- South Dakota is characterized by vast rolling prairies that stretch across the landscape.

The state is marked by expensive planes where grasses sway in the wind.

The landscape is dotted with picturesque farmlands where crops and ranches contribute to the state's natural beauty and agricultural identity.

The Prairie offers a striking contrast to the forested slopes and iconic granite formations of the Black Hills or Paha Sapa as they are known to the Lakota people, the indigenous inhabitants of this part of the northern plains.

Millions of people travel to the Black Hills each year to view Mount Rushmore and crazy horse with many pausing on their journeys to see the newer large scale sculptures, the arc of dreams in Sioux Falls and dignity at the Chamberlain.

Rest stop.

While these gigantic works of art make South Dakota a monumental state, there are lesser known treasures on public view to be found.

Everywhere in towns across the state, citizens have welcomed art with open arms in and around the public squares, where sculptures, murals, paintings, and other works of art abound for all to see and appreciate Regardless of place or form.

Every piece begins with an idea, one single idea.

In one person's mind, it might begin with the artist or someone who wants to see a piece of art created for a specific purpose to memorialize or honor a single person or a group of people for accomplishments, commemorate or educate about an historical event, celebrate cultural or religious heritage, draw attention to a business, offer momentary whimsy, or serve any one of other myriad purposes.

It might simply have been the artist's urge to create the piece and someone else thinks it would be ideal in a public setting.

In the end, art on public view adds beauty and inspiration to the environment and tells a story.

Over the past 54 years, Dale Lamphere has created more than 70 large sculptures in bronze or stainless steel with about 30 of them in communities across the state.

- I grew up on a ranch that was fundamentally on the prairie, but I was always looking to the hills.

Now live in the hills and look to the prairie.

It's the intersection of those two places.

That's so fascinating to me.

I mean, I love the rolling hills and the way they interlock with one another and the foothills here around the black hills and the sweep of the prairie, you know, as it goes out and then it falls away to a river bottom.

All of that has just been fascinating to me and and been a real resource visually in my career.

The starting point for creating something is always varied.

My favorite thing is to start with a, a given a found object to a stone perhaps, and, and then give voice to that play off of that as a central starting point that can provide a real great source of inspiration in sculptural terms.

And then if it's a commission, I always listen closely to what the client is wanting, and I think it's the obligation of the artist to take whatever opportunity and do something worthy of that opportunity.

As an artist, when someone talks to me about a commission, there are certain parameters that, that they might have, and if they're unacceptable to me, I can always refuse, but I always feel real free to go ahead and express my highest vision.

The reasons for commissioning work are as varied as the individual, but sometimes it's commemoration, you know, sometimes they want to honor in an allegorical way, a loved one or some ideal.

Some people look at it as a way to enliven the space in a building or out in a park.

You know, it's just very individual with each circumstance.

My very first piece of public art here in South Dakota that I recall really being a public work was Bluestem Woman.

It's in the Rapid City Public Library right now.

Recently refurbished.

The origin was starting with a found object, a piece of a rusted tin roofing metal that had tumbled around on the prairie for decades, and it suggested a skirt and the wind and the, the movement and all of that set the stage for what I created, which was a, a prairie woman figure made mainly of found objects, her blouses, canvas and the old nails that used to hold tar paper on a shack and a rusted bucket in her hands.

And because I'm real mindful of the environment that I live in, I always try to put my figures in an environment I, there's, they're interacting with the wind and the grasses and that's always been something that I've pursued.

- John Lopez is also an artist of place.

His people's ranches are scattered along the Grand River in Northwestern, South Dakota, not far from where Sitting Bull was born and died on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.

Farmers and ranchers populate the land and cowboys have been roping branding and shearing here for more than a hundred years, more than 20 works of this South Dakota sculptor enriched the artscape of his home state.

- This is my home.

The landscape inspires me, the animals here, the people, I wanna be as close to my inspiration as possible.

And I just always felt that pull to come back here.

And sometimes lemon doesn't have all of the things that a bigger city would have, but that's kind of why I like it, is just for that very thing.

I got a job working for Dale Lamphere and he was such a good teacher and he really helped me develop myself as an artist and a sculptor.

And then I broke off on my own and started making tabletop sized bronze sculptures.

My very first piece in public art in South Dakota was probably the John Adams.

When I, I started out doing the presidents in Rapid City after about 10, 15 years of doing the bronze sculpting thing.

My Aunt Effie was killed in a car accident, so I moved to where their ranch was south of Eagle Butte and moved in with her husband and we helped to build this cemetery where he wanted to bury her on the ranch.

Some of the different de artistic details on the cemetery were made outta scrap metal in my Uncle Gino's from his yard.

So I made an angel for the top of this gate outta scrap metal, and I, it came together so easily and I was just like, wow, I should try do a horse head than it was just like my career went in a completely different direction.

There's an ample amount of scrap metal in this area, so I tell people if I was in Italy, I'd be sculpting out of Italian marble, but being as I'm in South Dakota, I build my sculptures outta scrap iron.

