VRA Conference Minneapolis 2024

FREE — No registration required!

Stretch your legs and join your fellow conferees in a visit to Minneapolis' Target Field, home of the Minnesota Twins. The ballpark environs feature numerous examples of public sculpture and mosaics (not all of them sports related!). On the way back to the Embassy Suites, view the oversize mural tribute to Minnesota music legend Bob Dylan. Allan Kohl will be your guide and raconteur. No need to sign up in advance — just meet in the hotel lobby outside the Emerald Bar (opposite the reception desk).

Register for this tour (separate from conference registration)

Limited to 30 people — Free
Tour participants are responsible for transportation to and from the location.
Address: 300 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55345

PRIOR REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Join Hennepin County Library Special Collections for a department tour at Minneapolis Central Library. The department manages the library’s archives and digitization program, with over 500 archival collections and a quarter-million digital items. Our digital collections are among the largest digital repositories in the state and are particularly rich in visual resources: Photographs, maps, posters, postcards, video recordings, restaurant menus, cartoons, school yearbooks, and property records. Attendees will tour the department workroom and archives, as well as our public service areas. The tour will cover equipment, technologies, user platforms, staffing and funding, material types, preservation measures, and usage patterns.

The tour will take place on the 4th floor of the Minneapolis Central Library and will take approximately 1 hour.

Register for this tour (separate from conference registration)

Limited to 30 people — Cost: $10
Tour participants are responsible for transportation to and from the location.
Address: 725 Vineland Pl, Minneapolis, MN 55403

PRIOR REGISTRATION REQUIRED 

Enjoy a private guided tour of The Walker Art Center with your colleagues!

The Walker Art Center is a renowned multidisciplinary arts institution that presents, collects, and supports the creation of groundbreaking work across the visual and performing arts, moving image, and design. Guided by the belief that art has the power to bring joy and solace and the ability to unite people through dialogue and shared experiences, the Walker engages communities through a dynamic array of exhibitions, performances, events, and initiatives. Its multiacre campus includes 65,000 sq. ft. of exhibition space, the state-of-the-art McGuire Theater and Walker Cinema, and ample green space that connects with the adjoining Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The Garden, a partnership with the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, is one of the first urban sculpture parks of its kind in the United States and home to the beloved Twin Cities landmark Spoonbridge and Cherry by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Recognized for its ambitious program and growing collection of more than 15,500 works, the Walker embraces emerging art forms and amplifies the work of artists from the Twin Cities and from across the country and the globe. Its broad spectrum of offerings makes it a lively and welcoming hub for artistic expression, creative innovation, and community connection.

During the tour, one Walker Educator will be assigned to each group of 10 people. The one-hour tour will take attendees through two exhibitions, with time to explore on your own after:

This Must Be the Place: Inside the Walker’s Collection
Grounded in the many meanings and ideas of “home,” This Must Be the Place is a major new exhibition showcasing works drawn from across the Walker’s dynamic collections. The presentation ranges from iconic pieces to works shown here for the first time, offering a place to experience different stories and perspectives, both broad and complex. The exhibition unfolds over three galleries, with spotlight sections that give emphasis to core ideas of community, the urban environment, and the natural landscape.

The section titled Kith and Kin explores representations of friends, family, and community and highlights recent acquisitions by Njideka Akunyili Crosby and Jennifer Packer, among others. The City centers on the urban environment and public spaces, whereas the Land will look at the natural landscape and forms of settlement. Across the galleries are visitor favorites, including paintings such as Franz Marc’s The Large Blue Horses (1911) and Edward Hopper’s Office at Night (1940). The reinstallation incorporates visitor feedback gathered from the prior exhibition Make Sense of This (2023), with special considerations to how works are presented and described to encourage understanding and engagement. Together, these works establish the collection as an evolving, living resource for communities and a home for hundreds of intersecting stories and voices.

Collection in Focus: Mungo Thomson
For nearly a decade, Mungo Thomson (US, b. 1969) has been creating a series of stop-motion animations that use reference encyclopedias, photo books, how-to guides, and production manuals as their raw material. The resulting videos, titled Time Life (2022) after their primary reference, showcase a wide array of human activity. Published from 1961 to 2003, the original Time-Life Books promised readers a way to “be an instant expert.” The publications shared knowledge on a range of subjects, from cooking to exercise, planting a garden to tying knots. Thomson considers those volumes, with their thousands of images, “an early analog internet.” Through high-resolution photography of the pages, Thomson brings the books to life. Set to a driving musical score, images flash by in a propulsive rhythm. Digitization becomes a method of transformation, the starting point for a conversation about history, cultural material, technology, and perception.

Watch The Walker's gallery rules video to help keep artworks and visitors safe.

Register for this tour (separate from conference registration)

Limited to 20 people — Free
Tour participants are responsible for transportation to and from the location.
Address: 2400 Third Ave S, Minneapolis, MN 55404

PRIOR REGISTRATION REQUIRED

Join us for an exclusive visit to the Visual Resources Studio at the Minneapolis Institute of Art. Participants will receive an overview of the latest techniques in cultural heritage imaging, including advanced methods for capturing, cataloging, storing and sharing reproduction media for works of art. This session is perfect for professionals interested in learning more about the current best practice for creating visual documentation of museum collections. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from experts and explore state-of-the-art imaging tools and processes.