Grant from SERSDP for CRD Plan
ArtOrg worked with the Center for Rural Design to develop a project to complete a Concept Master Plan for its facility in Cannon Falls, Minnesota. Head of the Center for Rural Design, Dewey Thorbeck FAIA FAAR, worked together with ArtOrg to put together the $15,500 plan, which we happily report was funded through a grant from the Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships of the University of Minnesota Extension. Erin Meier heads the Southeast office of RSDP, and has been involved in some food-related projects in Cannon Falls. For a summary of SERSDP’s activities in 2014 please see this report. The ArtOrg plan is being worked on now, and our desire is that the City and other surrounding stakeholders to participate. The text of the press release from SERSDP is here:
“FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 18, 2014
Local visual arts organization plans for itself and the Cannon Falls riverfront
With its new location and building in Cannon Falls, ArtOrg approached the University of Minnesota Center for Rural Design (CRD) for help developing a Concept Master Plan. “Our facility in Cannon Falls is unique,” says ArtOrg Executive Director, Dave Machacek, “and could be considered the lynchpin to a greater river walk development. We are on a major state bike trail, next to many downtown businesses, and right on the spot of the original 1856 river mill. Using the Center for Rural Design with its collaborative process, our plan will take these opportunities into account.”
CRD is now working on a three-pronged project to create a conceptual building plan for renovation and remodeling; create a conceptual site plan for the ArtOrg site including outdoor activity spaces, sculpture locations, pedestrian connection to the Little Cannon River; and develop conceptual architectural plans for the building and site with a vision for regional economic development. This $15,000 project is being funded through the U of M Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership.
According to Dewey Thorbeck, CRD’s Director, “This ArtOrg project in Cannon Falls is a wonderful opportunity to strongly identify the meaning and importance of art as a cultural and economic force that can help create a regional identity through cooperation, as well as stimulate downtown Cannon Falls as a visitor destination.”
ArtOrg impacts individuals and communities through visual arts projects and events primarily centered in the print, with public art, commissioned work, and experiential-based education initiatives. https://artorg.info/
The Southeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership, also known as the Experiment in Rural Cooperation, is led by a Citizen/University board that links University of Minnesota resources with community-identified projects in local foods, sustainable agriculture, natural resources, rural community development, renewable energy, and tourism. http://www.rsdp.umn.edu
CONTACT:
Dave Machacek, Erin Meier”
