Robert Lilligren Joins the Walker Art Center’s Board of Trustees

We are excited to announce that Robert Lilligren (White Earth Nation) Native American Community Development Institute’s (NACDI) President and CEO has accepted an invitation to serve on the Walker Art Center’s board of trustees. Robert will also be serving on the board’s Acquisition Committee, which partners with Walker curators to support the acquisitions of new works of art into the Walker’s permanent collection.

“After careful consideration, and dialogue with community members, I am honored to accept this position on the Walker Art Center board of trustees. I look forward to bringing Native voice and community perspective to my work,” said Robert Lilligren.

In 2021, the Walker commissioned Angela Two Stars (Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate) to create a sculpture in the Minneapolis sculpture garden. Okciyapi, a gathering and welcoming sculpture, makes poetic connections between land, water, language and people. Learn more about her piece and hear audio recordings featuring fluent speakers in Dakota and Lakota sharing traditional stories, insights, and remembrances here.

“I appreciate Robert Lilligren’s willingness to serve on the Walker Art Center’s board of trustees. This is an important step for the Walker in building relationships with Native artists and communities. I look forward to supporting Robert in this new role,” said Angela Two Stars, public artist and Vice President of Arts and Culture at NACDI.

Acquisitions of work by Indigenous artists, and particularly by Dakota and Ojibwe peoples, are part of a larger institutional commitment to reaffirm their commitment to a diversity of lived experiences. The Walker’s collection includes pieces by Frank Big Bear, Julie Buffalohead, Andrea Carlson, Jim Denomie, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds, Brad Kalhammer, George Morrison, Postcommodity, Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Dyani White Hawk, and Ernest Whiteman, among others. Within the past year, new acquisitions include works by Denomie, Jeffrey Gibson, Kay WalkingStick, and Marie Watt.

Recently, the Walker announced the upcoming major solo exhibition by former All My Relations Arts Gallery Director and Curator (2011 – 2015) Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota) titled, “Love Language.” Learn more about the upcoming exhibition here.

Members and citizens of Tribal Nations receive free admission to the Walker Art Center. On June 20, 2024, the Walker launched this new program as part of their ongoing institutional acknowledgment process, through reconciliation, systemic change, and healing in support of Indigenous peoples and the land itself.

We look forward to seeing the good Robert does on the board, and to the continued partnership of the Walker and the local Indigenous community.