The best way to describe how I start a piece is I'll have an idea and I don't necessarily know what I'm gonna make it out of.

I know it's gonna be found objects, but I let myself stay open-minded about the journey that this piece is gonna take me on because tonight someone might leave a box of stuff behind the Kokomo that I didn't realize I was gonna have.

So I'll sculpt a Marquette outta wax or do a drawing or something and then go into the shop and start building the armature for this piece and just kinda let it build itself.

I do commission work from time to time I'll get an email from somebody that says, okay, we want a buffalo that tells a story of our community.

And then every once in a while I have to do one of my own ideas, like the tree in the background, the tree of life was something that I wanted to do, and so then I'll put it in my sculpture garden so that the public can come and see it.

And so a little bit of both commission and some of my own ideas, my dad was living with me and we found out that he had cancer when I started the sculpture.

And so this was a very special time for me to have my dad with me.

And he was coming towards the end of his life, I think subconsciously I was working on this tree that I wanted it to look like.

One of those olive trees in Italy that looked like they're a thousand years old, you know, and they're twisting and turning and they've been through drought and fire and all this hardship, but it still is alive and growing.

So I put out a thing on there asking these different makers around the world, if you would like to help me with this tree, you could make a blossom, mail it to me and I'll include it in the tree.

So a lot of the blossoms on the tree were made by other artists from all over the world.

I feel that my job as an artist is to do the kind of art that I need to do or I wanna do, and it just happens to be western art and mostly animals.

I love to do buffalo and horses and I like to tell the story of the community that it's going in.

I feel that public art has a different meaning in different places.

I think in Lemmon, public art needs to kind of speak to the people that are living here.

They need to be able to relate to it.

It needs to be able to tell their story in a way.

And I think when you go into some of these bigger cities and you see a piece that's more abstract and maybe people could interpret it in the way that they want to, you have to be kind of careful doing that in a small town like Lemmon.

Because if you disconnect the people that are living here, if they get disconnected from the piece, it's, it just doesn't work too good.

I think that's what these little towns are starting to figure out is if you have some public art, you paint a mural, you commission an artist to do something, it kind of starts this momentum and and gets people's attention and maybe you'll get some more tourism.

You know, - Mitchell is home to the world famous Corn Palace and Dakota Wesleyan University in 20 21, 1 graduate had the idea of commissioning a large piece of art for the new School of Business innovation and leadership.

The idea gained momentum and a selection committee was formed to raise funds and find the right artists to execute the committee's mission.

Joan Benefiel of Brooklyn, New York, was selected out of more than 35 artists to do the project created of translucent blue resin and titled Power of Possibility the sculpture was installed and dedicated in September of 2022.

- Being a sculptor is kind of like a game of translating.

So we have these words and this description of what someone wants to see in a sculpture, and the game is to boil those things down into what might be the simplest gesture, but that tells a story that's much bigger and easier to understand than words are.

I had never seen a call quite like this before.

They wanted a sculpture that would pay tribute to the women of Wesleyan and that would focus specifically on the accomplishments of women students.

In the past, in the present and in the future, there were four specifics that were gonna be non-negotiable for the winning proposal, strength movement, DWU, blue in color, and that the forms or figures be female or at least indicate a female presence was how they put it, which I thought was really nice.

That resonated with me as well because in my figurative work, I don't like to have the figures be too specific for public art.

I think it's important to create work that lots of people might be able to see themselves in and relate to.

And for me, the way that I try to do that is through gesture and body language rather than sculpting specific people.

One of the things that's really great about this project is that it's site specific.

So we had a picture of the site during construction and architectural drawings about the landscaping and how it was gonna look when it was done, and so we were able to really think about the space that it was going to, and in doing that we made some sketches of the building and thinking about the scale of people to the building so that we could then think about the scale of the sculpture and what would make sense in the space, knowing that it was gonna be seen and approached from all sides, that there was a big sort of semi circular sidewalk and then that sidewalk sprouts off into other parts of campus and then it was meant to be sort of a hub for all of these different vantage points to come together at the entrance to this building and it's gonna mark that spot.

From there, we move into sketching out ideas of what the piece could actually be, but the composition of of the sculpture is, and possibilities for that comes down to sort of a game of boiling down all those different words that they had listed that they feel like the women of Wesleyan have as characteristics and figuring out how to show those and highlight those things and have them be really legible through body language essentially.

So the three figures represent the women of Wesleyan past, present, and future.

They are decidedly all linked together.

It's one sculpture, even though it's three individual figures, which represents the bond that the women of Wesleyan have with each other.

The foundation that the women of the past laid for the women that are there now and the support that the women that are there now are committed to giving to the women that come in the future.

- But you don't know if they were like, I'm late and I have to give this presentation in class and I'm super focused on that, but oh my god, what's that I'll outcome back after class and you don't know.

