Everybody Wins with a Day of Fun at Garden Games, the Walker Art Center's Free First Saturday Event in September
Families can take in some fun in the sun during the last days of summer at the Walker Art Center’s Free First Saturday event Garden Games from 10 am–3 pm Saturday, September 6. Take part in a movement workshop with members of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company to create experimental dances inspired by the sculptures. From September 11–13, the Company will perform Merce Cunningham and John Cage’s monumental Ocean, a once-in-a-lifetime production presented at the bottom of the Rainbow Quarry, 150 feet below the earth’s surface, in Waite Park, MN.
Other highlights of Garden Games include puppetry performances by Open-Eye Figure Theatre; a chance to see the new prefabricated FlatPak in the Garden, located just behind the Cowles Conservatory; a series of fun outdoor contests, including the Spoon and Cherry race; and custom-design your very own board game at an art-making workshop led by artist-instructors Carmen and Jacques Elate.
Activities are free and available on a first-come, first-served basis from 10 am–3 pm. Gallery admission is free from 10 am–5 pm on the first Saturday of every month.
Free First Saturdays are for Families!
Activities recommended for kids ages 6–12.
Garden Games
Saturday, September 6, 10 am–3 pm, Free
Minneapolis Sculpture Garden
FlatPak in the Garden, 10 am–4 pm
The FlatPak House (2005/2008) is a 576-square-foot, one-room version of a larger prefabricated house designed by Minneapolis-based Lazor Office and first shown by the Walker Art Center in 2005 as part of the exhibition Some Assembly Required: Contemporary Prefabricated Houses. A modern wood and glass structure located just behind the Cowles Conservatory in the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, the FlatPak in the Garden is not only a work of art, but also functions as a space where visitors can obtain information about other pieces on view in the Garden and where art-making classes and workshops are held. Stop by and check it out.
Sponsored by US Bank. Furnishings generously provided by Blu Dot.
Family Tour: WAC Garden Packs, 10 am–2 pm
Available for free check-out near the FlatPak in the Garden
Celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden by checking out a new WAC Garden Pack. This kit contains fun hands-on activities to engage you and your child’s imagination on a self-guided tour of the Garden.
WAC Garden Packs are sponsored by US Bank. As part of the Walker Art Center’s Raising Creative Kids Initiative, additional support is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Art-Making for the Entire Family: Make a Mancala, 10 am–3 pm
Tent near Spoonbridge and Cherry
Learn the rules of the ancient game Mancala, then custom-design your very own game board with artist-instructors Carmen and Jacques Elate.
Garden Game 1: Spoon and Cherry Race, 10 am–3 pm
Near Spoonbridge and Cherry
Families speed to the finish line balancing a cherry on a spoon. Led by Paulino Brener.
Garden Game 2: Three-Legged Race, 10 am–3 pm
Near Spoonbridge and Cherry
How much balance and teamwork does it take for two bodies and three legs to win the race? Led by Anne and Jane Lee.
Garden Game 3: Mirror, Mirror, 10 am–3 pm
Near Double Curve
Partner up for a game of copycat inspired by the sculpture Double Curve by Ellsworth Kelly. Led by Susie Greenburg.
All games will break during the Puppet Performances.
Puppet Performance: Open-Eye Figure Theatre, 11 am and 1 pm
Belvedere
Join Open-Eye Figure Theatre’s Michael Sommers and Sue Haas and their talented puppetry gang for a performance of Little Grandpa’s Big Adventure as part of their summer Driveway Tour.
Movement Workshop: Merce Cunningham Dance Company, 12 noon and 2 pm
Meet near Spoonbridge and Cherry
Move around the Garden with Kevin Taylor and Patricia Lent, representatives of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, and create your own experimental dances in response to the sculptures.