Admit it – you’ve cried during a movie. This experience of feeling what someone else is feeling, even a fictional character, or to let our emotions show is the result of being able to connect with emotion. That’s the purpose of art, to create a form of communication that allows us to experience emotion.
When we think of emotion, love is probably our first thought. Art creates a conduit to how we feel about love, using colors and shapes such as red hearts. Yet love can be shown beyond the traditional forms of expression – you might find that a gesture can inspire love.
In 2008, the family of Roger Sampson donated a building that has become the Eden Prairie Art Center. This donation is the single largest gift ever made to the City of Eden Prairie.
Roger used the building to create art. By donating it to Eden Prairie, his family hoped to create a space that could be used by others to create their own art. The Center offers open studio time where residents can visit the encouraging setting to draw, paint, sculpt – even to fuse glass. People of all ages are welcome and it’s common to see children’s birthday parties or group outings or groups of seniors exercising their creativity at the Center.
PUBLIC ART IN EDEN PRAIRIE
In 2019, three public art sculptures were placed in Eden Prairie thanks to a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. The sculptures were part of the City’s plan for making public art part of Eden Prairie’s future. Using additional grants from the NEA, the City also transformed eight storage and utility boxes into permanent public art. Each design comes from a Minnesota artist chosen through an application process.
Through the art program, the City can beautify functional items that might be considered an eyesore. Covering the boxes with weather-resistant material that serves as a canvas for artwork extends the life of the equipment and, more importantly, allows for the discovery of art in what many would consider unexpected places.
Eden Prairie included public art in its planning process because doing so meets several City Council goals, including Sense of Community, Preserved and Beautiful Environment and Innovative and Sustainable Practices, as well as the City’s comprehensive plan, Aspire Eden Prairie 2040. Public art is one of the elements identified in the Aspire plan’s vision for the future of Eden Prairie, with focus groups and workshops identifying desired locations for public art installations throughout the City.
If the purpose of art is communicate emotion, then Eden Prairie is alive and well. By providing opportunities to view art, the City is creating opportunities to have a community that is more than just a place to sleep, work and shop. City leaders are planning on a future that has love, inspiration, and beauty as part of our everyday life.
If you want to make your own art, to communicate the emotion that you feel in the hope of connecting with others, Eden Prairie has an Art Center right down the street. If you are more passive, sit back and enjoy the public art the City provides. Either way, it’s a beautiful world.
The Eden Prairie Art Center is located at 7650 Equitable Drive, Eden Prairie. Please call for hours and information about available services.
Box Locations and Artists
- Homeward Hills Park: Kevin McLaughlin
- Miller Park: Cathy Durso, Keren Kroul, Thomas Putzier and Emily Taylor
- Miracle League Field: Mollie Rae Miller
- Pioneer Park: Geno Okok
- Riley Lake Park: Angela Davis