 companies; from the side of a cell phone to the side of a skyscraper, and online branded content that has earned millions of plays with zero media dollars spent. Find out more about the company at: http://thed4d.com.
About The Walker Art Center
Internationally recognized as a leading arts venue, the Walker Art Center presents contemporary visual arts and design exhibitions; dance, theater, and music performances; and film screenings. The Walker hosts lectures, classes, and events for visitors of all ages with many of today’s leading figures from the worlds of art and culture. The building’s elegant brick tower, designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes, opened in 1971 and is complemented by a dynamic aluminum mesh and glass expansion by Pritzker Prize–winning Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, completed in 2005. Overall, the campus has 11 exhibition galleries, a cinema, the McGuire Theater, a series of indoor lounges and outdoor terraces, and a café, bar, and restaurant. The Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, a joint project of the Walker and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, is one of the crown jewels of the city’s park system. The 11-acre site, home to the iconic Spoonbridge and Cherry, showcases more than 40 works from the Walker’s renowned collection. http://www.walkerart.org
