PUBLIC ART

Continuing an ancient tradition

By Bernie Hunhoff

CAVEMEN DREW ANIMAL art on dirt walls 45,000 years ago. Romans carved grand sculptures.

Medieval artists painted frescos. South Dakota continues the ancient tradition of public art with a rotating collection of works that now numbers 110 pieces.

However, South Dakota’s public art includes works you’ll find nowhere else in the world, and the latest additions are perfect examples. Mick Harrison’s oil titled Quick Eye and Quicker Gate (above) depicts three modern-day cowboys sorting cattle in a Black Hills corral.

Harrison, a rural Belle Fourche artist, lauds South Dakota’s Art for State Buildings program, which was launched by U.S. Senator Mike Rounds when he was governor in 2007. Rounds envisioned a state art collection that would celebrate the state’s artists, promote the beauty of South Dakota and enliven the sometimes-bland hallways and foyers of government buildings.

State lawmakers and governors have routinely budgeted $20,000 or more since then through the South Dakota Arts Council, except for a hiatus due to the COVID pandemic, when leaders were uncertain about state revenues.

Patrick Baker, executive director of the South Dakota Arts Council, says the program has been re-started with a $24,610 budget. “We had an incredible outpouring of creativity and an overwhelming response,” he says. Sixtytwo artists submitted works for consideration.

Angela Behrends’ sculpture Buffaloed is created of 16-gauge steel wire with real bison horn caps. It measures 4 feet from the top to its wiry beard.

Thirteen were selected. They’ll be on exhibit in Pierre at the Dolly-Reed Plaza (711 E. Wells Ave.), headquarters for the Arts Council and the State Department of Tourism, until permanent locations are arranged.

Baker calls the program, “a perfect partnership of arts and culture, as it goes hand-in-hand with the visitor industry in South Dakota.” Because art reflects the state’s unique heritage, it helps people find common ground — whether they are travelers, state workers, elected officials or citizens of South Dakota.

Harrison is well-known in western art circles around the nation. Now in his senior years, he says he would like to share more of his works here in his home state. He is just about to begin an exhibit titled “A Brush with Heritage” at the Dahl Art Center in Rapid City.

He says his inclusion in the state’s public art program gives him still another opportunity to share his talent with fellow South Dakotans. His painting of cowboys in the corral was inspired by a typical day of his “grandson-inlaw and the boy’s dad sorting cows” on their ranch north of the Black Hills.

Another of this year’s 13 choices is a selection from Barbara Sparks’ “Weeds and Wildflowers” series, a reflection of the state’s blooming flora. Her painting, Echinacea, features this flower that grows wild. Sparks, a Sioux Falls artist who founded the Great Plains Watercolor Society in 2017, has trekked all over the state to explore wildflowers in all seasons.

Teri McTighe: Endurance

“I wanted the public to see our wildflowers as priceless art, with unbelievable lines, curves and shapes,” she says. “They pop up at their own bidding, not caring if anyone is around … some close in the rain and cold, some open in afternoon sunshine. Some have different colors inside and out. All look like they have studied in some sophisticated color theory class.

“Having my art hang in South Dakota’s public buildings is a big deal,” Sparks says. “I have never felt like I really identified with any place I have lived. To have the state value my artistic work enough to make it part of their collection — their family of art — makes me feel like I am part of what is here in this place.”

Another new piece of the state collection is Angela Behrends’ wire sculpture titled Buffaloed. Behrends is a mixed media artist from Madison who teaches art at Dakota State University in Madison. The noble buffalo has long been one of her inspirations.

“When I was a child, so small I could barely walk, growing up in Minnesota, we came to Custer State Park,” she says. “I remember looking out the louvred windows of the camper at this huge, cool animal. It made an impression on me that I’ve never forgotten.”

Other artists whose works are being added to the public collection include Susan Drey of Rapid City, Rodger Ellingson of Sioux Falls, Laura Jewell of Sioux Falls, Amy Lehman of Belvidere, Teri McTighe of Faith, Jesse Brown Nelson of Spearfish, Chad Nelson and Lindsay Twa of Sioux Falls, J. Desy Schoenewies of Spearfish, Jordan Thornton of Sioux Falls and Kat Thompson of Whitewood.

For more about the Art for State Buildings program and the state art collection, visit artscouncil.sd.gov.

Barbara Sparks: Echinacea