Summer arts are live and in-person this summer throughout South Dakota

Summer arts abound in South Dakota!

Live music, festivals and theaters prepare for audiences

After a year of virtual performances, innovative programming and socially distanced arts of every kind, South Dakotans—along with travelers from around the nation—are ready to return to in-person arts events. While health and safety are still paramount, venues are gearing up for busy summer seasons, with full schedules of arts opportunities announced throughout the state. Below you will find a sampling of the summertime fun you and your family can enjoy. To discover the full range of arts happenings, visit the calendar page at www.ArtsSouthDakota.org and go to www.TravelSouthDakota.com.

Levitt at the Falls: 40 free outdoor concerts

Live concerts return to the Sioux Falls Levitt Shell with a full calendar for the 2021 season. Professional artists will perform 40 free concerts at the Levitt Shell in Falls Park West starting on Friday, June 11 and running through Saturday, September 11.

The 2021 season will consist of local, regional and national professional artists offering a variety of genres and musical styles. With eight different musical series offered— Americana, Women of Song, Country, Garden Fresh, Homegrown, World Music, Rock & Blues and a Family Series—there will be something for everyone.

Opening night at the Levitt Shell in downtown Sioux Falls will feature the GRAMMY-winning group Ranky Tanky.

“After a year of tremendous challenges for our community, we are so thrilled to bring news of hope and joy with a return to free, outdoor live music and community building at the Levitt Shell,” said Nancy Halverson, Executive Director of Levitt at the Falls. “We are grateful for the support of our many sponsors and donors for investing in the power of live music.”

Levitt concerts will be held each Friday and Saturday night during the summer, with Thursday concerts added into the schedule in the months of July and August. Levitt events will include opening acts featuring local performers and a variety of food and drinks available. The lawn will open at 6 pm each concert night with music beginning at 6:30 pm. Additionally, Family Series performances for kids and youth groups will be held on four Friday mornings throughout the summer at 10 am.

Opening night on Friday, June 11 for Levitt at the Falls will feature the 2020 GRAMMY-winning quintet Ranky Tanky, who bring a fresh and inspiring jazz take to the traditional Gullah music of South Carolina. Closing night on Saturday, September 11 will feature Chicago’s LowDown Brass Band, an all-horn band which leans heavily on dance hall and street beat rhythm, with the energy of hip hop, jazz, reggae and soul. For a concert schedule and more information about Levitt at the Falls, visit www.levittsiouxfalls.org. Continued on page 4...

A scene from the 2019 Levitt season. Paul Schiller photo, courtesy of Levitt at the Falls.

Shakespeare returns to the park in Vermillion

The South Dakota Shakespeare Festival brings a professional production of Twelfth Night, or What You Will, to Vermillion’s Prentis Park, June 17-20.The play is directed by Oliver Mayes,who is working toward an MFA in directing at the University of South Dakota, according to Executive Artistic Director Chaya GordonBland, who looks forward to returning to live performances.

Meghan Cameron performs as Time in “The Winter’s Tale.” Photo by Lynn Vidler, courtesy of the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival.

“In considering our production for this summer, there was an overwhelming consensus within the company that it was important to produce a joyful and uplifting comedy,” she said. “This has been such a challenging and stressful time in the world. We want to bring joy to people’s lives, and help support health, happiness and healing for our communities through theatre.”

Throughout rehearsals and performances, the company implemented an array of mitigation techniques, including distancing, use of masks and thorough sanitation. The production in the park will take place for a live audience as well as via a streaming platform and SDSF is also planning safe and responsible arts education programming in collaboration with outreach partners. In fulfillment of the South Dakota Shakespeare Festival’s values of access and inclusion, all programming is free and open to the public. For more information, visit www.sdshakespearefestival.org.

Bluegrass is back in the Hills

The Black Hills Bluegrass Festival has extended the 40th anniversary celebration of West River’s favorite outdoor music festival. After the cancellation of the 2020 event, bluegrass fans will be lining up for the 2021 shows, scheduled for June 25-27, 2021 at the Rush No More Resort & Campground, near Sturgis.

This year’s headliners are The Special Consensus, with appearances by That Dalton Gang, The Waddington Brothers, Montana Standard and the Black Hills Bluegrass Band. Shows, music workshops for adults and children, nightly jam sessions and a Sunday morning gospel performance are held rain or shine in an outdoor concert area with a large building available for audiences in case of rain. The event venue is an RV park with full hook-ups, large pull-through RV sites, forested tent camping spaces and cabins available to rent as well. A swimming pool and a play area help keep the kids busy at the family-friendly event.

Visit www.blackhillsbluegrass.com for more information.

