MINNESOTA STATE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
PERCENT FOR ART GUIDELINES
1. Preliminary
A. In 1983, the Minnesota State Legislature enacted the law forming the basis for the Minnesota
Percent for Art in Public Places program. This legislation states in part that for any building
for which the appropriation is greater than $500,000 “an appropriation for the construction or
alteration of any state building may contain an amount not to one percent of the total
appropriation for the building for the acquisition of works of art, ...” (Minnesota Statute
16B.35)
B. The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities supports the Percent for Art program. Projects
funded by the legislature for new buildings or major renovation / remodeling will normally
include funds up to one percent of the budgeted construction contract amount.
C. Under the Joint Powers Agreement between the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities
(MnSCU) and the Minnesota State Arts Board (Arts Board), a college / university may
request to manage the art acquisition process rather than the Arts Board. The request to use
this procedure must be coordinated with the MnSCU System Office, Facilities Division prior
to beginning any work. Under this agreement, the college / university is responsible for
soliciting, selecting and contracting for Art under the Minnesota Percent for Art program and
in conjunction with MnSCU’s board policies, procedures and contract requirements. Art for
a building on a public college or university campus shall be selected by the campus, in
consultation with the Arts Board. Consideration of the artwork of faculty and students on
that campus is encouraged.
D. Percent for Art funds must be used only for art to be exhibited in areas of a building or its
grounds accessible, on a regular basis, to members of the public. None of the funds may be
expended by MnSCU or the campus on administrative expenses. Individual campuses
managing these projects will pay for administrative expenses from college or university funds
and will not use any portion of the legislative appropriation for the acquisition of art to pay
for administrative expenses.
E. A college or university which desires to proceed with selecting and acquiring Art
under this agreement must arrange a consultation meeting with representatives from
the campus and the Minnesota Arts Board to review:
1. Factors to consider in selecting a location for art,
2. Factors inherent in providing open process for selection of art,
(Note: The Arts Board has its own rules for selection of art and solicitation of proposals;
those rules do not apply to MnSCU institutions),
3. Factors to consider in selecting art genre for a particular location,
4. Ways to select art which possess timeless quality,
5. Campus responsibilities after art installation,
6. Contract issues regarding the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, and
7. List of previous Percent for Art projects on MnSCU campuses.
F. The Arts Board shall provide an electronic list of artists including contact information and
artistic medium, but shall not provide access to its slide registry except to the extent a
representative from the individual college or university comes to the office of the Arts Board
in St. Paul to view the registry and the Arts Board has sufficient staff and resources to
accommodate the request.
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II. Procedures for selecting an artist
A. Decide upon proposed site and the type of artwork campus desires:
1. Consider reviewing Arts Board’s registry for ideas about different artistic genres,
potential artists, etc. Registry is available for viewing upon request at the Arts
Board’s St. Paul office, subject to sufficient staffing and resources.
2. Conduct artist selection process in accordance with competitive solicitation
statutes and Board Policies and Procedures.
B. Solicitation Process
There are three main solicitation processes for acquiring Art:
1. Purchases of Existing Artwork: The solicitation and purchasing process in Board
Policy 5.14 and Procedure 5.14.5 apply.
2. Commissioning only: Board Policy 5.14 and Procedure 5.14.2 apply as described
above for Design and Commission contracts.
3. Design and Commissioning: Board Policy 5.14 and Procedure 5.14.2 require the
campus to give public notice of Request for Proposals (RFP) if the total contract for an
artist or artwork will exceed $50,000.
a. A campus may directly notify potential artists and solicit a response to the
RFP no later than seven days before the RFP submission due date.
b. The Arts Board has an electronic list of artists with contact information and
artistic medium.
III. Contracting with artist
A. Contracting authority for acquiring artwork associated with a building project is typically
included with the delegation of authority from the Vice Chancellor – Chief Financial Officer
to the campus president to complete the project.
B. Contract forms:
1. If purchasing pre-existing art, use Art Purchase contract form.
a. Ensure that campus creates and installs appropriate plaque or public notice to
document the use of Percent for Art funding to acquire the artwork.
2. If accepting a pre-developed design, including a design that was submitted in response to
an RFP, with no need for further design review or oversight, use Art Commission
contract form + Budget/Timeline Worksheet (include as Exhibit A) + Data Disclosure
Form.
