Life’s a Bench! -get one!  Project

We had such a positive response to “The Goose is Loose!, our first public art project, that we are initiating a second project, “Life’s a Bench!” –get one! 

Find the benches around Rochester

Our goal is to showcase our talented and creative artists, support our business community, highlight our City of Rochester, bring our community together, raise funds for the Rochester Arts Council and the Arts in general, and just have some plain old fun! Phase One will feature a limited number of benches custom designed by southeast Minnesota artists. The benches will be placed around Rochester, primarily in the downtown district. Download the project overview sheet here.

Artists were invited to participate in this event by submitting designs which were then chosen by sponsors. This was a unique opportunity to be part of a high visibility public art project. Artists received an honorarium* of $500 for each approved design selected by a sponsor. This honorarium included the cost of materials and the execution of the design.

*This activity is funded by the Southeastern Minnesota Arts Council through the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage funds as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.