New Arb exhibit is all wet What's on tap at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum this summer?
Water, and lots of it, with H20-themed attractions and activities flowing all season long. The exhibit, "Waterosity: Go Green with a Splash," opens June 6, promising "fresh thinking about people, plants and water." There's something for everyone, including:
• For gardeners: "Harvest Your Rain," a permanent display demonstrating ways to reuse rainwater or help it filter into the Earth. One highlight will include a permanent green roof, planted with sedum and prairie grasses, over an Arb picnic shelter. Information on rain gardens and rain barrels also will be featured.
• For homeowners: "The Cutting Edge," featuring demonstration plots of new, water-efficient lawn grasses, including University of Minnesota research grasses.
• For art lovers, families and kids: "Waterosity" has an artistic component, with 10 new installations erected outdoors in the gardens and natural areas. All artworks will address the value of water in entertaining and/or enlightening ways. There will also be narrated tram tours on Thursday evenings, water-themed shows by Heart of the Beast Puppet Theatre, and free family activities at the Water Works Plant Lab every Saturday and Sunday, from noon-4 p.m. in the Marion Andrus Learning Center. And on July 11-12, the Arb will host a party featuring an information fair and water-wise demonstrations, art activities, live music and a puppet performance. For "Waterosity" details, call 952-443-1400 or visit www.arboretum.umn.edu.
Arb raises admission Speaking of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, it's going cost you a few more bucks to visit. Adult admission to the Arb's public gardens is now $9, up from $7, the fee since 2003. Children up to age 15 will continue to be admitted free.
The fee hike was prompted by results of a survey comparing admission to arboretums nationwide and to other Twin Cities museums and institutions, according to Judy Hohmann, manager of marketing and public relations. "We were under-priced," she said. "We're still a very affordable destination."
Facility-rental income from business meetings and conferences has dipped, she said, "a sign of the times," and the Arb needed additional revenue sources. "Last year we had record attendance -- 300,000 people -- and we saw potential to have a bigger revenue stream," she said.
