Target Field's public owner is amping up the arts quotient surrounding the three-year-old ballpark.

The Minnesota Ballpark Authority voted last week to spend up to $300,000 on public art near where Hennepin County plans to build a transit interchange.

The authority identified three potential areas for art: the granite walls of a planned amphitheater, cisterns near the parking garage driveway and benches at the top of a cascading stairway leading to the great lawn.

The authority, the county and the Minnesota Twins are now expected to set up a Public Art Selection Committee and put out a request for proposals from artists.

"You want to create spaces that people are drawn to on game day, but more importantly on days when there is no game," authority executive director Dan Kenney said. The county and the Twins have been negotiating the construction and design of the $79.3 million transit hub and park.

ROCHELLE OLSON @rochelleolson