3. If entering into a contract for design and commissioning, use Art Design and
Commission contract form + Artwork Statement Form (include as Exhibit A) +
Budget/Timeline Worksheet (include as Exhibit B) + Data Disclosure Form
a. Note: a campus may execute more than one Design and Commission contract
for the same project if it chooses to pay more than one artist to submit a
design even though only one artist will be selected to proceed to Phase Two,
the commission, portion of the agreement. All design fees and eventual
commission are subject to total Percent for Art budget for the project.
A. Campus is responsible to schedule and organize any lectures, public meetings,
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dedication ceremonies or other events associated with the project or artwork. Art contract
forms do not include provisions requiring Artist to participate in any such events.
Accordingly, a separate contract might be required.
B. Send final acceptance letter to the Artist within 45 days after (1) satisfactory completion and
installation of the artwork, AND (2) the Artist has submitted all required documentation as
set forth in Documentation and Records and Public Notice sections of contract.
Note: For purchases of pre-existing artwork, no final acceptance letter is required.
C. Send final payment to the artist within 30 days after final acceptance letter or final invoice
from the Artist, whichever is later.
Note: For purchases of pre-existing artwork, send final payment within 30 days after
satisfactory delivery and installation of the artwork and receipt of final invoice from the
Artist/Vendor.
IV. PREVAILING HOURS OF LABOR AND PREVAILING WAGES
Contractor and all of its Subcontractor(s) shall comply with the Labor Standards and Wages
requirements of Minnesota Statutes Chapter 177 as applicable. Minnesota Statutes Section
177.43, Subd. 3, requires the collection of payroll information, as further described below, for all
Contracts or work under a work authorization, unless:
 the estimated total cost of completing the project is less than $2,500 and only one trade or
occupation is required to complete it, or
 the estimated total cost of completing the project is less than $25,000 and more than one
trade or occupation is required to complete it.
The College/University shall incorporate into its proposals and all contracts the applicable wage
determinations for the contract along with contract language provided by the commissioner of
labor and industry to notify the contractor and all subcontractors of the applicability of sections
177.41 to 177.44. Failure to incorporate the determination or provided contract language
into the contracts shall make the College/University liable for making whole the contractor
or subcontractor for any increases in the wages paid, including employment taxes and
reasonable administrative costs based on the appropriate prevailing wage due to the
laborers or mechanics working on the project. The contract must also provide that the
contracting agency shall demand, and the contractor and subcontractor shall furnish to the
contracting agency, copies of any or all payrolls not more than 14 days after the end of each pay
period. The payrolls must contain all the data required by section 177.30.
 The College/University shall review the applicable Prevailing Wage Rate Requirements
to determine the applicable prevailing wage rates, prevailing hours of labor, and hourly
basic rates of pay that are applicable to this project contract. A copy of the applicable
Prevailing Wage Rate Determination Schedule, as published by Minnesota Department of
Labor and Industry, can be found at the DOLI website for commercial construction at
www.dli.mn.gov/LS/PrevWageComm.asp
Colleges/universities and the System Office may choose to collect payroll information strictly in
an electronic format or give contractors the option of paper or other media. Colleges/universities
and the System Office should consider their capacity to handle records in both forms, and the
anticipated ability of contractors to comply with an electronic record requirement.
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
Incomplete Data. Colleges/universities and the System Office who are aware of missing,
late or incomplete forms should contact the contractor (preferably in writing) and request
follow-up by a specified date.
The College/University shall maintain prevailing wage payroll information for a minimum of
three years after final payment has been made on the project, or longer if required by your
institution’s records retention schedule.
V. AFTER CONTRACT COMPLETED
A. Final Accession Report: Within three months of completion of the contract, send a Final
Accession Report to the Arts Board and a copy to the MnSCU System Office, Facilities
Division which includes:
1. Copy of final acceptance letter to artist,
2. Completed Documentation Worksheet form including a written technical description
of the Work, any blueprints regarding installation, any special installation
instructions such as suspension or foundation requirements, maintenance
instructions or recommendations, and other related information,
3. Artist’s updated resume,
4. Plaque information including explanation of artwork if provided,
5. Copy of contract with artist,
6. Visual depiction of final installed artwork, and
Note: for purchases of pre-existing artwork, send as much information as is available.