Yeah, or the next time they came they're like, oh yeah, I wanted to stop and look at this thing that I saw when I was in a hurry the other day.

Either way, they looked up and it went into their, whereas they wouldn't have looked up, they wouldn't have seen that, and it'll circle back later.

They'll wonder about it or they'll see the the, the program from the unveiling or they'll see it in the school paper or they'll notice it on the, on the website when they announce it and then they'll read that story.

And permanent public art means it's gonna be there for a long, long time.

- Imagine a small town that decides to infuse its walkways with art.

It may start with a mural or two, colorful and vibrant, adorning the side of a building or with one sculpture on the street or in a park.

This art isn't just paint on walls or figures on a street corner or on the quad.

They are stories etched into the environment.

Each piece tells a tale celebrating the community's history or its citizens or reflecting diversity culture and aspirations.

As art graces the public spaces, people begin to notice and appreciate their surroundings and engage differently with them.

What were once ignored walls or spaces become destinations where locals and visitors alike stop to view and then stroll the streets to engage with the art that breathes life into the community.

Sturgis with a population of around 7,200 hosts, the largest motorcycle rally in the world that grows to hundreds of thousands of bikers who attend the annual event each summer, but the town also loves its art and 30 sculptures now adore its streets and parks.

There are realistic figures honoring the rallies founders and the town's namesake along with animal figures and some that are more avant-garde.

Six of the sculptures in the historic downtown area change each year as part of the Sturgis Art walk that began in 2021 in partnership with Sculpture One.

The other pieces are permanently situated in various locations throughout the community.

The Missouri River cuts a meandering path through Central South Dakota and provides a vital waterway Mobridge called Khowakatan Othunwahe meaning over the river town in Lakota is a community of about 3,200 residents.

The history of public art here began with one residence's personal connection to the federal art project.

Under the WPA, the program which operated from 1935 to 1943 employed over 10,000 artists and produced more than 200,000 various works of art.

Some of that art remains among the most significant pieces of public art in the United States.

Mobridge is one of hundreds of communities that benefited from the rich cultural legacy of that era.

The most prominent WPA works in the state include 10 murals that depict the first contact between the native people and white settlers in Dakota territory.

The murals were created by a young Oscar Howe in 1941 and 1942 over several weeks while he was on furlough in the military, - We are in the Scherr - Howe Arena, which is on Main Street, and we are surrounded by these beautiful Oscar Howe murals.

They asked several and they wanted Native American and they would come in here and look at this building and look at those big panels and it scared them.

It was too big a project and he had just finished a A course down in Oklahoma in mural painting and he was young and gutsy and brave and said he'd do it.

We had all our basketball games and volleyball games and stuff in here and we had big crowds and they were thinking about somehow making it larger, but thank heaven.

Somebody said, no, we can't destroy the walls with the murals on it.

We had this gal and she said, we should have one of John's statues and it should be a cowboy riding a walleye because walleye fishing is so big, we get thousands of people for that.

It's called Walleye Up and it's about a block south of the railroad tracks straight down main street.

We started the Mobridge Public Art Fund when we started raising money for John's pieces.

We paid for everything.

The city gave us the land and then we gifted it to the city.

Same way with the tiger, and then we gifted it to the school and then they're responsible for the lighting and the insurance and all that kind of stuff.

We have enough people that care that they're willing to donate money for things like that.

People are proud of Mobridge, they really are.

I think Mobridge is looking pretty good.

It's a nice place to live.

- Eagle Butte, a town of about 1300 people is the tribal headquarters of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.

On the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

This small community comes alive each summer with the Red Can Graffiti Jam, the first and only event of its kind in Indian country, sponsored by the Cheyenne River Youth Project.

This award-winning four day event provides an unprecedented opportunity for native youth to express themselves in their own voices through the profound power of art.

The Cheyenne River community experiences colorful and meaningful public art while strengthening its connection with traditional Lakota culture and providing inspiration for native youth.

- We're able to communicate with the youth because they're out there, they're out there in the streets, and now they're seeing things that they can kind of connect to and it has like a raw edge, but yet it's still within the fine art realm.

You know, maybe they were having a bad day and they see a piece and then you know, all of a sudden they go home, they start drawing and they may be influenced to become an artist, or they may have a passion for something and somehow find a way that they're connecting with their own story.

With ours that we're creating, - Since its inception in 2015, red Can has been breaking new ground.

Not only are the featured artists showcasing a global movement, its relevance and how to be part of it.

They're connecting the graffiti world with the indigenous one.

Participants agree together we are sharing and revitalizing our stories, our language, our values, and our identities.

And through reclaiming our spaces in this way, we are lifting up our community.

Over the years, a variety of public art pieces in Aberdeen have added vibrancy and character to its cityscape.

Murals and sculptures abound, honoring individuals who've made significant contributions to the city or celebrating the town.

Now after a long wait, the community is enjoying the first sculpture of its long planned art on main project.

- Aberdeen is the third largest city in South Dakota.

