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| Sioux Falls visitor info: |
| 800-333-2072 |
| siouxfallscvb.com |
Watch where you walk in Sioux Falls. There’s an intriguing view at every turn. “One reason my wife and I moved here was the depth of culture and community. On any day, there are places to enjoy the arts,” says David Merhib. Formerly with the Hirshhorn, Merhib oversees the Visual Arts Center at Washington Pavilion. This new South Dakota cultural venue, based in a magnificently renovated school, also includes a science discovery center and world-class performing arts stage.
The city’s outdoor SculptureWalk features works by established and emerging talents (a local dentist included). Set on pedestals carved from locally quarried pink quartzite, sculptures populate downtown streets and the city’s 70 parks. Each piece is inviting, story-laden and on display for one year. Viewers vote for those to add to the city’s permanent collection. And the program is run by volunteers, not the government.
“What makes SculptureWalk so distinctive is the quality and variety of sizes, mediums, artists and subject matter,” says program director Jim Clark. “We’re the largest sculpture program of our kind.” There’s even a one-mile indoor SculptureWalk at Avera McKennan hospital, and a university SculptureWalk launching in 2011. “We’re very unique, and fun!”
The dozens of works depict historical and pop-cultural moments, animals wild and fanciful, and all kinds of amusing characters.
“Cherapa Buffalo” was created by Gary Monaco from rusted metal. The region’s ancient burial grounds inspired Porter Williams to carve his “Petrograph” action scene into a wall of quartzite. New at Veteran’s Memorial Park: Sondra Jonson’s “Going Home,” commissioned by citizens to memorialize a local Green Beret.
A 5-minute stroll north leads to 123-acre Falls Park, beautifully revitalized with additions including a 5-story quartzite viewing tower. The centerpiece: a vast boulder-strewn stretch of triple waterfalls. Having powered mills in the 1800s, the cascades now attract walkers, weddings and seasonal laser shows. “Monarch of the Plains,” “Four Cranes” and other sculptures accent park paths.
For Winter Wonderland, running to January 9, the falls are illuminated and park decorated with 236,266 LED lights. “It’s absolutely gorgeous,” says Bernie Larsen, a concierge at the Holiday Inn City Centre, whose chef Jeff DeJong, she adds, will display art at the festival. His medium? Ice sculpture, of course.