Governor’s 9th Biennial Art Exhibition opens at SDAM

The South Dakota Art Museum is the opening venue for the Governor’s 9th Biennial Art Exhibition, running through June 13 on the South Dakota State University campus in Brookings. The exhibition displays artworks from some of the state’s leading artists at four exhibiting institutions across the state through the course of the one-year traveling show. The 9th Biennial is an entirely juried exhibition featuring one submission each from 66 artists selected from 289 works submitted by 102 artists.

“Rimrocks and Spearfish Creek,”2020 oil on canvas by Sandra Newman.

The 9th Biennial opened at the South Dakota Art Museum March 19, travels to the Washington Pavilion in Sioux Falls from June 26 through September 19, then moves to the John A. Day Gallery at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion October 16 through November 5, and concludes the year of touring at the Dahl Arts Center in Rapid City December 3, 2021 through March 5, 2022.

The South Dakota Governor’s Biennial Art Exhibition was created to recognize and encourage South Dakota artists, to promote the artistic identity of South Dakota, to celebrate the cultural and artistic heritage and future of South Dakota and to encourage a larger sense of community and connection across separate artistic communities within the state.

For hours, directions and a complete online catalog of the works, visit www.sdstate.edu/south-dakota-art-museum.

Dahl stages Proof of LifeII

Proof that visual artists were busy creating new work during the pandemic year is on display now at the Dahl Arts Center in downtown Rapid City. Proof Of Life II is a new show running through August 7 in the Ruth Brennan Gallery, with a reception for the artists June 25 from 5-7 pm.

“Riding & Remembering Those We Lost to COVID-19 in the World,” a 2021 pencil, ink and acrylic on ledger paper by Jim Yellowhawk.

In March of 2020, photographer Steve Babbitt, a member of the Dahl exhibits committee, suggested the arts center create a virtual art show of regional work during the pandemic. The concept was judged both a great idea and a way to help support local artists. Arts professionals realized that visual artists are used to working in isolation as daily solo performers in their individual studios so, although the Covid-19 pandemic was devastating to all populations, the isolation created by the pandemic is something that visual artists deal with in their daily lives. “When I was thinking of titles for this kind of show, the term Proof of Life just seemed like such an obvious and natural fit,” said Denise Du Broy, museum director and curator. “The paintings, sculptures, jewelry, weavings, photographs and mixed media projects that artists create are the physical proof that they exist, are working and continue to do so. While daily life slowed down and drastically changed for most of the population, this wasn’t the case for most visual artists.” For the Proof of Life II show, the Dahl decided to take advantage of an open gallery and do a non-virtual show made up of the same group of 14 artists. The intention of the juried exhibition is to showcase what regional artists have been working on and completing during this global pandemic, Du Broy said. For more about the Dahl Arts Center and upcoming exhibits, visit www.thedahl.org. Continued on page 6...

People Of The Plains returns this summer

Artists share their work with visitors at a previous Native POP celebration.

Main Street Square in Rapid City will once again bring people of all cultures together for the 8th Annual Native POP 2021 art show and market. This juried Indigenous art show and cultural celebration is a free annual event in the heart of downtown Rapid City, scheduled this year on July 9-10. The Gathering of Arts and Culture features original artwork for sale by established and emerging Great Plains Native artists, along with film, fashion and music. This event includes a full day of cultural performances on the stage, with a ticketed artist awards reception slated for the Friday evening before the show. This year’s event will include a special honoring of all our relatives who have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Visit www.nativepop.org for more information.

Wish You Were Here opens at Visual Arts Center

Artist Epiphany Knedler brings together a vast array of travel and tourism images in Wish You Were Here, an exhibit opening July 30 in the Bates Trimble Gallery of the Visual Arts Center in the Washington Pavilion in downtown Sioux Falls.

Epiphany Knedler’s “Wish You Were Here” will open July 30 at the Washington Pavilion’s Visual Arts Center in Sioux Falls.

Known for prairie fields and pioneer history, along with a landscape uninterrupted for miles, the Great Plains is full of tourist destinations for road-trippers making their way out west. Wish You Were Here examines the ways the region is romanticized using legends, folklore and histories. While the legends of the Great Plains are rooted in experience, from Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show to the spirits of the Badlands, the stories grow to overshadow some grim truths of Midwestern history. These stories become a sense of pride and comfort for the local population, who use iconography to perpetuate ideals such as manifest destiny and the Wild West.

The images in this series reveal the reality of tourist interactions in roadside attractions rather than the typical picturesque postcards. The images highlight aspects of truth within the idyll, including tourist engagement, surrounding infrastructure and pastoral nature. Images have the power to inform our histories and Knedler believes it is our responsibility to find the truth among the myths, bring awareness to overlooked narratives and respond to them through our actions.

For information about the Visual Arts Center or the Washington Pavilion, along with directions and hours, visit www.washingtonpavilion.org/about-us/our-building/visual-arts-center.