It's a really interesting mix of agriculture.

There are large businesses like the headquarters for Dacotah Bank, so you've got white collar workers, you've got farmers, you really have all sorts of walks of life.

In Aberdeen, people have wanted art downtown for quite some time.

The pedestals went in 10 years ago.

Since then, the Downtown Association and the Aberdeen Area Arts Council have been working to create a program.

This is the first year that we had something installed, so this is really the first step to make it happen.

The sculpture behind me is Prairie Arabesque.

It is an eight foot tall sculpture that we received from Steve Bormes, an artist who is currently residing in Sioux Falls, but he's originally from Aberdeen.

The sculpture was installed mid-July in 2023.

The stars really aligned when I was brought on as a new executive director of the Downtown Association.

And at the same time, a friend of mine, Steve Thithavong, became the new director of the Aberdeen Area Arts Council.

The first conversation we had is, how can we get art downtown?

How can we use our leadership to finally make this happen?

And it, it worked out perfectly because Steve Bormes actually reached out to Steve at the Arts Council saying, we have this piece that came off of the Sioux Falls Art Walk, and it's inspired by a young boy in Aberdeen Prairie Arabesque was created in honor of a young boy who actually resides in Aberdeen and has been facing a battle with cancer for many years.

He is currently cancer free and we're so thankful.

The piece was inspired by his joy and continued excitement and willingness to dance and have fun as a young child, even though he was facing such a hard battle, it created this excitement for art and Aberdeen that it kind of revived a lot of the anticipation and momentum to keep it going.

We do have successful artists here.

We support our artists.

So that's really the cool thing that I think pieces like this represent.

Malchow Plaza has some really amazing murals commissioned by Nick and Nicole Fischer.

They are two local artists who do a lot of mural work around South Dakota and beyond.

We're really proud that they live here and are willing to contribute to other local art pieces.

Downtown Northern State University has an incredible John Lopez Wolf sculpture at one of their newer buildings on campus.

I think having art like this is really valuable because it creates a new identity for us, something that is relatable, it's something that we can be really proud of.

I think it also opens the door for young people who are interested in art and are growing up in rural or small town South Dakota who think, you know, is this something that I can really do when I'm an adult?

Is this a real path that I can take in my career?

And the answer is yes.

We're looking to what's next.

We are looking to the future and deciding, you know, should we do a sculpture walk that rotates?

Should we do permanent pieces?

Maybe we should do a bit of both.

I am so excited to see more art come downtown.

We're looking at walls for murals.

We're really thinking outside of the box for what's next to keep that excitement up.

I think the really cool thing about downtown Aberdeen is the momentum is really on fire.

There are new businesses coming downtown, so things that might have been stagnant for a while are really being shaken up.

And we feel the call to action to raise up our culture and our art downtown to meet that and create this really wonderful meeting and community space for everyone who lives in Aberdeen and beyond.

- Watertown sits on the banks of Lake Kampeska, which means Lake of the Shining shells in the language of the area's native inhabitants with a population of 23,000 or so.

The town claims glacial great places and great times, and welcomes visitors to a community where art meets adventure.

Watertown is home to the Redlin Art Center, which exhibits original paintings by Terry Redlin, one of America's most popular wildlife artists.

It's also home to the Watertown Art Walk and the recently renovated Goss Opera House.

- In 2012, Watertown went through the community visioning process, and outta that came the desire for people.

They wanted clean, safe neighborhoods and business districts.

They wanted downtown Watertown to be rejuvenated and beautified.

And in 2014 we started Watertown Art Walk.

We have since the beginning worked closely with Sioux Falls sculpture Walk.

They give us access to some of their sculptures and also to the artists that they work with.

From there, we were able to go out into the community and ask businesses and individuals to sponsor a sculpture on an annual basis.

We also received funding from the Watertown Area Community Foundation and from the city of Watertown.

In addition to having friends of Art Walk, we also operate the committee as purely volunteers and the people who install and de-install businesses provide in kind services and their employees to help us do that annually, the foundation holds and administers our funds for us, but Art Walk is its own entity.

We have seen a great response from the businesses and from the residents.

We know that people look forward to the sculptures.

Everyone has a favorite and we make a really huge effort to try to get a wide variety of sculptures so that we can expose people to different forms of art.

I think Artwalk has been a great benefit to the community.

- Brad Johnson, a native of Watertown who returned several years ago, was a major player in the restoration of the Goss Opera House, a public show place for art, and a gathering place in the downtown area.

- The Goss was built in late 1880s, and today it's the last surviving tie back to the history of, of the early days of our city.

When you walk into the inside of the old theater, you'll see the artwork that was in the building originally.

There was a lot of things that were kept from the historic part of it.

And what Charles Goss always believed that opera houses should be was a community gathering place.

Restoration was definitely a work of public art for the community because you know, it started with one individual shouldering most of the burden.

As people could begin to see, almost like you know, the beginnings of a great painting, you could start to visualize what was coming.

