Party In/The Garden: Walker Art Center’s Annual Benefit Returns In-Person and for the First Time, Virtually
Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen, Spoonbridge and Cherry, 1985–1988, at Avant Garden, Walker Art Center, September 21, 2013; Courtney Perry/Special to the Star Tribune.
Returning to the Walker September 18th, Party In/The Garden promises a signature Walker party experience with gourmet food, craft cocktails, a premiere art auction, an intimate performance by Dessa, and a dance party with DJ sets by DJ Shannon Blowtorch and the legendary Questlove. For the first time, the Walker’s annual benefit experience offers opportunities to participate in-person as well as virtually, allowing guests to take part from around the world.
Proceeds from Party In/The Garden support the Walker Art Center’s award-winning artistic and educational programs and help us continue to fulfill our mission as a catalyst for the creative expression of artists and the active engagement of audiences.
Tickets on sale July 15 at 11am online or call 612.375.7641 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm).
Party In/The Garden
Saturday, Sep 18, 2021
5 pm
Party In: A House Party
Global Party (Free)
Enjoy the on-demand virtual program, then bring the dance party to your own backyard.
The Garden: A Sculpture Garden Party (Limited Availability)
Trendsetter ($10,000)
Package for 10 guests // Cocktail reception, high-top table with dinner, drink service, premiere silent art auction, live program and entertainment by Dessa with strings, and a limited-edition artwork by a Walker collection artist (Estimated benefits value $3,650).
Groundbreaker ($17,500)
Package for 10 guests // All of the above at a seated table with full service (Estimated benefits value $3,650).
Insider ($125)
8:30pm Single ticket to indoor/outdoor street party with DJ Shannon Blowtorch and Questlove
Add-on: Bottle Service Lounge ($2,500)
8:30pm Unlimited drinks and reserved seating by dance floor for up to six ticket holders
Dessa. Photo courtesy of the artist.
ABOUT DESSA
Singer, rapper, and writer Dessa has made a career of bucking genres and defying expectations—her résumé as a musician includes performances at Lollapalooza and Glastonbury, co-compositions for 100-voice choir, performances with the Minnesota Orchestra, and top-200 entries on the Billboard charts. She contributed to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape: her track, “Congratulations,” has notched over 16 million streams. As a writer, she’s been published by The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler, broadcast by Minnesota Public Radio, and published a memoir-in-essays (My Own Devices, 2018) in addition to two literary collections. As a speaker, Dessa has delivered keynote speeches and presentations on art, science, and entrepreneurship; guest lectures at universities and colleges across the US; and a TED Talk about her science experiment on how to fall out of love. She’s also the host of Deeply Human, a podcast created by the BBC and American Public Media. Dessa has been covered by Pitchfork, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal amongst others. The LA Times says she “sounds like no one else.” The Utne Reader calls her a “one-woman powerhouse.” On the stage and on the page, Dessa’s style is defined by ferocity, wit, tenderness, and candor.
Questlove. Image courtesy of the artist. |
ABOUT QUESTLOVE
Drummer, DJ, producer, culinary entrepreneur, New York Times best-selling author, and member of The Roots – Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, is the unmistakable heartbeat of Philadelphia’s most influential hip-hop group. He is the Musical Director for The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where his beloved Roots crew serves as house band. Beyond that, this 5-time GRAMMY Award winning musician’s indisputable reputation has landed him musical directing positions with everyone from D’Angelo to Eminem to Jay-Z. Questlove has also released multiple books including the New York Times bestsellers Mo’ Meta Blues and Creative Quest, GRAMMY nominated audio book Creative Quest, Soul Train: The Music, Dance and Style of a Generation, James Beard Award nominated somethingtofoodabout and most recently Mixtape Potluck.
Questlove and Black Thought of The Roots have Executive Produced the acclaimed documentary series, Hip-Hop: The Songs The Shook America on AMC under their production company, Two One Five Entertainment which recently announced a first-look deal with Universal Television to develop scripted and non-scripted programming. Questlove will serve as executive producer for upcoming documentary, The League, centered on the tumultuous journey of Negro league baseball. He also made his directorial debut with the acclaimed feature documentary Summer of Soul, which explores the legendary 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. The film premiered on the opening night of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in January, where it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award for Best U.S. Documentary. The film most recently broke the record for the highest selling documentary to come out of Sundance when it was acquired by Searchlight/Hulu. Questlove is also set to direct the upcoming Sly Stone feature documentary.
Questlove has cemented himself as one of the most sought-after DJs in pop-culture with a resume that includes gigs for The Academy Awards, Golden Globes, The White House, Cartier, and hotels and nightclubs around the world. After streaming nearly 300 virtual DJ sets in 2020, he has used this momentum to launch his own Twitch show called GO DJ which champions sets from renowned international peers.
Additionally, Questlove served as the Executive Music Producer and Composer on the A&E Miniseries Roots. He also scored Chris Rock’s film, Top Five and co-produced the GRAMMY Award winning Original Broadway Cast Recording of Hamilton. Questlove also hosts his own acclaimed podcast Questlove Supreme on iHeart. Questlove co-starred in Disney Pixar’s Golden Globe-winning animated feature Soul, which landed him an NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance.
ABOUT DJ SHANNON BLOWTORCH
Shannon Blowtorch is an award winning, DJ, promoter, professional party thrower, sound engineer, businesswoman, and entertainment consultant. She’s a DJ who was named by the City Pages and Star Tribune as being the Best Club DJ multiple times, as well as making the Suntimes top 100 DJs. She’s been featured in Curve magazine, and 100 woman we love in Go Magazine a few occasions. She currently has a weekly Saturday night show (at midnight) on MPR’s 89.3 The Current. She was the DJ for GRRRL PRTY and has opened for international acts: Salt N Peppa, Madonna, Juicy J, & Peaches to name a few. Also, playing at Prince’s Paisley Park and the house DJ for the X Games 2017, is now curating the infamous Dre Day celebration. Along with competing in the world renowned Red Bull The3style competition, Shannon Blowtorch is one of the hottest DJ in the Twin Cities. Known not only for her professionalism, but her eclectic music collections, and her incredible ability to read a crowd to keep the party bumping.
She has toured nationally and internationally with groups such as Peaches, the Gossip, MEN, and CSS and has played for the Bogota Festival of Contemporary Dance Impulsos in Bogota, Colombia and also played in Paris at Theatre L’etoile du nord in October 2013.
Party In/The Garden 2021 Co-Chairs
Tara Dev
Lili Hall
Linda Singh