Art of the HIlls Spring 2010

The business of art Art & Architecture

The luxury of enough

sarah nettleton’s “simple home”

looking back

history & the built environment and

with Design: South dakota reinventing Howard, S.D.

The art of Business

building from within with dr. craig howe

perspective Q&A

landscape architect pat wyss

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Volume 4 Issue 1

From the Editor

4 Character Building:The Architecture Issue

Architecture expresses who we are—whether we know it or not.

Art Dateline

7 An innovative architecture symposium provides the inspiration for this issue of

Art of the Hills. Learn about it and other Hill City Arts Council sponsored events.

The Business of Art

Art and Architecture by Kristin Donnan Standard The relationship between creativity and the demands of architecture.

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The Luxury of Enough Sarah Nettleton’s “Simple Home” by Kristin Donnan Standard A Minneapolis architect shows how simplicity works both in buildings and in life.

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The Right Stuff

21 One Family’s Black Hills Home by Kristin Donnan Standard

A profile of a home built with its people in mind.

Looking Back: History and the Built Environment

by Kristin Dispenza How our past shows in our buildings—and how to build from there.

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Reinventing Rural & Reinventing Howard

by Kristin Donnan Standard and Paul Higbee Two snapshots into efforts of rural communities, including Howard, SD, at

reinvention. Featuring Design: South Dakota and its volunteers.

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The Art of Business

32 Building From Within by Kristin Donnan Standard

Architect / Anthropologist Dr. Craig Howe connects what we build with who we are.

Perspective

The Q&A Column Featuring landscape architect Pat Wyss.

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On the cover: One of our area’s most renowned pieces of architecture, the lookout on Harney Peak. Photo by Neal L. Larson.

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Funding from Hill City Arts Council, made possible by National Endowment for the Arts, contributed to the distribution of this issue of Art of the Hills.

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CHARACTER BUILDING THE ARCHITECTURE ISSUE

We can’t help but notice the impact—the sense, the feel—when we pass through a town or city that feels right, “organic,” connected to its environment, and connected to the people who live there. This often happens in very old cities, or places where one aesthetic—a visual, natural outgrowth of a culture—is translated into its buildings and landscaping.

We also can’t help but notice when a community lacks such a feeling. Maybe it’s chaotic, with a mixture of styles, sensibilities, and materials. Maybe it’s hard to find our way around, or the place simply lacks…personality. In these cases, the very idea of a community’s conceiving, planning, collaborating on and executing a unified feeling in the built environment might seem at the very least overwhelming—and at most impossible.

In the Black Hills region, in South Dakota, and in the Great Plains, an ongoing conversation about how to approach “visioning,” future planning and development, and even branding has led to efforts to identify and build upon the existing look and feel of the built environment here.

However, the community has encountered basic stumbling blocks in identifying both a current “style” and the best methods to enhance it.

Since architecture is such an important and impactful component to the feel of a place, one of the first focus points has been on the extant built environment, and how it reflects, or at least interacts with, the natural environment. In an effort to move the conversation to the next level, the Hill City Arts Council developed a symposium, Inside Out: Transforming the Built Environment, slated for April 24, 2010. The research contained in these pages, as well as material presented at the event (details on page 7), will assist participants in developing actual design elements that any community in our region can use to move forward.

To create an overview of where we currently stand, and to consider what comes next, our stories begin with the creative side of architecture, in The Business of Art: Art and Architecture, on page 8.

This kind of creativity also contributes to the essential process of how we think about building and living in our homes, with a profile of architect Sarah Nettleton, the author of The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough (page 14).

Next, architecture and design writer Kristin Dispenza reveals that while our region’s architecture generally is not representative of a “style,” it is identifiable thanks to its function and history. She also talks in Looking Back: History and the Built Environment, page 23, about how to capitalize on what we have as we grow. How specific communities have approached this process is the focus of a rural development program called Design: South Dakota; our coverage of their important work begins with Reinventing Rural, on page 29.

