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>The Bench Project
>What We Need is Here: Encouraging Sustainable Communities
>Arts Mean Business in the St. Croix Valley
>Training for Nonprofit Leaders and Staff
The Bench Project
Coordinated by The Phipps Center for the Arts in partnership with the St. Croix Valley Community Foundation, this community arts project engages local community groups to design, create, locate, and care for a bench – each a unique work of art.
Our goals are to:
- build “social capital,” specifically social relationships and a sense of civic responsibility among an engaged group of participants using the arts as a vehicle
- create community arts projects that will attract both local residents and visitors to the rich natural and cultural offerings in the St. Croix Valley
Each bench is constructed by youth or local citizens with the assistance of artists and craftspeople. While some participants may have art-making experience, others who do not identify themselves as “artistic” are encouraged to explore and express their creativity. The benches are structurally sound and designed to deter vandalism and theft.
Upon completion, each group and their bench(es) will be celebrated at an community unveiling with local newspaper visibility. And each bench will also be marked with a permanent plaque describing its creators, core sponsors and funders. The Phipps’ and SCVCF’s websites will be updated to feature the progress of each team’s bench.
Three bench projects were completed during Summer 2006. Three more are now being created in Marine on St. Croix, MN; Somerset, WI and Prescott, WI.
- Lakefront Park in Hudson, Wisconsin, with Destination Imagination/Hudson Schools, artist Lynn Jermal and The City of Hudson Parks Department.
 
- Gaylord Nelson Riverwalk in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin. Involved third through sixth graders and Amy Klein with City of St. Croix Falls Parks and Recreation Committee, Franconia Sculpture Park and artists Jim Shoop and Kim Murphy. The bench is located adjacent to the National Park Service’s new Visitor Center.
 
- Croixdale's senior living facility in Bayport, Minnesota with senior residents, Girl Scouts and artist Judy Sell. This Bench received an Investing in our Communities Award from the Minnesota Health and Housing Alliance.
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