PAGE 18 - INTER-COUNTY LEADER - NORTHERN CURRENTS, SECTION B- MAY 9, 2007
Franconia Sculpture Park working to add indoor studios 2007 Summer of Art begins FRANCONIA, Minn—When an outdoor sculpture park decides to pack up its 70-plus sculptures and move to a new home, it needs three things to succeed: a 20-ton crane, a hot pink forklift, and a highly caffeinated artistic director. In December 2006, Franconia Sculpture Park quietly moved one-half mile west of its original location near Taylors Falls, Minn. As the warm weather returns, Franconia Sculpture Park invites everyone to visit the new park at the corner of Hwys. 8 and 95, meet the artists, and enjoy a season of entertaining and educational events. Since launching its first exhibition in 1996, Franconia Sculpture Park has earned a national reputation for its world-class exhibitions and can-do attitude, supporting over 400 artists in creating wondrous works of monumental sculpture. The public has responded in droves, with 50,000 people visiting the park each year. To accommodate its success, in 2005 FSP purchased 20 acres in Franconia, Minn. With artists already working at the park, the new location promises to exhibit the same audacious, high-quality sculpture that has made it “Minnesota’s ultimate roadside attraction.” “This is Franconia’s big year,” said John Hock, artistic director. “We couldn’t ask for a better location. We’ve got more room for the artists, more space for sculptures, and we can finally build an arts center for the community.” FSP is currently working with a local architecture firm, Room, Inc. to build an environmentally-conscious arts center that will provide indoor studios, classroom space for community workshops, and a gallery for showing a wide range of visual arts. With this new facility, FSP will expand its programs to year-round and include painters and multimedia artists. For its first full season at the new location, FSP has selected artists from Minnesota, across the country, and abroad, to create work for the park. Eight artists have been selected to receive FSP/Jerome Emerging Artist Fellowships, five professional sculptors have been invited to work as open studio artists, with an additional 11 intern artists given the opportunity to experience life as a working artist. On June 23, renowned cast metal artist Carol Lambert, UK, will lead a dozen artists in a daylong Hot Metal Pour that is free and open to the public. Programs and events in 2007 •Guided Tours, May-October. Scheduled tours are available every Sunday at 2 p.m. (beginning in June), and group tours are available by appointment. Free. •Community Collaboration/Hot Metal Pour 2007, Saturday, June 23, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Experience the pri-
This photo is of a sculpture by R o b e r t Ressler.
This is a photo of kids working on a sculpture. — Photos submitted mal thrill of direct casting of metal sculptures by local, national and international artists. Children and adults are invited to make their own small sculptures using scratch molds. Free, with a small fee for molds. •3D Saturday Symposiums, Saturday nights, June 9, July 14, Aug. 11, Sept. 8, Oct. 13, 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. FSP artists and Minnesota’s most interesting arts critics converge for a slide presentation followed by a lively dialogue open to the public. There is a fee of $8 for BBQ afterwards. •Kids Make Sculpture Workshops, Saturdays, July 7, 21, and Aug. 18, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Kids (ages 5-18) work with artists to create their own sculptures. $20/person. Reservations accepted as of June 1. Call or e-mail kidsmakesculpture@franconia.org. •Fall Arts and Music Festival. Saturday, Sept. 15, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Celebrate Franconia Sculpture Park’s new home and 2007 sculpture installations with a day of music, dance, puppetry and great food. Free. Available on weekends this summer is Tabasqueño Terco! Serving authentic, homemade Mexican food. Franconia Sculpture Park has forged a national identity as the Midwest’s premier outdoor sculpture park, offering a unique combination of work, residence, and
exhibition space for emerging and established artists. FSP encourages audience appreciation and participation in sculpture through dawn-to-dusk visiting hours, 365 days a year, in a relaxed, informal setting where people are invited to watch and talk with artists as they work. FSP augments its exhibitions with educational and outreach programs that include weekly scheduled docent tours, school partnerships, Kids Make Sculpture Workshops, specific programs for at-risk youth, Hot Metal Pour, Three Dimensional Saturday Night Symposiums, and partnerships with other like-minded organizations. Franconia Sculpture Park is supported in part by generous donations from the McKnight Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Hugh J. Andersen Foundation, Elmer L. and Eleanor J. Andersen Foundation, Athena Foundation, 3M Innovation Award in the Arts from COMPAS, Constance Mayeron-Cowles and Charles Fuller Cowles Foundation, East Central Regional Development Commission and the East Central Arts Council as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature, HRK Foundation, Hynnek Fund of HRK Foundation, Lownade Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, through an appropriation by the Minnesota State Legislature and by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, Sage Cleveland Foundation, Slumberland, St. Croix Valley Community Foundation with funds from the Wisconsin Arts Board/State of Wisconsin, Von Blon Family Charitable Foundation, Woodrill Foundation, Woodbury Foundation and many individual donors. – submitted