Anne Murphy, Jan 6, 2025
A recent My Villager story covered Walker|West’s move into their new state-of-the-art facility.
As Walker West Music Academy settles into its new home at 650 Marshall Ave., its founders the Reverend Carl Walker and Grant West said, “The most important thing is that the spirit is coming with us.”
Walker and West started the academy in 1988 with a rented piano in a Summit-University duplex. “The magic, if you will, actually started when we first opened,” West said.
“We didn’t have a penny,” Walker said. “While we were there for only a short time, it gave us a start.”
A year or so later, Walker West moved to 777 Selby Ave. and then to 760 Selby Ave. in 2014. With the help of a $12 million capital campaign, the academy has renovated the former Wilder Adult Day Health facility on Marshall under the leadership of executive director Braxton Haulcy.
An open house will be held there from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, January 11. The event will include guided tours, musical activities, refreshments and the opportunity to register for spring classes. An official grand opening will follow in April to recognize supporters and funders.
Haulcy, who has been the school’s executive director since 2019, said he is determined to carry forth the Walker West spirit. “In our first committee meetings, I specified that we will not call this a building. We will not call this a facility. We will call this a cultural destination and community resource,” he said. “That was the whole crux of how we thought about our move.”
That idea is embedded in the academy’s mission, Haulcy added, which is to create a school “rooted in the African American cultural experience, where people of all ages and backgrounds gather to explore, perform and grow through music.”
“People used to say, ‘What is it about Walker West?’” West added. “‘People seem to be drawn to it.’ All along, it has been the culture. We’ve been asked, ‘How do you bottle that?’ And we tell them it’s like the slogan from the Prego sauce: ‘It’s in there.’”
West said the original vision came from a desire to help young people benefit from music and improve the neighborhood. “When we started, Selby was drug-infested,” he said. “I think we have given the community a new sense of vision. And when we look at kids participating in the programs, they have a sense of expectation and support. From the start, we told them, when you leave here today you will be a piano player. We have told them we guarantee you will grow.”
Walker said, “To see how the academy has evolved over the last 37 years has been so great. It’s so gratifying. Sometimes now I just pass by on Marshall to see if this is really Walker West. I ask, ‘Is this really happening to us?’ And yes, it is. To go inside is just amazing.”
Part of his amazement comes from the size of the new academy – nearly 16,000 square feet, or almost 10,000 more square feet than the last location. The new space includes 18 studio rooms for teaching instead of the previous eight. The space is intended to accommodate the academy’s 300 students and its expanding programming, including its Women in Jazz Initiative, Amazing Grace Chorus for seniors with Alzheimer’s disease and the Rondo Community Music Series.
“When it came time to work on the design for 650 Marshall, I talked about the way we teach in terms of call and response in the African American tradition – improvisation and ear training versus only eye training,” said Haulcy.
The academy selected Minneapolis-based Locus Architects for the job. “They listened,” he said.
Haulcy added that the academy’s new home offers state-of-the-art features like computers in each room, a digital music lab sponsored by Best Buy and recording studios.
“We wanted to make this a village, a community center where there is learning and listening and where students and mom and dad can come in,” Haulcy said. “We see Walker West as a destination for the Rondo community as far as an arts and culture corridor.”
The digital lab and recording studios will give students the opportunity to write music and songs. Walker West leaders hope to partner with the High School for the Recording Arts at 1166 University Ave. to help train students in sound technology and audio technology.
Also on the horizon is a performance hall at 650 Marshall Ave. Construction begins this month and should be finished between July and August, ahead of the 2025 Selby Avenue JazzFest.
Throughout the expansion process, Haulcy said, the idea that music is a healing factor for the African American community and all listeners has been a major consideration.
“Music is an attention modulator that automatically distracts from less pleasant emotions and reactions,” Haulcy said. “Music allows us to express emotion and passion and beauty, whether it’s through counting or syncopation, whether its andante, allegro, vivace. I’m not looking to develop Grammy Award-winning musicians. I’m looking to develop Grammy Award-winning humans because music makes us human.”
For more information, visit walkerwest.org.
