Richfield Arts Commission Charged With Increasing Number of Sculptures Around Town

The Richfield Arts Commission was asked by Jim Topitzhofer, director of , to help the city add more art around town by finding artists to create more sculptures. Adding more scultpures and art will fit well with the city's comprehensive plan and other efforts to revamp the city.

“The city could be known for its sculptures,” Topitzhofer told the commission.

However, the city's proposal is unfunded at this point. The commission discussed how to get local artists and even some businesses such as Best Buy to create more sculptures, including the grants that would be needed for paying artists and acquiring the necessary materials. Any public sculpture can easily cost thousands of dollars, according to the commission.

Finding artists and offering incentives to sculpt would need to be coupled with the selection of sites throughout Richfield and in order to get the grants the sites would need to be "nailed down," Topitzhofer said. The chosen sites would be throughout the city where the public is able to easily appreciate them. The timeline for meeting this goal is open-ended.

In addition, the also wants the commission to actively promote the sculptures already in existence in Richfield by making a directory with a map or booklet. The directory should include some facts and information, such as who it was made by and its history, Topitzhofer said.

The commission will be given about $1,000 to complete the project.

In other business, the city is going to front the money to finish up the monument project. To pay the city back, the earnings from the individual engravings will go back to the city as payment.

The next Richfield Arts Commission meeting is March 3.