And while there is no current Black Hills or South Dakota or Great Plains “look” in the built environment, surely a “feel” can grow from an intimate understanding of the people who live here. Dr. Craig Howe provides the “inside-out” approach to the challenge of translating culture into architecture in The Art of Business: Building From Within, on page 32.

Finally, we can’t forget how the built environment includes the natural setting. In our last word, Perspective on page 44, landscape architect Pat Wyss answers our questions.

Kristin Donnan Standard A glimpse down the hallway of the Gomez house, featured on page 21. Photo by Jessica Simons.

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PUBLISHER Art of the Hills, LLC

EDITOR Kristin Donnan Standard

CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ray Berberich

associate designer Jessica Simons

速

EDITORial correspondent Winston Barclay

SALES Jessica Simons Susan Scheirbeck

STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS Neal L. Larson Jessica Simons Winston Barclay

W i n e r y

速

Prairie Berry Winery was awarded Judges Choice & Best of Class at the

2010 San FranciSco chronicle Wine comPetition taste year-round, near Hill City, sd ~ www.prairieberry.com

ADVISORY BOARD Linda Anderson Lynda Clark Jon Crane John Gomez Lori Nonnast Anna Marie Thatcher Graham Thatcher

INQUIRIES For customer service or subscription queries, changes and renewals, contact:

Art of the Hills Magazine P.O. Box 405, Hill City, SD 57745 info@artofthehills.com 605-574-2810 Art of the Hills is published bi-annually.

Subscriptions mailed within the U.S. are $18 per year; to Canada & Mexico, $28; to Europe and Australia, $42.

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Art Dateline “People, Places, and Trains”—The South Dakota State Railroad Museum

S.D. STATE RAILROAD MUSEUM Opening Day May 1—Railroad Avenue, Hill City. The new museum kicks off a week’s worth of events culminating with a program on National Railroad Day, Saturday, May 8.

For more information, check www.sdsrm.org or call Rick Mills at 605-877-6629.

Black Hills Film Festival May 14, 15 & 16—Hill City, Mount Rushmore and Crazy Horse Memorials host the inaugural Festival on three screens. Filmgoers will screen independent and classic films, including films shot in South Dakota and

all around the world. Attend workshops for filmmakers, students and actors, a film awards ceremony, and parties and VIP events at Hill City galleries, restaurants, wineries, and pubs all weekend. Learn more or purchase Festival tickets at www.BlackHillsFilmFestival.org.

Sculpture in the Hills June 26 & 27—Third annual juried fine art show and sale, on Main Street Hill City, includes the work of sculptors from near and far who work in stone, bronze, wood, and mixed media. The weekend includes a special preview party on Friday evening the 25th, a

community Art Walk, music, and, for the first time, a silent auction. Cash awards are given for Best in Show and People’s Choice. For more information: www.hillcityarts.org.

BLACK HILLS Playhouse Join the Playhouse as it celebrates its roots with a 2010 touring season, with shows in Custer, Hill City, and Lead. Shows include Leading Ladies, a comedy ( July 1-10), and two musicals, Return to the Forbidden Planet ( July 15-25) and Little Shop of Horrors ( July 29-Aug. 8). For show schedule and to purchase tickets: www.blackhillsplayhouse.com.

An Architecture Symposium

April 24, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM Hill City High School - Hill City, SD

The Hill City Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, and Heart of the Hills Economic Development Corporation invite City Planners, Architects, Builders, Academics, Students, and the Public from a five-state region surrounding the Black Hills to reconsider how we approach the built environment.

Building on concepts contained in this issue of Art of the Hills, the discussion will link what has already influenced the architecture in this part of the country with what we will build next.

So as to narrow the conversation into something that can be specific enough to “get somewhere,” and therefore act as a template

for similar communities around the region, the seminar takes the perspective of “a Black Hills community searching for its identity.”

While the professionals in attendance will utilize their skills to consider and develop actual design elements, the public will be able to attend the keynote talks and stroll through professional poster sessions, among other things, to get a sense of how the industry approaches the challenge of moving from theory to practice in a specific place.

