Walker West Music Academy set to open its new space in St. Paul

Walker West Music Academy in St Paul is sharing its new digs with the region in a two-day grand opening this weekend part of ushering in the music center s next stage as a destination for music programing in the Twin Cities The academy which is in the midst of a million capital campaign million has been raised so far moved into the new building at Marshall Ave in the beginning of Sporting a bold green and red pattern outside its architectural and interior design speaks to the African American cultural heritage of the organization As you walk into the lobby a mural greets you showcasing a collage of photographs taken by Walker West s in-house photographer Benny Moreno The founders the Rev Carl Walker and Grant West are seen in the center of a digital mural with the school s youngest students learning their instruments in the first ring of photos Further out the mural depicts more advanced students experiencing the happiness of playing The mural then wraps around the front desk where the last group of images depict older students and adults from the Walker West society performing According to Earl Ross who heads the strings locality at Walker West the mural reflects the organization s desire to reflect wonderment gratification and excellence at the academy Another series of murals designed by Black British-born New York- and Los Angeles-based visual artist Shantell Martin pops up in different places around the building including its administrative area accent walls in the teaching area and covering the seating in two survey nooks in the building Martin s designs are playful and full of movement Mixing together poetic text and dancing lines her artwork has a music of its own We are very excited to have her art represented in the new space Ross revealed According to Executive Director Braxton Haulcy Walker West had a committee that went through an RFP process to find an architecture firm for the new design One of the things we really required to make sure that the architects would really be able to do is put together an African American design within the building he reported They chose Locus Architecture to lead the design process The firm worked with the organization to visualize a Black cultural aesthetic throughout the building When I talked to the architects they needed me to explain African American values to them in my words Haulcy recalled As part of that conversation Haulcy talked about call and response a tradition common in the Black church that has its roots in sub-Saharan African way of life I revealed if you want to design something you need to look at call and response Haulcy declared The architects took that suggestion to heart and used it as inspiration for the way they designed the instruction studios The doorways alternate jutting out into the hallway and then away from it creating a physical representation of the call and response so familiar in Black music In all the renovation includes studios an expansion from their previous space The building has space for private and group lessons a digital music production lab and a large multi-use space that Walker West uses for performances and teaching in addition to meeting and office space and a front lobby Also underway Walker West will soon have a -seat limit performance hall as well as an outdoor pavilion with a bandshell We re going to utilize that green space to do concerts outside Haulcy mentioned We re going to allow the area to use the space as well because it s not only a music school it s a locality gathering space Walker West s new building is the latest stage of a collaboration begun in by Walker and West who had both been separately teaching piano lessons and decided to bring their businesses together They met at a church function in South St Paul where they were leading separate choirs I thought that his choir was the best thing going Walker explained So I mentioned Hey We better start talking West had known of Walker s playing so much so that he could recognize if someone had studied piano with the musician His music smiles West recalled The two got a lease for the lower part of a duplex on Hague Avenue and soon added a drum lecturer to their new music school The sound of students learning music didn t work too well for the upstairs neighbors and after a year they were petitioned to leave They headed for Selby Avenue where they opened a space in an old barbecue restaurant By they were federally recognized as a nonprofit and within a decade had added a computer-music lab and offered private instruction and presented various performance groups In they moved across Selby Avenue into classrooms once used by the School of Visual Arts There they were able to adapt the space to their necessities but because they had a lease they didn t have the same freedom as owning a space That s changed now Exterior of Walker West Music Academy Credit Benny Moreno When we walk into this place there s so much of our DNA in here West reported It s descriptive of our journey It s descriptive of where we are now Walker West serves a total of more than students including young people it reaches through its programs in schools across the state It gives out in scholarship money for tuition each year and besides its programs for school-age children also offers early childhood classes and programs the Amazing Grace Chorus a dementia-friendly choir for elders When Walker walks into the new building and sees children trilling and dancing and playing he s struck by how far the organization has come I just get a sense of excitement every time I come here he disclosed I know I m going to see something different just like it is with music Each day there is a new dream that has occurred and every time it s a good one Walker revealed the academy s new spaces give him a sense of pride It gives me a sense of something that now has occurred in the region that is ours he announced My gosh it just feels good to say this is something that started with a dream and look where it is now The grand opening programs take place Friday April from p m to p m with a ribbon cutting ceremony remarks by Walker West leadership and partners and a performance by the Kamoinge Strings Then on Saturday from a m to p m performances by the Walker West Jazz Ensemble the Amazing Grace Chorus and learner string players will take place in addition to facility tours poetry and food trucks More information on the grand opening can be ascertained here The post Walker West Music Academy set to open its new space in St Paul appeared first on MinnPost