A project like that really is a collaboration of so many talented individuals, and the end result in my mind, is a masterpiece.

And it's something that will always be the focal point of Watertown.

You know, I think if we had not had the combination of the art walk and the restoration of the Goss, you would see a completely different Watertown.

Today, - De Smet boasting that it is delightfully different is a small town with a big vision that won a 2016 Bush Foundation prize for community innovation here in the town of 1058.

Residents the past mingles with the future and the spirit of adventure is alive and well in the present.

The town is primarily recognized for its historical connection to Laura Ingalls Wilder, the author of The Little House on the Prairie Books.

In 2023, city leaders with support from the De Smet Community Foundation set a goal to enhance its cultural and artistic atmosphere.

In partnership with Jim Walker and Sculpture one, the town created a sculpture trail along Main Street.

Six new sculptures are placed downtown each spring for locals and visitors to enjoy.

They join public art in other parts of the community, including a larger than life statue of Father Pierre De Smet, the namesake of the town, a fireman standing watch in front of the fire station, and several sculptures of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Jamie Lancaster of the Demit Development Corporation.

Comments, the De Smet Sculpture Trail has already made a difference in our community in its first year of existence, local residents, both young and old, have grown in their appreciation of art and have had their eyes open to the fact that things like this do not have to be limited to large cities.

We have observed visitors and locals alike lingering longer on Main Street, enjoying the pieces, learning the stories behind the art, and in doing so growing their appreciation of De Smet.

The Sculpture Trail is a successful part of many efforts to retain local residents, attract visitors and new residents, and increase revenue for our central retail district.

The largest city in South Dakota takes its art seriously.

There are a number of privately owned public works, and the city of Sioux Falls owns over 75 sculptures overseen by the city planning and development departments.

The art is well integrated into the entire cityscape.

You'll find sculptures of military and law enforcement heroes, city mothers and fathers, children, native Americans, animal figures, nature scapes and others convey myriad stories about South Dakota and the world.

Donations of artwork began decades ago, but Sioux Falls took a large step into exhibiting and collecting.

In 2004 with the creation of sculpture Walk, Sioux Falls claiming to be the largest annual exhibit of public sculptures in the world.

The project has exhibited almost 1000 pieces since its inception.

The collection in downtown Sioux Falls is refreshed every May, making visitation an annual event for travelers and art enthusiasts from around the world.

Viewers vote on their favorite sculpture, and the People's Choice Award winner is purchased by the city and added to its permanent collection.

This dedication to public art transforms an already vibrant downtown into an outdoor art gallery.

- When I was a traveling student in my twenties, our first stop was in Rome.

I was just infatuated by the sculptures.

And then later on I experienced sculptural fountains in the Plaza in Kansas City.

Many years later, when I'm thinking about we need more public art, those experiences came back to me, and this is in 2003, we had the Statue of David, which is fantastic, and also the buffalo here at Falls Park, but not too much more sculptures.

We did have Moses at Augustana, but other than that, pretty limited.

And I thought, we just need something more here in Sioux Falls and downtown, 'cause that's the center of the city.

I had to get approval from the City Council, the City Arts Commission, and also the ADA Board and no problems.

I don't think the city council has ever received a complaint about sculpture walk, which is a good thing.

That was our goal.

The primary goal was to be the highest quality sculpture program in the country, and that's what we've always shot for, and that seemed to work pretty good.

- Well, the city's role in Sculpture Walk is we've been fortunate to be involved since the beginning 20 years ago, and we provide the funds to purchase the People's Choice.

Every year.

Our Visual Arts Commission works on placement of those sculptures around town.

We also provide some funding to the Sculpture Walk organization for the operation of the installation and the administrative costs.

And then we also provide some funding for maintenance of sculptures on an ongoing basis.

- It really took off.

It was just so exciting to see because there were so many people downtown.

Merchants were open more.

Same with restaurants.

It was a synergy that was on its own growing downtown just because of all of the activity that was going on.

Well, Sioux Falls is booming as you see quite something.

You experience it.

It's a wonderful program, huge benefits for the community.

- Bronze sculptures abound on the state capitol grounds and the surrounding area.

Some honoring past governors, leaders, lawmakers, veterans and war heroes.

Others include Fighting Stallions by Korczak Ziolkowski Crazy Horse fame.

The Trail of Governor's Statue Project has installed five statues created by James Van Nuys, with plans to produce bronzes of all the more than 30 governors who have served South Dakota.

The South Dakota State Capitol Building is in itself a work of art.

Its interior is exquisite with terrazzo tile floors laid by Italian craftsmen and an abundance of murals, paintings, and sculptures.

As visitors enter, they are greeted by four large bronzes set into the corner areas of the lobby, created by Dale Lamphere for the state's centennial in 1989.

They symbolize wisdom, vision, courage, and integrity.

Under the dome in the Rotunda, four large round paintings feature Greek goddesses that symbolize the four major South Dakota themes, agriculture, livestock, mining, and family.

