Walker|West Music Academy is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create a music learning community rooted in the African-American cultural experience where people of all ages and backgrounds can gather, explore and “grow through music.”

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Walker|West was looking for a fresh start when the space formerly occupied by the College of Visual Arts opened up across the street from their old location at 777 Selby Avenue. Moving to the new space gave Walker|West the extra space needed to move forward with a new vision for their organization. 

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Working on an aggressive timeline, Welsh Construction was brought in to build a new 100-seat performance space, lesson rooms and community conference room. The performance space allows them to host their own recitals, clinics and events, as well as open it up to the community and other nonprofits as an added bonus. 

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The project was financed in part by St. Paul’s Cultural STAR program, the McKnight Foundation, the St. Paul Foundation and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council.

 

Four years later, Welsh was brought in again to give the exterior of their building a face-lift, showing off the creative use of the space and enriching Selby Avenue. Custom enamel art metal panels provided by local artist Ta-Coumba Aiken span the exterior of the building. New lighting, signage and paint were also added.

 

 

“Welsh and their team of highly skilled workers

exceeded our expectations and went above and beyond

to carefully plan and execute our project. 

Simply put, Welsh made our project come to life.”
 

- Peter E. Leggett,

former Executive Director