I’ve recently started work at the Walker as its grassroots coordinator, advocating for the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board’s legislative bonding request to restore and preserve the 22-year-old Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. (If you have yet to show your support for the project, please visit http://garden.walkerart.org/bonding  to learn more and to write your legislator.) As part of this effort, I’ve been keeping close track of goings-on at the Capitol – which are especially fascinating this year – and also, of course, tracking where the Sculpture Garden bonding request fits within the overall legislative process.

Which bonding projects are being funded?

Bonding projects, in part, are being selected this year because of the jobs they will create both for the project and following its completion, as well as the “shovel readiness” of the effort. The Sculpture Garden renovation is one such project: most of the work would be completed in 2010; it would generate 170 construction and landscaping jobs (90%+ being union labor); and preserve one of Minnesota’s iconic tourist destinations (45% of visitors are tourists, who bring $16 million in direct tourist spending into the economy each year). (Read more details in this previous blog post.)

So, in an effort to get bonding projects underway and get folks back to work as soon as possible, the ordinary legislative process for introducing a bonding bill started quite early, and has been put on a fast track.

What does “fast-track” mean when it comes to the state legislature?

A legislative process that normally takes months is being compressed into just a few weeks—which makes public input and action all the more crucial. This past week was an important one, as both the House and Senate Capital Investment committees submitted their bills. The good news is that the Sculpture Garden renovation is in both bills; the bad news is that the commitments to the project so far are well below what is necessary to preserve our Minnesota landmark. The Sculpture Garden renovation’s full request was $8.5 million; the House and Senate submitted bills with bonding support at $200,000 and $2 million respectively. 

So what happens now?

In the next week a 10-member House-Senate conference committee will be assembled that will likely begin convening on Tuesday, February 16. This conference committee reports back to the floors of both the House and Senate within a couple days with their recommendations on how to reconcile the two proposals. The entire legislature then votes on the bill and sends it to the Governor.

In the end, the process for a bonding bill is like a “Which Way” Book: It’s nearly impossible to predict the outcome. That said, during critical junctures—like the coming weeks—the chances of success at the legislature are increased dramatically when constituents from all over the state weigh in.

Show Your Support!

It’s especially important to make your voice heard—now—regarding the bonding measure to restore the Sculpture Garden. The legislative process is hard, but advocacy is easy.  Write your legislators today! It will only take a minute using our online email tool, but that minute could make all the difference in the bonding approval process. We need to preserve our iconic Minnesota garden with a cherry on top!

The Minnesota State Legislature is voting in the next few weeks on a bonding measure that could fund a badly needed renovation of the 22-year-old Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. The article below, from the upcoming issue of Walker magazine, outlines the details. 

Please take action by visiting http://garden.walkerart.org/bonding today. It’s quick, easy and will make all the difference.

Welcoming more than 7 million visitors since it opened, Minneapolis Sculpture Garden has become an integral part of Twin Cities life. When the Walker and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board partnered in 1988 to create the first major urban sculpture garden in the country, the vision, still very much alive today, was to combine an amazing outdoor space with world-class art and culture—two assets for which the state is renowned.  

 While Twin Cities and Minnesota residents are regulars, thousands of students and hundreds of schools groups from across Minnesota and the region visit each year. “It’s a unique place for learning,” says Lockie Chapman, a teacher who brings her Orono middle-schoolers to the Garden each year. “My students enjoy seeing works like the Spoonbridge and Cherry, which challenge their definitions of what a sculpture should be.”

And nearly half of the Garden’s visitors are tourists—from the all corners of the United States and far-flung countries alike. That amounts to $16 million in direct annual economic impact, according to Meet Minneapolis, the city’s official convention and visitors association. Melvin Tennant, its president & CEO, calls the Garden “a true destination for visitors to our state.” Walker director Olga Viso adds, “For more than two decades, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden has welcomed visitors into our park system and introduced them to the state’s remarkable arts community. Nearly everyone goes home with their own iconic image snapped in front of the Spoonbridge and Cherry.”  

But years of wear and tear have taken their toll on the Garden. To renovate and preserve it, the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, with the wholehearted support of the Walker, is pursuing $8.5 million in state bonding. “Every garden has a natural life cycle, and plants periodically need to be refreshed. For instance, the lifespan of arbor vitae—the trees that create the walls of the outdoor galleries—is about 20 years,” says Park Board superintendant Jon Gurban. “Also, in a place as heavily trafficked as the Garden, significant infrastructure needs must be addressed to maintain this vibrant public space.”

After a careful study, the prominent landscape architecture firm oslund.and.associates has recommended a range of necessary upgrades throughout the 11-acre landscape. Tom Oslund notes that “by taking advantage of efficiency improvements in mechanical systems and lighting in the past 20 years, we can significantly reduce the Garden’s carbon footprint. For instance, an eco-friendly irrigation system would allow us to capture rainwater runoff to maintain the plants. And improvements to the drainage system, as well as repairs to concrete walkways and granite walls, which were not designed with the expectation of millions of visitors, will allow us to preserve the unique experience of visiting the grounds.”

Preserving the Garden is in many respects a cost-saving measure, an idea borne out by comparing its original budget of $16 million—funded by private contributions—to those of newer sculpture gardens in other cities, ranging from the 4.5-acre Pappajohn Sculpture Park in Des Moines ($46 million, 2009) to the 22-acre Kansas City Sculpture Park ($95 million, 2007) to Seattle’s 9-acre Olympic Sculpture Park ($85 million, 2007). The Minnesota legislature is currently considering this bonding measure—if passed, it will ensure that the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden remains a vibrant icon for the state, not to mention a home to the single largest cherry in the country.

Please encourage your state legislator to fund the renovation of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden. Visit garden.walkerart.org/bonding today to draft and send an e-mail showing your support.