Caponi Art Park founder celebrates 90th birthday
Public open house May 7 will feature cake, music, crafts and coincide with opening of park for 2011 season
Caponi Art Park founder and sculptor Anthony Caponi will celebrate his 90th birthday with a public celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. on May 7 at the park. Submitted photo
by Erin Johnson
Thisweek Newspapers
Anthony Caponi is nothing if not a visionary.
In 1949, the sculptor and Macalester College professor bought more than 60 acres of land in Eagan and knew right away he wanted to protect it.
“I see this as a beautiful resource,” he said. “I started being protective of natural environments before it was popular.”
Today, the Caponi Art Park gets about 15,000 visitors each year who enjoy everything from the sculptures that dot the landscape to the summer performances held at the Theater in the Woods.
Caponi himself will turn 90 years old Saturday, May 7, and to celebrate, his namesake park will hold a public open house from 1 to 4 p.m. complete with cake, music, activities and games.
The celebration coincides with the opening of the park for the 2011 season.
“It’s extra special this year because it actually falls on his real birthday, and we thought it would be really fun to celebrate that,” said Molly Swailes, program and volunteer coordinator for the Caponi Art Park.
The event is free and will include a formal presentation honoring Caponi at 1:30 p.m.
Caponi said that at 90, he may not be as physically strong as he used to be, but his mind remains sharp.
“Maybe I got to be 90 because I never thought about being an old man. I’ve always had youthful ideas, I have a youthful appetite for life,” he said.
Born in Italy, Caponi has lived in Minnesota for more than 55 years and has made contributions to the state’s art community that go beyond his own 60-acre park.
For instance, while teaching at Macalester, he was a driving force in creating the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center, and he also built the first metal foundry in a school.
According to his biography, he rediscovered how to cast metal using the lost-wax process by reading Benvenuto Cellini’s autobiography in its original medieval Italian, successfully introducing the process for others to use.
He has also written two books, the most recent of which, “Meaning Beyond Reason,” was published this month.
“Anthony Caponi is a vital community leader and advocate for the arts,” said Craig Harris, artist and chair of the Caponi Art Park’s board. “His long and distinguished career as a sculptor, teacher, art administrator and writer exemplifies what it means to be thoroughly engaged in life as an artist and is something that should be celebrated.”
The Caponi Art Park opened to visitors in 1987.
Caponi said he was inspired to create the space by his childhood in Italy.
“I was born in a small village where everything was open country. I was conditioned to appreciate nature,” he said.
There weren’t many trees where he grew up, he said, so when he bought land in Eagan filled with oak and other trees, “I felt rich. I wanted to protect it.”
The park allowed him to marry his love of art with his love of nature, and he has spent the past 30 years developing it into a center for learning and the arts.
While he’s lived a full, rich life, Caponi said he doesn’t feel old enough for all the fuss occurring over his 90th birthday.
“I don’t want to start acting like an old man,” he said. “I’ll keep on thinking young.”
For more information, visit www.caponiartpark.org.
Erin Johnson is at eagan.thisweek@ecm-inc.com.
