Viso Resigns from Walker, Other News and Events

Olga Viso, Executive Director of the Walker Art Center, spoke at a press conference about Scaffold.

The Star Tribune is reporting that Olga Viso is resigning as the Walker Art Center’s executive director effective at the end of the year.

Viso has led the Walker since 2008. No reason was given for her resignation. Her decision to step down comes after the Walker finished the multi-million overhaul of its campus and the Sculpture Garden. Her resignation also comes on the heals of the controversy over the sculpture Scaffold, a piece that was added to the new Sculpture Garden and ultimately removed.

Scaffold, a two-story tall sculpture, included seven different historic gallows; it was supposed to be a commentary on capital punishment. However, the sculpture’s most prominent feature was the gallows used to hang 38 Dakota men in Mankato in the wake of the 1862 Dakota-U.S. War — the largest mass hanging in U.S. history. Neither the artist nor the Walker thought to ask Dakota people for their reaction, and as soon as it was put up it was engulfed in controversy and protest.

Dakota Language Scavenger Hunt at Mia Saturday

At the city’s other major art institution, the Mia is hosting a Dakota Language Scavenger Hunt this Saturday, Nov. 18, 1-3 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

Scavenger hunt participants will gather first to learn a few Dakhóta words. After that, they will tour the museum looking for works of art that incorporate the Dakhóta words they’ve just learned. Then the group will return to the original meeting spot to review their new words and discuss the artwork they’ve seen.

DOJ Will Prosecute Activists Who Try to Shut Down Pipelines

Reuters is reporting that U.S. Justice pledges to prosecute activists who damage pipelines.

Attempts to “damage or shut down” pipelines deprive communities of services and can put lives at risk, cost taxpayers millions of dollars, and threaten the environment, a department official said in a statement sent to Reuters.

The statement was in response to a letter sent last month to Attorney General Jeff Sessions by 84 U.S. representatives asking whether domestic terrorism law covers activists who shut oil pipelines in October 2016. The DOJ said it was reviewing the letter.