Conference transportation

The following is the information regarding transportation for workshops, tours, and special events.

Workshops
All workshops will be held off-site. Transportation is provided as part of your workshop fee, and has been arranged to get you to your workshop location prior to the scheduled start time, and to return you to the hotel after the scheduled time for your workshop’s conclusion.

Thursday morning workshops will be held at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design (MCAD). The bus is scheduled to arrive at the hotel at 7:15 am. Loading will begin at 7:25 am. The bus will depart no later than 7:40 am to arrive at MCAD before the 8:00 am start time for morning workshops. The bus will make a return trip to the hotel at 12:15 pm, and another return trip from MCAD to the Hilton at 1:00 pm.

Thursday afternoon workshops will also be held at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design. At midday, the bus will make two scheduled roundtrips. The first will load and depart from the Hilton at 11:15 am, bringing participants to MCAD by approximately 11:30 am. The bus will make a return trip to the hotel at 12:15 pm, and another return trip from MCAD to the Hilton at 1:00 pm. At the 3:45 pm conclusion of the afternoon workshops the bus will return participants to the hotel.

Monday morning workshop will be held in Anderson Hall on the West Bank campus of the University of Minnesota. The bus is scheduled to arrive at the hotel at 8:15 am for loading. The bus will depart no later than 8:35 am to arrive before the 9:00 am start time. At the conclusion of this workshop the bus will pick up passengers at the drop-off location at 1:10 pm for return to the Hilton Minneapolis.

Tours
The times listed for each tour include the departure time from the hotel and the estimated time of arrival back at the hotel. Buses will be available for loading 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time. Tour participants should check in with their tour shepherd at the main street level entrance to the hotel no later than 10 minutes prior to the scheduled departure time.

Special Events
Founders’ Fête (Thursday evening) will be held at the Gale Mansion. Buses will begin running to the nearby Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) at 5:30 pm. Beginning at 6:25 pm, buses will stop at both the MIA and the Gale Mansion. From 6:40 pm to 7:20 pm, buses will stop only at the Gale Mansion (not at the MIA during this time).  If you want to walk to the Gale Mansion from the MIA, it is only .3 mile away and should take about 7 minutes. Click here for a Google map. From 7:20 pm until 9:00 pm, buses will resume stops at both MIA and the Gale. After 9:00 pm (closing time for the MIA), buses will run only between the Gale and the hotel. Last trip will be approximately 9:45 pm, arriving back at the hotel by 10:00 pm.

“Icebreaker” Welcome Party (Friday evening) will be held at the Walker Art Center (WAC). Buses will arrive at the Hilton Hotel to begin loading at 6:15 pm. At 6:30 pm, they will begin taking guests to the WAC. Buses will continue to make trips from the hotel to WAC until approximately 7:20 pm. At 8:30pm, and again at 9:00pm, early departure buses will take guests back to the hotel. At approximately 9:30 pm, all buses will return guests to the hotel, and continue making round trips until all guests have been safely returned. The last return trip will be approximately 10:00 pm.

What if I miss the bus . . . ? Please be advised that buses will depart at the scheduled times; they cannot wait for latecomers and no-shows. If you miss your bus, you will not be eligible for a refund. Conference registration will have a list of workshop locations and tour destinations, with addresses. You are welcome to use this information to arrange for alternative transportation at your own expense.

Allan T. Kohl
Tours & Transportation Coordinator, VRA + ARLIS/NA Joint Conference
Visual Resources Librarian
Minneapolis College of Art & Design
2501 Stevens Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN  55404
612.874.3781
allan_kohl@mcad.edu