B. Visual Artists Rights Act (VARA): Artists have certain lifelong rights in any visual
works of art, including pre-existing artwork, that fall within the scope of the Visual Artists
Rights Act of 1990, 17 USC § 101, et seq.:
1. Visual artwork covered by VARA:
a. Paintings, drawings, prints, or sculpture existing in a single copy or in a limited
edition of 200 or fewer copies that are signed and consecutively numbered by the
artist. Enumerates certain rights for visual artists.
b. Photographs if produced for exhibition purposes only and exist in a single
copy signed by the author or in a limited edition of 200 or fewer copies that are
signed and consecutively numbered by the artist.
2. Artwork, materials or items not covered by VARA:
a. Posters, maps, globes, charts, technical drawings, diagrams, models, motion
pictures or other audiovisual works, books, magazines, newspapers, periodicals, data
bases, etc.
b. Merchandising items or advertising, promotional, descriptive, covering or
packing materials or containers,
c. Applied art, which is generally defined as two- or three-dimensional
decoration or ornamentation that is affixed to otherwise utilitarian objects (e.g., door
handles, faucets, staircase railings),
d. Unsigned or unnumbered copies or limited editions in excess of 200 copies.
3. Rights given to artists under VARA:
a. To claim authorship of the work,
b. To prevent the use of the artist’s name as the author of any artwork that he/she
did not create,
c. To prevent the use of the artist’s name as the author of any work if it has been
distorted, mutilated, or otherwise modified in a way that would prejudice his/her
honor or reputation,
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d. To prevent intentional distortion, mutilation or other modification of the work
that would prejudice the artist’s honor or reputation, and
e. To prevent any destruction of a work of recognized stature.
4. Certain changes to artwork are not considered mutilation, distortion or other
modifications under VARA:
a. Modifications of an artwork resulting from the passage of time or the inherent
nature of the materials,
b. Modifications resulting from conservation efforts,
c. Modifications resulting from the public presentation, including lighting and
placement, and
d. Reproductions, depictions, portrayals, etc.
5. Artist’s rights last for life of Artist, which could extend beyond the term of
contract.
6. Artist’s rights cannot be transferred, but can be waived in limited situations:
a. Any waiver must be in writing and signed by artist,
b. General, anticipatory or broad waivers might be considered unenforceable or
invalid.
C. Unspent Percent for Art Money: Any remaining Percent for Art money that is not spent on art
must be transferred to the Arts Board.
D. Maintenance and Repair of Artwork: Campus is responsible for maintaining the artwork,
including providing security against damage, theft or loss, and repairing it as necessary and
practical.
Note: Please contact the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office or MnSCU’s Office of
General Counsel before taking non-emergency actions to repair artwork.
E. Reproductions: Campus can reproduce artwork for educational or publicity purposes. Campus
is responsible for making reasonable efforts to ensure that any reproductions that prominently
feature the artwork contain a credit to the artist.
F. Destruction, Damage or Modification of Art or Plaque: Campus cannot intentionally destroy,
damage, alter, modify or change the artwork or plaque without Arts Board’s consent. Also,
see contract language for notice requirements to Artist and ability of Artist to request that
his/her name no longer be identified with damaged, destroyed or modified artwork.
Note: Please contact the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office or MnSCU’s Office of
General Counsel before deciding to destroy, dispose of, damage, alter, modify, change or
relocate artwork or the associated plaque or public notice.
Note: Please contact the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office or MnSCU’s Office of
General Counsel if the artwork or associated plaque or public notice suffers any intentional
or unintentional destruction, damage, alteration, modification, vandalism, or change.
G. Use of Artwork by Other Agencies: Campus can make artwork available for temporary loan
to other agencies or public institutions for purpose of exhibition to the public on its own
initiative or upon request of the Arts Board.
H. Art as Capital Asset:
1. Board Procedure 7.3.6, Part 3, paragraph 9 states that artwork generally has to be
capitalized at its historical cost whether it is held as an individual item or in a collection.
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2. Board Procedure 7.36, Part 5, C.8. contains other capital asset and depreciation
procedures pertaining to works of art.
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