Under each of these paintings is a flag display, four contemporary sculptures, two by Harry Daniel Webster, and two by Gutzon Borglum, the sculptor of Mount Rushmore adorn the Rotunda and compliment the original artwork of the interior.

But there is an abundance of other interior art on public view all around the capital city.

- The South Dakota Arts Council is South Dakota State Arts Agency.

It's organized within what used to be the State Department of Tourism now referred to as Travel South Dakota.

And what the Arts Council does is we provide funding to help support arts organizations, artists, arts projects, arts programs, anything that focuses on uplifting an appreciation of the arts, arts, education, and the artists.

In South Dakota, we have a specific program called the Art for State Buildings Program.

It was created in South Dakota legislation in 2007, but it really started with five prominent South Dakota artists who worked with art supporters in the state to essentially challenge the legislature to invest in artworks and South Dakota artists.

These same five artists said that they would kickstart the program by donating each of them a work of art for the beginning of the art for state buildings, collection Dale Lamphere, Donald Manolo, Doris Riddell, Greta Bodogaard, and D George Prisbe.

They donated these works at a ceremony at the Cultural Heritage Center here in Pierre.

We've been operating the program ever since.

Ever since then, there has been an investment of $20,000 annually by the state of South Dakota in the Art for State Buildings collection.

And so for the last 16 years, the South Dakota Arts Council has administered this program and we use it to purchase artworks.

This program was designed to create artwork for display in the capital complex, but in other state owned buildings in the whole capital city of Pierre that has acquired 125 pieces of artwork all for public display from 90 different artists.

So there's a lot of artwork in the legislative conference rooms in the annex or the public reception areas where everybody from lobbyists and legislators and members of the public gather.

And so there's artwork all over.

And really the goals for it I think are the same today as they were when it started.

And that is not only to celebrate South Dakota's very talented and influential artists, but also to help promote an appreciation of the visual arts.

So when I think about sending elected representatives to the halls of the Capitol here to make decisions and laws on our behalf, I can't think of a better backdrop for all this vibrant artwork that really promotes dialogue to be there, helping to inform and if nothing else, beautify those conversations.

So that's why I think it's really important in the Capitol.

In addition to it being important, anywhere in a community that is willing to display public art in South Dakota, it's fair to say that probably the largest draws to tourist are works of public art.

Of course, we know about Mount Rushmore crazy horse and now dignity.

These truly monumental works of public art.

We know that these draw visitors to South Dakota, but on a smaller scale, we definitely see public art helping revitalize spaces and multiple communities.

- While Pierre works to capture each of South Dakota's governors in sculpture, Rapid City is dedicated to making sure every United States president has a place in town.

In 2000, a private group with cooperation of the city began commissioning life-size bronzes of each of America's commanders in chief to be placed along the city streets and sidewalks in what is now known as the city of Presidents.

It's common to see people posing for pictures beside their favorite figures and learning the histories about them from an audio tour artist and musician.

James Van Nuys grew up in Rapid City and has lived there for most of his life.

He has done several private commissions and created four of the statues for the President's project, as well as several other public works in the community, including the fallen officers Memorial, black Hills, veterans Memorial, and a 100 foot mural in the regional airport.

- Airport.

City of Presidents was the brainchild of Don Purdue, a local businessman.

His idea was that rather than have random artwork on every corner, if you had a theme that would motivate tourists to walk around downtown, it would help the local businesses giving them some visibility.

The first president I did, I think I worked on for almost a year because it was the first life-sized statue I had ever done.

And I wasn't sure what I was doing by the fourth one that I worked on.

I had it down to maybe four months to do the clay.

And then of course, you've got three or four months for the foundry to deal with it and get your finished bronze back and installed.

It was funny because the first three I did were presidents that people don't even know were presidents.

I did Millard Fillmore first and I did Franklin Pierce, and then I did Andrew Johnson.

And then the fourth one I did was Obama.

I put his daughter into the statue with him.

So I thought it would be nice if there's little girls walking around with their family down here.

There'd be a little girl.

People did walk around to see the whole series.

It was somewhat controversial when they started it because the local art community felt that there needed to be a diversity of different kinds of pieces.

And a lot of my friends, of course, were in that camp.

But I think his idea worked pretty well.

- South Dakota's second largest town has much more than presidents to offer in the way of public art.

Led by visionary Ray Hillenbrand Destination.

Rapid City opened Main Street Square in October, 2011.

The public space replaced an aging parking lot and brought a vibrant, welcoming heart to the downtown area.

The design for the square included 21 large pieces of granite along the Badlands Garden and Black Hills Garden at the square with the intention that the stones be carved on site.

A call invited artists to submit designs that reflected the natural beauty and history of the Black Hills and Badlands.

In January, 2012, Yuki Nagase was selected to do the sculpture project.

He traveled from his base in Berkeley to Rapid City for an exhibit of his past works and his plans for the project.

