Art abounds in Eden Prairie

Go just about anywhere in Eden Prairie, and you’ll likely encounter a piece of public art. The art does more than add beauty to the city. It builds community, sparks conversations and creates a sense of place. 

“Our goal is to infuse art into the daily lives of the residents and visitors here in Eden Prairie,” said Lori Brink, the city’s recreation services manager.

A colorful ground mural invites children to a playground adventure. Whimsical bird sculptures enchant and educate. A thought-provoking sculpture captures the imagination.

Learn more about Eden Prairie artists Susan Feigenbaum and Jenna Myrland, who have permanent installations in the city’s public art program. Explore their work and artistic journeys.

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City and community leaders intentionally plan for art  to be discovered in a variety of places to the surprise and delight of residents and visitors.

A bronze sculpture of a figure in a yoga pose injects a sense of calm into the bustle of the Eden Prairie Community Center. “Who would expect to see a lovely bronze sculpture in a fitness facility? But in Eden Prairie, we want that to happen,” said Brink.

Colorful utility and storage boxes are wrapped in art at some of the city’s athletic fields to become art objects. “You don’t expect to see original art when you go to a lacrosse field, but you’re going to come across it here,” said Brink. “We really like to have it be in expected and unexpected places.” 

Creating creative opportunities

In recent years, the city has intentionally planned art in new projects. The renovated pool area at the community center and the Staring Lake Park building both include mosaics that were planned as part of the design. A major road improvement project along Preserve Boulevard called for large-scale sculptures representing Minnesota native grasses to line the boulevard. Those were installed in 2020.

The extension of the Southwest LRT Green Line into Eden Prairie is creating future opportunities for public art. “We’re looking at how we can infuse art into those station locations to create a real sense of place when someone arrives in Eden Prairie,” Brink said.

Meanwhile, concrete bridge piers supporting the line near Prairie Center and Technology drives remind drivers and pedestrians of Eden Prairie’s rich natural heritage. Bas-relief panels “interpret different kinds of native plant life and animal life in keeping with the nature in that area,” Brink said. Ethereal blue light bathes the piers at night.

One keystone of Eden Prairie’s public art program is the Rotating Art Series. Art pieces are chosen through a juried process each spring and are displayed for a year.  The rotating pieces have included paintings, sculptures, murals, and installations and have appeared in city buildings as well as many outdoor venues such as Purgatory Creek Park.

“The rotating program is valuable to us because it sparks new conversations every year,” Brink said.

The city’s plan also includes private development projects, according to Brink. The city has worked alongside Paravel Apartments and Elevate apartments to include sculptures that can also be seen from the street.

 

Dollars and sensibilities

“What really kicked this off a number of years ago was a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and that really was a catalyst for this,” Brink said. “Since then, funding for the art has derived from a variety of grants received by the city. We have also received grants from the Eden Prairie Community Foundation over the years.

“The city really appreciates the partnership with private developments to infuse art as a part of their projects and it only adds to the quality of life for everybody in Eden Prairie,” Brink continued. “We couldn’t have done what we’ve done without the support of organizations like the Community Foundation and donors in our community.”

All public art is chosen through a juried process. A committee typically puts out a “call for art” through local networks that can reach nationwide.

“We haven’t necessarily limited it to be required to be a Minnesota artist, so we often have received proposals from other places,” Brink said. “But we’re really happy when they are local and most of them happen to be. It’s a blind process – we don’t know who the artist is. We see examples of their work in other communities and we look at what they might propose for our community.” 

Each committee member scores each proposal on a point scale based on specific criteria. “It’s a process that we replicate each time and has resulted in some really good outcomes,” Brink said. Committees may include “people from the planning department, engineering, parks and recreation, the arts supervisor and sometimes representatives of a private development.”

Since many of the art pieces are installed outdoors, durability is an important criteria. One thing committee members must consider in a proposal is “whether the artist understands what a Minnesota winter is really like,” Brink said.

Safety is also important. “Is this a sculpture a kid could try to climb on and if so, is it safe?” she said. “We think about all of those things as well.”

Minnesota weather may also inspire art. For example, “At the entrance of the community center, there’s a sculpture piece in the circle drive that was designed to be like a kinetic sculpture so when it’s windy, those grasses are supposed to move with the wind. That’s part of the design,” Brink said.

Perhaps not surprisingly, themes of nature tend to dominate Eden Prairie’s public art.

Brink has served on a number of committees. She has noticed that even artists from outside the area recognize the richness of Eden Prairie’s natural resources – lakes, creeks, parks, to name a few.

“It’s not like we’ve necessarily always asked for that, but it’s kind of how artists might view Eden Prairie and what can and should be reflected here,” she said.

A city’s identity

The fact that public art is included in the city’s comprehensive plan says a lot about Eden Prairie.

“In terms of thinking about art, our city’s commitment to the quality of life of our residents, and the beauty that art can add to a space or a community is great,” Brink said. “Also art can spark community conversation and it can create a sense of welcoming.” 

As an example, Brink cites a previous rotating exhibit that was installed from 2020 to 2022 at Purgatory Creek Park called “First Person Plural.” The series of 8-by-8-foot portraits recognized the immigrant journey of each subject through interviews that could be accessed with a QR code.

“Art can take a lot of forms,” she said. “It can be storytelling and can help build community in that way as well. So we like to keep an open mind about what can qualify and be considered public art, and that helps us to create a real diversity of experiences for people, as well.” 

Whether through rotating or permanent pieces, Brink sees public art as a significant part of the Eden Prairie landscape both now and in the future.

“There are a number of ways that we try to infuse art into people’s lives as they move through our city,” she said. “If they’re here for a softball tournament at Miller Park, they’re going to come across a utility box that’s wrapped in original art. Of if they come to our community center for a swim meet, they’re going to experience a number of art experiences there too.

“It’s that feeling of place-making with art. That Eden Prairie is a special place, and it’s a place that honors creativity and self expression.”