Facility Hours

Summer Hours
June 16 - August 23, 2008

Monday & Friday 9 AM - 5 PM
Tuesday - Thursday 9 AM - 9:30 PM
Saturday 9 AM - 1 PM

Closed May 26th
Closed July 4th
Closed August 25th - September 1

Questions? Call us at 952.473.7361, ext. 16
Or send an email to: information@minnetonkaarts.org

Café Hours
Monday - Friday 9 AM - 2 PM Coffee, Tea, Muffins, Scones and Cookies
Monday - Friday 11:30 AM - 2 PM Full lunch menu
Featured in Mpls St. Paul magazine, November 2002.

About the Art Center Facility
The New Building
The new building was designed by James Dayton of James Dayton Design, Ltd., in Minneapolis.

Building Design
The new center is created around two concepts:

Art
This is a place for studying and creating art, viewing exhibitions, and contributing to an artistic discourse. There are numerous spaces for interaction between students and instructors.

Community
This is a place for social interaction and community involvement, both a community of artists and a community of neighbors.

The building was designed using industrial materials, which are cost-effective, long-lasting, low-maintenance, and foster a sense of creativity appropriate for an Art Center.

The corridor serving the studios is like a city street, each studio having a glass "storefront" displaying the works of the students and instructors within.

The layout of the studios was done according to interrelationships within the disciplines, and proper solar orientation. Painting & Drawing, Multimedia and Photography studios face north, Ceramics and Sculpture face south.
Each space in the building has a complimentary exterior space. Painting & Drawing looks out on a wildflower garden. Ceramics has an outdoor kiln yard. Sculpture has an outdoor stone yard. There are outdoor dining and exhibition spaces.

The Main Courtyard of the new building is the most overt expression of the two design concepts of Art and Community. It is a place of changing display on the art wall, and a place for gathering.

The Administration is located on the second floor. Students and instructors are encouraged to use the Library/Conference Room, and Reading Room for research and discussions.

The new building accommodates additional program and support spaces:

• The new facility is over 31,000 square feet, 30% larger than the old center.
  
  
• The new Laura H. Miles Gallery is 3,000 square feet of secure, climate-controlled exhibition space. The skylight can be shaded as appropriate.
  
  
• Each discipline's studio has increased in size in the new building.
  
  
• Lecture room for 20-30
  
  
• Woodshop and loading dock
  
  
• Conference Room for 12
  
  
• Dedicated exhibition storage

Exterior Materials
The exterior of the building is composed, like a sculpture, of several different materials:

• Flat galvanized metal panels on the Entry and Lecture Room;
  
  
• Corrugated galvanized siding on the Studios'
  Cor-Ten steel siding for the Exhibition Space and the main stair. Cor-Ten steel deliberately oxidizes as it ages, eventually forming a protective layer of dark brown patina.
  
  
• Cor-Ten steel siding and galvanized steel are used for the exterior and interior, helping - with large expanses of glass - to unify inside and outside.
  
  
• Parklex siding for the Kiln Room and Administration. Parklex is a synthetic exterior cladding, with a weather-resistant wood veneer face, produced in Spain.
  
  
• Cast-in-place concrete for the Art Wall. Nearly 400,000 pounds of concrete went into the Art Wall. It will accommodate artwork of any outdoor media, and can support a hanging sculpture up to 3,000 pounds.

Interior Materials

• Floors are poured concrete, buffed and sealed. The Corridor and Exhibition Space slabs are 6" thick, and can accommodate a forklift for installing shows directly off the Loading Dock.
  
  
• Wood paneling is birch veneer plywood.
  
  
• Translucent walls in the Entry and Dining Room are sandblasted acrylic panels. They are intended to receive projected images, messages or artwork. Additionally, the wall in the Dining Room allows light to filter to the kitchen, while still providing a level of security to the kitchen in off hours.

The cork in the corridor allows for easy display of artwork, while reducing the noise levels outside the studios.

Each space in the building, except the Exhibition Space, has operable windows to allow fresh air into the spaces. Each space, including the Exhibition Space, has a direct connection to the outdoors. Much of the interior of the new building is intended to accommodate artwork.

Functionality
Each studio was carefully designed to provide the most appropriate space and best resources possible. Safety in the studios was considered one of the highest priorities.
Lighting in each space was designed to provide the light most appropriate for each room, and to allow for flexibility where desired. An appropriate combination of natural and artificial lighting was designed for each space in the building.

All of the spaces in the new building incorporate proper levels of ventilation, heating and cooling. Photography, Sculpture, Ceramics and the Painting Studio each have custom-designed, high quality exhaust systems. The Exhibition Space has a full climate control system, including humidity control, which will allow for a wider range of sophisticated exhibitions.

Sculpture and Ceramics studios have large industrial floor drains for efficient cleanup. Solid waste will collect in tanks in the drains, and will be regularly collected and disposed of in an environmentally safe manner.

All studios have floor drains and hose bibs.

New gas kilns were built in the Ceramics and Sculpture studios. The outdoor kiln yard houses the Raku kiln.
Each studio has more dedicated storage than the old building.

Site Design
The landscape architect is Tom Oslund, Oslund & Associates, in Minneapolis.

The site was designed with the same intention and detail as the building itself, incorporating the ideas of art and community, accessibility and light.

The primary feature of the site design is the allee of Lindens that will "frame" the art wall and define the Main Courtyard.

Sophisticated climate control, light control and security, plus a flexible system of hanging walls give the Art Center a professional gallery for the first time.

There are two parking lots in front of the new building, one for visitors and staff, and a larger one for students and instructors. There are nearly 80 parking spaces.

A sculpture garden has been designed for the area east of the Exhibition Space.

A part of the landscape planting will be donated and executed by community volunteers.

<< back to top