Facility could be open by January 2009

By January of next year, Eden Prairie could be opening the doors of its very own art center. Tuesday evening, the City Council accepted the donation of a building that would serve as that center.

“You have done a great thing for this community,” said Kathy Nelson to the family of Roger Sampson, who were in attendance.

Last fall, the Sampson family approached the city of Eden Prairie about the possibility of using the building, at 7650 Equitable Drive, as an art center. Sampson, who passed away in 2006, used the facility as his studio.

Before deciding to accept the donation, council members tasked members of the city’s Arts and Culture Commission to come up with a plan to set up Eden Prairie’s own art center. Working on an intense schedule and a 60-day deadline, the commission members did just that Tuesday evening and presented their report to the City Council.

Getting started

“Where we’re starting out ahead is the building that we would be receiving has already been used as an art studio – it’s set up for one,” said Art and Culture Commission Chair Ann Rorem, in an interview.

During Tuesday’s presentation, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer noted that the Sampson facility would very much be an art-making facility, not necessarily a place that would lend itself to performing arts.

What the facility does lend itself to could be glass blowing (a specialty of Roger Sampson). According to the task force report, “the art center would offer a wide range of art classes, workshops and activities for people of all ages and abilities. The hours of operation of the art center would correspond with the days and times the building is programmed, this would be similar to the Outdoor Center operation, which is open when the building is programmed, scheduled for special programs including homeschool groups, scout groups, birthday parties and rentals.”

The start-up costs for an art center would be $326,000, which would pay for some space for parking, the addition of an accessible restroom and other changes to bring the building up to city code. As part of the operations, the city would hire a coordinator to run the programming for the center. Operations deficit for the first year is estimated to come in at $78,000.

The nearest art centers to Eden Prairie include Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Edina and Bloomington. The task force report included summaries of other community art centers.

All offer a different level of programming and take different approach to how the art center is set up.

“It’s very difficult to compare these different art centers,” said Lotthammer during the presentation.

Community support

The financial picture the task force report presented did not factor in possible grants to fund the facility.

“We really think that even though this is a conservative approach, that any grant funding, any donation, any fundraising activities would just make the financial picture look even better,” said Lotthammer.

In general, expenses would exceed operating revenue.

“That’s what we’ve seen for many of the art centers around us,” Lotthammer said.

“But we could narrow this gap through some of those fundraising or grant activities,” he added.

Both Mayor Phil Young and Council Member Jon Duckstad expressed a preference for the city to seek out that funding.

City Manager Scott Neal explained that the city could fund the capital costs from the Settler’s West development fund, which currently has about $400,000.

But, Neal noted, before they look to spend, “We would, I think be well advised to look to the community for a fundraising effort.”

One thing Neal recommended would be to set up a “friends of an art center” organization which could act as a fundraising agent.

A gift

Eden Prairie finds itself one step ahead compared to most communities in that it now has the facility that is basically equipped to be an art center.

 The next step will likely include fundraising and facility upgrades. According to Lotthammer, the city hopes to get the art center open to the public by January of 2009.

In the meantime, they’ve had people coming up to them on a weekly basis with an interest in teaching.

 “It’s those instructors and instructors like Ann [Rorem] that will make this successful,” said Lotthammer.

The building attracts those types of instructors, he added.

“The instructors attract the people.”

Mayor Young said his and the council’s hope is that they have an art center “which will honor the memory of Roger Sampson.”

After the City Council accepted the donation, the room filled with applause.

Earlier on, Council Member Sherry Butcher noted that part of the creativity is that we don’t know exactly what the art center will be just yet.

It’s still forming, she noted, that’s the creative part of it.

This art center will change over the years “to meet the needs of the community,” she said, “that’s really exciting,”

In thanking the Sampson family (Elaine Sampson, Warren Sampson and Anne Schuerger), Butcher noted that Eden Prairie has a community of artists who have looked for a venue to teach, to exhibit and to learn from other artists.

“It’s just a perfect, perfect location for this creativity to happen in this community,” she said.