by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers

The Eagan Art House, a nonprofit organization that provides a creative outlet for south metro residents, will soon become a part of the city of Eagan's Parks and Recreation Department.

The Art House has been an independent organization since its inception in 1997, but has always worked in partnership with the city. It rents its facility, a city-owned house at the entrance to Patrick Eagan Park, for $1 a year, and the Parks and Recreation Department handles all of its class registrations.

Now the Parks and Recreation Department will absorb the entire Art House operation, although the organization's board will remain intact.

The Art House was recently audited by the IRS, which said it can no longer hire its instructors as independent contractors, but must hire them as employees.

The Art House Board felt that it could not take on the additional payroll and administrative duties that come with hiring between 12 and 20 part-time, seasonal employees, so it asked the city to step in.

"We already had a really good working relationship with the city," said Eagan Art House Director Julie Andersen. "That should make it a fairly easy transition."

Art House instructors will now become employees of the city of Eagan, and the city will handle all programming responsibilities with the guidance of the Art House Board, said Parks and Recreation Director Julie Seydell Johnson.

"The public will not even notice the change," she said.

Andersen agreed.

"We're really hoping that the transition is very seamless to our participants," she said. "If anything it will be better. We'll be able to offer better customer service."

The transition is not expected to cost the city much, Johnson said.

"The Art House has been operating in the black for the last several years," she said.

Some new computers and other equipment may need to be purchased, but the cost isn't expected to exceed $5,000.

The Art House is funded through class fees, grant funding, donations and money from special events such as the Eagan Art Festival.

It offers classes for all ages and abilities on everything from drawing and painting to pottery and jewelry making.

With the city handling administrative duties, Art House employees will now be able to focus more on art, Andersen said.

"The bottom line is we want to ensure we're offering arts opportunities for our community and this is going to allow us to do that even better," she said. "It's really a positive move for the Art House. It really is a step in the right direction."

The Art House is located at 3981 Lexington Ave. S., at the entrance to Patrick Eagan Park. For more information, call (651) 686-9134 or visit www.eaganarthouse.org.

Erin Johnson is at eagan.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.