He titled Passage of Wind and Water.

He conducted community workshops to gather input and inspiration from more than 600 residents.

Nagase began carving at Main Street Square in July of 2013 and completed the project four summers later.

Nagase's, carvings depict the natural formations of the Black Hills and Badlands, and the material connects with the region's spectacular granite carving tradition.

The work represents the region's continuous and often rapid transformation by the natural elements of wind and water.

- What is this land?

What do we have here?

How do we make something unique that Rapid City, the visitor hasn't seen before?

That's where the passage of wind and water began, and that's when Yuki brought forward his design.

He spent several months here.

That was his idea.

He says, we can do something that people can't see.

They have to visualize it, they have to explore it.

The goal of doing the project is pretty simple, is attraction.

The goal of doing the project is getting more people involved, the visuality of what it is or isn't.

Well, I think it's wonderful.

It's unique.

Of course, I was here when it all began.

Not everybody thought it was a great idea.

Like what are you doing there?

What are you putting rocks in there for?

What is that all about?

So after the development began, people started to realize, wait a minute, this is more than I thought it was.

This is something that can be very unique to downtown Rapid City, not just to Main Street Square to downtown Rapid City.

So people started to accept it.

All of a sudden, remember we did a five year process.

So year one gained a little more interest when one of the stones was carved.

Year two became a little more anti, 'cause then he was doing two stones at a time.

But when it was done, people started showing up.

The average number in my time here was 600,000 people a year visiting downtown and Main Street Square.

Other communities got a hold of that and they started looking at it.

You have to take a look at the diversity of everyone in the community using it.

This was a space of every color, race, creed, whatever it might be that is open to the entire public.

Everyone could enjoy it.

This was Ray's vision.

When Ray looked out at Main Street Square, all he did was smile and he was the motivator behind it.

'cause you could see everything going on, all the kids playing, all the ice skating, all the different ethnic groups involved and supporting and loving what they're seeing.

So the smiles is what brought it to life.

That's what made it happen, is everybody getting connected and everyone being involved.

It's a space that's a gathering space for downtown Rapid City.

As other communities started to see that, they started to build their own downtown gathering space says, wow, we need to do that.

How do we put this together?

And pretty soon our phone started ringing.

How can you help us do it?

And there were several areas that have now done it in the last seven, eight years.

So it's been a real gift to everyone in the community.

- My role is to promote and support the arts in my community, both near and far.

My people are primarily located in Pine Ridge, South Dakota, but also we have tribal members, you know, all over the country and all over the world.

I'm also tasked with creating one of the first official winter counts for the Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Myself and Keith Braveheart we're both chosen as artists Laureates and we will be creating an arts council, kind of the first Oglala Lakota Arts Council with members of our tribe, artists and elders and culture bearers.

- Marty has been busy with projects that celebrate the native people of the area.

He was the lead artist on the Star sculpture at the entrance of the Oglala Lakota art space that opened in Kyle in 2023.

He was also part of the planning team for the artwork in the new Oyate Health Center Urgent Care facility in Rapid City.

Opened in 2023 and managed by the Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Health Board.

It provides a range of health services to native people in western South Dakota.

It is also home of perhaps the largest collection of Indian owned original art in the state.

- They're in a really unique position here at Oyate Health.

They've amassed a really amazing collection of contemporary, predominantly northern plains art, but a really diverse selection of mediums of artists from different generations and different practices.

It really is shaping up to be one of the most interesting contemporary art collections in the region.

It's brought in a lot of people from the outside and now there are a lot of people coming here outta curiosity to see the work.

'cause most of the times when you visit a hospital, the work that you see on the wall is pretty generic.

It's oftentimes they're prints, you know, they're not really original artworks like we have here.

And I think that's created a really unique space, a space where our community can come for practical reasons, but also have, you know, really beautiful work to view and contemplate.

To know what it's like to kind of be somewhere and you know, waiting for that appointment or whatever.

But I think having the artwork really adds another unique opportunity.

I think the importance of having art here in this facility, this is one of the few spaces in Rapid City that really belongs to my community.

It's a place I think people feel comfortable in.

It's a place that people feel welcome in, which isn't always true for Rapid City.

Having artwork here, especially artwork of this caliber.

It's catering towards our community.

It's not meant for an outside voyeur, although diverse audiences are welcome.

It's intended for, for the community.

These are our relatives on the wall.

No, literally and and figuratively.

You know, having artwork around, especially in a hospital environment, does provide a level of, of healing, whether it's physical or mental.

So for me, I think the importance of of the artwork has a lot to do with our priorities and for my, for my people historically, you know, the way we express our creativity is within our environments.

Whether it's the adornment of our clothes, our regalia, our tools, our our homes.

We express ourselves in those lived environments.

It's been really interesting to see that manifest itself here within this hospital and really seeing a survey of contemporary northern plains artwork.

I think anytime an outsider tries to represent, you know, our culture or our traditions, you know, it dilutes the aesthetics.

