I’m a thrifter and searcher in many areas of my life; I love “the hunt”. One thing I love to seek is paper ephemera: items not meant to be kept but saved anyway, and then forgotten. I poured through the books at thrift stores in my early 20s to find receipts, lists, letters, checks and notes. These formed for me an immediate and seemingly random tie to another person and often to another time; a link through a piece of paper.
I recently purchased some art exhibition booklets from the 1960s and 1970s. Within one, a Walker Art Center publication to accompany the Charles Biederman Structurist relief exhibition in 1965, I found a receipt of delivery to Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Dayton dated May 10, 1965. It was for Structurist Relief, Red Wing #11; Painted aluminum; 31 ⅜ x 38 11/16 x 6 ⅛. The receipt was typed on a typewriter. Out of curiosity, I looked up the piece online and realized that I had seen it before, or one like it. As it turns out, the Daytons gave the piece to the Walker in 1998.
The Dayton name sounded familiar. I continued to poke around online and found out the piece was sold to Kenneth and Judy Dayton, and was not surprised to find that Mr. and Mrs. Dayton had a rich history of philanthropy and gifted many works to the Walker. That explained their familiar name; I had likely seen it next to many works of art during visits to the museum.
I went on to read that not only did Mrs. Dayton serve as a member of the Walker Art Center board of trustees, she also served in the capacity of both vice president and president. I was then shocked and delighted to find this particular delivery receipt in my possession was for a purchase from her first visit to the Walker, tucked into her Charles Biederman exhibition booklet. It seems that this experience sparked a lifelong vocation for her, and finding the receipt helped me track down the story and contemplate its link to my own personal art journey.
Inspiration comes in many forms. This one piece of paper was ultimately destined for the trash, yet it was saved by accident. It represents the physical movement of an art piece to a special private collector, but it means so much more. It represents the first purchase of an individual with such immense interest in the museum and in modern art that it led her to five decades of dedication.
The Walker Art Center was one of the most influential places I had as a young artist and continues to be so today, as I hone my understanding of modern art and why I make what I make. The presence of an influential woman in a space traditionally dominated by male figures is inspiring. I am so grateful for all this modern art hub has to offer, and I owe thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Dayton and people like her.