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Spoonbridge and Cherry

Walker Art Center, viewed from the garden grounds

The Walker Art Center commissioned Oldenburg and van Bruggen to create a sculpture.

When the Walker Art Center decided to build a sculpture garden, they commissioned an architect to design a plan. Architect Edward Larrabee Barnes was selected. He had already designed the new Walker Art Center building, which opened in 1971. He designed a fountain in a large, round pool in the northernmost portion of the original garden.

But the Walker staff decided the garden needed something to balance its strict design. The museum board commissioned Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen to design a fountain for a specific site, or place, in the garden. This is called site-specific sculpture.