The day includes an introduction to the conversation—featuring local architects and speakers who specialize in local environments, history, and rural development—two guest keynote speakers, and a seminar during

which professionals test their mettle and creativity “on the page.”

The keynote speakers are also featured in this issue—Minnesota author, architect, and “simplicity” expert Sarah Nettleton (page 14), and South Dakota architect and anthropologist Dr. Craig Howe (page 32).

Professionals with relevant ideas for poster sessions are invited to submit proposals, and all professionals and students will be able to receive CEUs for attending.

For general and ticket information, poster session parameters, and to register for this one-of-a-kind symposium, go to either www. hillcityarts.org or www.artofthehills.com.

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The business of art

Art & Architecture by kristin donnan Standard

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www.artofthehills.com

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The Sydney Opera House in New South Wales, Australia, has often been held up as one of the quintessential examples of how art can define a piece of great architecture.

A multi-venue site for performing arts, the structure also stands in its own right as an art piece. Danish architect Jørn Utzon described his inspiration variously, and saw the striking series of unusual, majestic “shells” as “sails of the yachts on the harbor, ribbed palm leaves, cloud forms, and mandarin segments.”

Whatever his vision, the result is an instantly recognizable, dramatic World Heritage Site perched on the seam between land and sea.

Likewise, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York City, with its helical spiral, shell-like construction, was striking from the start. And controversial. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright in his design did not maximize interior flat space for hanging visual art pieces, but instead created a study in the round—one that actually inhibits adequate viewing of artwork, in the opinion of many critics, including 21 prominent artists who initially refused to display there. Still, the museum remains one of the 20th Century’s most important pieces of architecture and the permanent home of a renowned collection of Impressionist and contemporary art.

These buildings are two established, iconic examples illustrating the kinship between art and architecture—but how these components interact is inherent everywhere in the built environment. Architect Brad Burns, who works in the Rapid City office of Chamberlin Architects, explains it this way: “There is an architectural dance that happens between function and aesthetic appeal.”

If so, then sometimes the dance is ballet, and sometimes it is country swing, or flamenco, or just a very understated box step. And the result depends on the relative influence of art and engineering in these choreographed structures—as well as the perceptions, personalities, and orientation points of the architects themselves.

“Architecture is a very artistic process. I think all good buildings come from an artistic premise, where each grows from a storyline, a concept behind the building,” says architect Greg Sherlock, a former Nebraskan who cur-

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rently works for Populous in Kansas City, formerly HOK Sport. “It’s about making a story to make a connection to the location.”

It is in the grips of such a premise that architects are most closely aligned with creative people in other fields. “All artists have that creative surge that runs through us when we are working on things—solving problems, or having a fresh idea, then following the evolution of that idea,” adds Lee Geiger, of Geiger Architecture in Rapid City.

Still, an architect enthused by a great storyline does not rush forward into a void with lovely sketches in hand. At the end of the day, the mission is to design buildings, actual structures that must serve a multitude of needs. Robb Schlimgen, of Schlimgen Design Consultants in Rapid City, focuses on the most practical side of the field. “I don’t think of myself as an artist when I am designing a building,” he says. “For my buildings, form follows function. Conceptually, without exception, I have never designed a building that did not have an intended function, and not many people probably have.”

In this use, “function” means the building does its job. “A building, more than a painting or some other piece of art, includes all these fundamental, practical decisions,” Sherlock says. “The person who buys a painting doesn’t have to literally dwell inside that canvas.”

So how do they actually do it? How does a creative person approach a serious challenge, a challenge on which the safety of multitudes of people relies, without losing his or her head? Take a new project, one that includes a set of needs—it’s a barn or a house or a museum; it’s meant to convey a specific feeling; the owner wants to sample from this or that style; the building’s context, setting, or overarching cultural influence is key—and then add technical aspects so that the building can do its job, inside and out.

Then think big. Think skyscrapers, think massive housing projects, or castles, or sports arenas. Then think small. A one-room schoolhouse, a hunting cabin. “Architecture is everything from the simplest, most primitive pyramid to the amazing Pompidou Center in Paris that basically expresses its innards, and looks like a machine,” Sherlock says. Building

one of these is a commitment, one that “ups the ante” in the world of art.

