“When most museums were closed due to the 2020 pandemic, The New York Times surveyed the best American museum websites:

‘Art is not just what’s on a museum’s walls. “Art” is a whole collection of experiences and ideas and principles, and a museum’s digital and physical programming have to operate as coequals.’The museum that understands this most fully is Walker Art Center, which a decade ago rolled out the most aggressive and accessible websites of any American museum.’

No C-suite Walker executive is more responsible for this achievement than David Galligan.

Deputy Director/COO from 1985-2002 and 2013-17, David founded the New Media Department – raising $3.7M and hiring the talented digital leaders to launch the first websites – then returned to relaunch the sites with more sophisticated technology. Simultaneously, he was managing large bricks-and-mortar projects: planning for the $125M Herzog & de Meuron addition that doubled Walker’s size and the $35 million renovation of Walker’s renown sculpture garden.

Given my long experience as Founder/CEO of Digital River, Inc., I was one of David’s principal Trustee thought partners on Walker’s Digital Futures Task Force, which was established at his initiative.

What drove David over two decades was the notion most-lauded by The Times – his conviction that digital and physical museums work together hand-in-glove to expand local and global access to collections, exhibitions, and educational programs.

Mission-driven but also concerned with the financial sustainability of online efforts, David focused on ways to use the digital platforms to help defray their considerable costs by increasing online revenues from memberships, contributions, gallery and event ticket sales, merchandising, and facility rentals.

The Times’ superlatives reflect David’s sustained leadership at the intersection of cultural mission and new technologies.”