Franconia Sculpture Park

Franconia Sculpture Park

Nonprofit - Visual Art

Website: http://www.franconia.org

 651-257-6668

 29836 St. Croix Trail, Shafer, MN 55074

Located in the scenic St. Croix River Valley, Franconia Sculpture Park is a nonprofit arts organization operating a 43-acre outdoor sculpture park, active artist residency, and community arts programming. Franconia was founded in 1996 by a small group of professional artists who envisioned a supportive artist residency community and outdoor museum. Today, this vision has been achieved through an active artist residency program that serves over 40 artists each year and arts learning programming that serves over 150,000 annual visitors. Franconia provides an intriguing and exciting place to discover an ever-changing exhibition of contemporary sculpture, and the opportunity to meet artists-in-residence who invite you to engage with their creations.

Through our artist residency program, Franconia awards competitive fellowships and internships to up to 40 emerging, mid-career, and established visual artists each year, supporting the creation and exhibition of large-scale sculpture at our 43-acre sculpture park and artist residency in Shafer, MN. We foster an inspiring outdoor environment for the community to create, engage, and learn about three-dimensional art through an annual exhibition of over 120 sculptures created by artists-in-residence.

Franconia is free and open 365 days a year from 8am to 8pm.

COVID-19 UPDATES & INFORMATION

Our Response to COVID-19 :

COVID-19 Update:

Franconia Sculpture Park is committed to remaining open as an oasis for our visitors during this difficult time as long as we feel it is safe to do so. The only way we can do this is if people maintain at least six feet of distance from each other and refrain from climbing on or touching the sculptures. We also encourage visitors to wear masks at all public programs and events until further notice.

Updates effective June 1: 

* Our offices will be open to the public; anyone entering the building will be required to wear a mask.

* Golf carts will be available for rental to those who need mobility assistance, with the following rules: visitors entering the offices to rent a cart must wear a mask and must wear gloves while operating the cart. Franconia will sanitize golf carts between each use and provide gloves for those who do not have them available.

* Our free Sunday walking tours at 2pm will resume with the request that all attendees wear a mask and maintain social distance during the tour.

* Attendees at any of our public events are asked to wear a mask and maintain social distance. Event attendees who do not bring a mask will be asked to buy one from Franconia as a donation to the park.

We have heard from so many visitors and families how thankful they are that we are providing an essential social service to our community by staying open for people to roam our 43-acres and enjoy the art and fresh air. While we encourage everyone to #stayathome, if you must leave the house, please follow social distancing protocols. We have increased signage around the park and cordoned off a number of high-touch sculptures. While we have increased our cleaning and sanitizing procedures in public areas, we encourage you not to use the public benches, restrooms or other high-touch areas until further notice.

As a reminder, please do not visit Franconia if you are exhibiting symptoms, and please follow the CDC’s guidelines before visiting the park. We encourage you to visit our homepage for any updates or to make a donation that allows us to remain open during this difficult time.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS