The Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center are taking baby steps, or you might say kid steps toward the ultimate goal of raising funds and awareness about the new Art Center: The group is organizing a number of community events this fall, starting with an art-making event for kids on Sept. 21 at the Community Center and leading up to a silent auction in December that could include locally made art.

According to Stacy Desai, chairperson for the recently formed Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center, the group’s goal is raise $500,000 by the January opening of the new facility. The funds pay for a combination of building improvements, equipment purchases and a couple years of operating expenses “so that we can start building a strong foundation of programming,” added Desai.

A year ago, there was little talk of the possibility of an Art Center for Eden Prairie. That all changed last fall, when the family of Roger Sampson approached the city of Eden Prairie about donating a building at 7650 Equitable Drive as a possible Art Center for the city. Sampson passed away in 2006, but had used the 5400-square-foot as his own art studio, specifically for glass blowing.

The city’s Arts and Culture Commission looked into how much it would take to prepare the facility to be used for an art center along with what sort of programming it could offer. The city accepted the gift this winter with the goal of having the Art Center ready to use by January 2009.

Though the building was given as a gift, getting the program started is not without expenses. It was estimated that improvements to convert the facility to a public building would cost $326,000, while the operating costs for the first year would be about $78,000.

This summer, community volunteers formed the Friends of the Eden Prairie Art Center to help cover those costs. Working with the group is the Eden Prairie Foundation which acts as the operating organization because of its 501c3 status.

Desai said the group is looking for a volunteer to with expertise in applying for 501c3 status because eventually the art center group will want to apply for that status. Also needed would be a volunteer market researcher to survey the community’s programming interests. Desai said there is also a need for more grant writers to join the organization. Those interesting in donating funds can visit the newly launched Web site, www.edenprairieartcenter.com.

Desai is an organizational development consultant who has two sons with an interest in art. Desai noted she’s taken them to three different clay centers in Minneapolis. One son has taken classes at the Minneapolis Institute of Art.

“They both love drawing.”

She’s taken them everywhere in the city to take classes, but the idea that you could attend classes right around here with local artists, is a really neat opportunity for them, she added.

Kids from around the community will have an opportunity to make their own art at the Sept. 27 event at the Community Center. There, kids can make a pinwheel that could later be planted on the lawn of the Art Center building – something Desai described as an “art installation” on the front lawn.

The event will be held from 9 a.m. to noon on Sept. 27 at the upper levels of the Community Center and also include print making for note cards, said Desai. Further events for middle school students and teenagers will be planned for later in the fall. It will all lead up to a big fundraising event on Dec. 6 that could include a silent auction. The idea is that kids could donate the art they created at different events for the auction. The Eden Prairie Women of Today will be helping to organize that auction.

Programming

Working with the Friends of the Art Center is Lindsey Scott, newly hired Art Center Coordinator.

On her first month on the job, Scott has been working with the project architect to finish up plans for improvements to the Art Center. Additionally, she’s been ordering equipment for the ceramic studio and working with a local glass artist to prepare a glass blowing studio. She said construction on the building should be starting in September.

Scott has a degree from the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul and is working on her master’s in arts and cultural management from St. Mary’s University.

In addition to taking stock of building improvements and grant writing, she’s talking with teachers about scheduling classes for winter.

“Two of the biggest things will be the glass blowing studio and the pottery studio.”

Scott said the Art Center could also provide smaller metal-working classes, like jewelry-making and classes in painting and drawing. Along with that, there will be classes for children in subjects such as drawing, clay and Japanese calligraphy and origami.

She estimated they would probably have several pottery classes starting up in January, glassblowing classes and workshops, along with drawing and painting classes.

Because the building is not quite ready, the biggest challenge would be putting together the schedule for the winter, she noted.

“But it’s shaping up.”