CALLING ALL ARTISTS

CAMPBELL COUNTY REACHES OUT

Campbell County has 1,377 people, spread across 774 square miles of grasslands, cornfields and the small towns of Herreid, Pollock and Mound City. Lying in the northwest corner of East River country, it is bordered by North Dakota and the Missouri River.

As director of the county’s Economic Development and Tourism Office, Andrew VanKuren wondered how he might find ways to unite the scattered families and communities. He found inspiration last summer at an Energize Conference in Milbank when Nick Blaske of Sisseton spoke of how an arts council brought his community together.

“I thought ‘Why can’t we do that?’” he says. “We have a lot of talented people here.”

Before the year had ended, VanKuren and his board of directors started an arts council and members began to meet in city halls, community centers and private homes.

A Memorial Day theater production of “Home Sweet Home” was one of the Campbell County Art Council’s first events.

The group started a Facebook page and is making plans for a website. It also reached out to “musicians, painters, actors, actresses, craftspeople, bakers, photographers, poets, writers, designers and any others” to join the new network of creative locals.

The council has already accomplished several projectswith the school, including a selfie wall drawing contest. In April, members held a vendor show at the Pollock School. Plans are also being made for an arts space.

On May 30, the council presented a Memorial Day theater production, “Home Sweet Home,” at the Herreid High School gymnasium.

“The arts cover such a wide spectrum in Campbell County, yet it has never been addressed and organized in the rural district,” VanKuren says. “We think it will continue to grow.”

The Campbell County Arts Council joins a robust network of 35 community arts councils across South Dakota. Follow their Facebook page for updates.