It creates something that is oftentimes based on an outside perspective isn't always true to who we are and who we will be.

- Community.

From the perspective of public art has many layers to it.

If we bring it down to a state or a community, then what we have, I think are public expressions of the creativity of people from every walk of life.

We certainly have that in South Dakota in our communities, and we absolutely have it in the indigenous art community among our Native American people.

From the nine tribes in South Dakota, I found that having Native American artwork displayed in our office spaces created really a shorthand into the culture that when a native person would come into a space, something as foreign as a law office in downtown Rapid City, that when that person would see native art, it was as though the understanding was somebody here gets it.

Somebody here respects us and they're respecting our culture.

When I took the federal bench in 2009, I had already determined from my past use of Native American art in my office spaces that it was important to create an environment which was professional, but also which communicated clearly to native people that this was a space in which they could feel safe.

It's a place of great tension when native people come into such a foreign and difficult place as a federal courthouse.

To see symbols and images from their own culture in great variety, I think makes a difference.

We had art groups come through, so in a sense the chambers were private, but they were in fact a public space.

Portraits of judges.

Commonly a person would think, well, they're just a picture of the judge.

I wanted that portrait to communicate a message.

And so it's quite different than any judicial portrait I've seen.

It's taken in front of a eight foot by seven foot brain tan buffalo hide, which I commissioned from Diana Hudson.

And Diana chose to do a traditional beaded blanket strip of a very old and traditional nature across that hide.

I wanted that to communicate the setting in which that photo was taken.

In addition to that, I wore a ring that Steve Zebo created out of bison horn.

I wore it specifically for that photograph so that native people would know that I was aware of the circle of life, the four directions, sacred colors, and that that was always part of a way of showing respect for native people.

So that portrait is public because it's hanging in the main courtroom in the federal courthouse in Rapid City.

It's art because it contains messages, it tries to speak clearly about respect for native people and native culture and very much a part of community.

- In 1908 when the cornerstone for the South Dakota State Capitol was laid, Governor Coe Crawford said The new capitol will stand throughout the coming years as an expression of beauty and art.

And as the people come and go and linger within its walls, they will seat an expression of the soul of the state, thus begin a dedication to public art that continues to this day, not only in the state capitol, but in communities all across the state.

- The sculpture accomplishes its goal.

Women are honored in a way that doesn't exclude others.

It's inclusive.

You don't look at the piece and see that it's specifically about women, but if you look at it closely and and you understand the story, then you know that it's honoring women.

But it also honors other people that have broken barriers.

- I think it tells you that we care about art and we also care about the people who create art.

And I think as you walk around and spend time on campus, you have the opportunity to experience the artwork and then also intentionally experience and learn about the people who have created those pieces of art.

And so I think those combined are what you'll see in terms of the values of the institution, the power of possibilities and expression of all four of our values, learning, leadership, faith, and service.

And I think that's what brings its presence and makes it enduring for our campus because it's connected to our enduring mission.

- Public art is important because it's how we celebrate, it's how we commemorate, it's how we honor our past and look forward to our future.

If you think about the kinds of major public artworks that South Dakota has, Mount Rushmore being probably the big one now with the addition of dignity in Chamberlain and the statues that are in the capitol.

The capitol itself is a piece of art, but those statues are really critical to announcing to the world that we care about those things.

We care about these people, we care about their history, and we care about the aesthetics of our own community and that other people know we care.

And public art is the best way to do that.

- Art in general is a universal language that can express so many different things, be it our history or beauty or triumphs or struggles.

And I think then art brings us together in a common space.

Art can connect people and when it connects people, it only leads to conversation and dialogue.

- What I hope to see in public arts within our state is more representation from actual tribal members, native artists from this area.

In the past that hasn't always been the case and that hasn't always been a conversation.

And more and more I think communities and the public are becoming more aware of the need for that, the importance of having that come directly from within the community.

- Public art has the power of communicating messages.

We know that some of the murals are protest art.

We know that some of the sculptures confuse us, cause us to think about issues.

Social issues matters of design, but all public art is intended to communicate with the community in which it's found, or the visitors to a community who might become familiar with the people because of the images that are created there.

Especially true, I think, of native art, but art generally across South Dakota, public art is everywhere in this state.

We just need to open our eyes and open our minds of seeing something different.

Being challenged by public art being caused to think about the artist and the message that's being communicated and and where a piece of art fits into a community and the life of that community.

Because public art is the life of the community.

- The story of public art in a community is one of transformation.

It's about turning mundane spaces into vibrant canvases that celebrate diversity, history, and creativity.

It's about fostering a sense of pride, belonging and unity among the people.

Public art has the power to breathe life into a community, making it not just a place to live, but a place to thrive, connect, and be inspired.

- I want to dig my heels in.

I wanna settle down.

I want to reel the years in, turn my life around.

I don't care who wins the human race.

See your smiling face, the light - On - I'm - Coming - Home.

Heart is coming home to the ocean.