The Preservation Alliance of Minnesota (PAM) is hosting its fourth annual (Anti)Wrecking Ball event on May 17 at the Soap Factory in Minneapolis.
The preservation-themed carnival is being held in conjunction with the start of Art-a-Whirl, the annual Northeast public art crawl, according to Erin Hanafin Berg, a spokesperson for the organization. “The free event will be a celebration of all things preservation in Minnesota,” PAM materials state.
This is the second time that the event has been connected to Art-a-Whirl, which was helpful in spreading the word last year, Berg says. Nearly 300 people attended the event last year, she adds.
On top of that, “We love the Soap Factory because it itself is a historic building, a preservation work in progress,” she says.
The annual party started out as a fun way for PAM to release its 10 Most Endangered list. But after a couple of years, the organization decided to go in a different direction. “Last year it turned into just an all-out party with some preservation-themed things for people to look at and engage with. We had such a good time last year that we’re sticking with that theme,” she says.
Although the event is more about "friend-raising than fundraising," as Berg put it, it has a $10 suggested donation. “We’ll have a few ways for people to part with their money in support of our organization,” she says. Besides providing live music, food and drink, and a number of games, the nonprofit organization will announce its first Site Worth Saving, a program it’s starting to promote preservation, she says.
Source: Erin Hanafin Berg
Writer: Anna Pratt