Rapid City Arts Council celebrates a half century of creativity

Five decades after incorporating as one of South Dakota’s first community arts organizations, the Rapid City Arts Council is still finding collaborative ways to celebrate creativity in the Black Hills region.

An excellent example are two of the RCAC’s current shows, the Artists of the Black Hills 13th Annual Exhibition and the 23rd Annual Northern Plains Watercolor Society show, both on display now at the Dahl Arts Center in downtown Rapid City. Showcasing the work of over 50 regional artists, the two exhibitions include watercolor and diverse media painting, sculpture, pastels, photography, printmaking, jewelry, collage and assemblage. While these shows are annual events, each year brings new artistic visions to the Dahl—one of the main purposes for which the arts center was created.

The arts council works to bring the arts and people together to inspire creativity and innovation and to encourage diversity through dynamic partnerships—among those partnerships is an historic link to Rapid City municipal government. That public-private partnership helped to create the Dahl Arts Center, owned by the city and managed by the Rapid City Arts Council.

The Dahl grew from a place to house a 200-foot mural depicting America’s economic growth into a home for a theater and a dedicated art gallery. By 2000, more space was needed for the popular cultural center and fundraising was successful, resulting in a more flexible event venue. The expanded Dahl Arts Center, opened in 2008, now covers the 7th Street block from Kansas City to Quincy Streets and includes three galleries, cyclorama mural, an event and performance center, visual arts classrooms, an emerging artists’ performance gallery and art collection storage rooms.

The Dahl Arts Center was the brainchild of Art Dahl,(shown above with Mrs. Dahl) after he commissioned Bernard P. Thomas to design and paint a mural depicting America’s economic growth. Securing a building to house the work was necessary and the Dahl Arts Center became the answer. The Rapid City Arts Council board of directors agreed to assume the center’s development and management at Dahl’s request.

While the Dahl provides the Rapid City Arts Council with space for staff and a public face through art exhibits, the organization fulfills its creative mission through innovative programming. In addition to visual arts, that programming includes performing arts and arts education programs, as well as support for artists and arts organizations in the community. The diversity of art expression and demographics promoted by the Rapid City Arts Council

“Reed Dancer,” by Jim Green, on display through October 27, 2018 in the Artists of the Black Hills 13th Annual Exhibition at the Dahl.

One of the most colorful and public examples is Art Alley, located in downtown Rapid City between 6th and 7th, and Main and Saint Joseph Streets, which emerged as an organic, community gallery in 2003. In the beginning, artists hung large canvas artworks on the walls. Over time the space evolved with artists painting directly on the walls, which feature unique works of art and political expressions about community and global issues. Art Alley has a fluid nature and changes often through a permitting process for painters. The Alley has become a must-see spot for artists, local residents and tourists.

Art Alley, Rapid City, South Dakota

The Rapid City community arts council has a variety of programs that connect with young people, including the Teaching Artists Program (TAP), which bridges a deficit in Rapid City public elementary schools by bringing free, standardsaligned art education to classrooms. TAP began as a community outreach partnership between The Sculpture Project: Passage of Wind and Water and the Rapid City Arts Council to develop advocacy and support for arts education by strengthening the connection between Rapid City’s arts community, the education community and the community as a whole.

Tyler Read works with students at South Canyon Middle School as part of the Rapid City Arts Council's Teaching Artists Program.

The Rapid City Arts Council works to illustrate that art and culture benefit the community’s economic development and quality of life. The group took the lead in the implementation of community initiatives including the Rapid City Cultural Plan, Arts and Economic Prosperity Study 5 and other collaborative opportunities.

The results proved the impact of the arts industry and working artists on the life of the community and the state.

The cultural advocacy and leadership provided by the Rapid City arts community has been recognized nationally. This year, Rapid City ranked eighth on the list of top 10 most vibrant arts communities with a population over 100,000 and under a million. The survey was conducted by the National Center for Arts Research, which rated 900 communities across the country in its Arts Vibrancy Index.

The Rapid City group will be celebrating that vibrancy—and its 50th anniversary—at this year’s The Goods arts evening November 9. The Goods is an annual fundraiser for the Rapid City Arts Council’s programs and is a celebration of art, wine, food and friends, with entertainment and a lottery-sale exhibition, silent auction and raffle.

Over 60 artists generously donate 8” by 8” artworks created specifically for The Goods. Each piece is anonymous, placing emerging and established artists on an even playing field. Ticket holders sign up for the pieces they would like to own and one winner is selected in a lottery drawing, taking each piece home for $125.

To participate in The Goods, explore current exhibitions and events or join the celebration of the Rapid City Arts Council’s 50th anniversary, visit www.thedahl.org.

“We’re excited about celebrating a half century of the arts in Rapid City,” said Gabrielle Seeley, an arts educator and board president for the Rapid City Arts Council. “As colorful as the first 50 years have been, we’re really looking forward to the creative opportunities in the decades ahead.”