If a painter falls out of love with a background color, she can simply change it. Ears too low on that sculpture? Then move them.

But when constructing an edifice, one cannot easily erase a wall or reinforce a floor after the fact thanks to weight miscalculations. “Failure in watercolor is dramatically less significant than a failure in architecture,” Geiger says. “When we do a project, it is ‘cast in stone’ and is there for decades. It’s the most demanding art form because we go through the same creative processes that other artists do, but we have so many more constraints— building codes, budgets, the context of the community, natural laws—forces that come into play in the exercise of our art form.”

Brad Burns puts it another way. “There are clearly similarities between the process of creating art and architecture,” he says. “Strong art is created through content, color and composition. In addition, however, architecture must consider function, scale, proportion and context.”

One other critical aspect of the nebulous field of architecture involves the accurate communication of ideas, feelings, and needs —another function. Indeed, “function” can refer to various aspects of a building: practical function, such as barn or skyscraper office building; and social function, such as civic or private. “Context” can refer to urban or rural settings, how the natural environment plays a part, and the cultural influences of the people who help create and will use a building.

“Different societies of people use facilities differently; completely different cultures of people express themselves in their buildings—which creates interesting exercises in conceptual storyline development for architects,” Sherlock explains. “These things impact how you answer pragmatic questions like functionality, strength, and cost.”

The list goes on and on. The details of the physical building’s attributes are an expression of a never-ending competition of equally-important elements. It’s a mad tango.

And yet, architects seem to agree on three things, including an all-important conclusion:

Previous page: The famous Sydney Opera House, designed by Jørn Utzon and constructed between 1957 and 1973, is one of the most distinctive buildings on earth. How practical and creative aspects merge is “what people might perceive as good architecture,” architect Greg Sherlock says. “The Sydney Opera House’s forms are a conceptual story, a reflection about the beauty, about the harmony of music, using large, iconic shapes that reside in the skyline.” Photo © Tourism Australia.

Below: Known simply as “The Guggenheim,” this contemporary art museum was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. It opened in New York City in 1959, and has since been considered an architectural landmark. Photo by David Heald, © The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, New York.

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“More means and methods are available to us now, more artistic types of solutions to the same practical problems. We design with computers now, and didn’t when many famous buildings were designed, like The Guggenheim. We have a different array of materials we can choose from, even compared with fifty years ago. The palette is much broader than ever, and the artistic side of the story is so much richer.” – Greg Sherlock.

Above: One of the key pieces to the architecture puzzle is in understanding how buildings will be used. Another involves the social messages conveyed in architectural decisions. Two extreme examples: Left: The old Wilson House above Elk Creek near Wicksville, SD. Built in the early 1900s, this cabin is an example of dwellings of its time; Right: The Canadian Bank of Commerce in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal’s classic downtown buildings, with impressive columns and imposing stature, underscore the importance of “civic” structures to a community. Photos by Neal L. Larson.

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“Architecture responds to the needs of the people who use it; it is considerate of its context, environment and natural resources; and it is emotionally pleasing,” Burns says. Possibly this final emotional response is the biggest indicator of how much “art” was included in a building, or how successfully artistic elements, even if subtle, have been integrated.

“Did going to a building, or even driving by a building, evoke any thoughts? Did it stir emotions? Did it inspire you, make you feel good, or maybe make you sad? If it did any of these things, it was judged artistically,” Schlimgen says. “But most buildings are not overly inspiring or cause any reaction at all. I suppose they are then either very bad art, or not art at all.” In those cases, moving a wall won’t help.

“When scale, proportion, color, light, context and all the things that affect emotion are ignored, so is the human experience, and a building is just a building” Burns concludes.

“And when a house fails as a home it is without architecture.”

Choosing an architect, then, seems to involve research into what the person has built or thought of building in the past, his way of looking at the job, life, and the field of architecture, and upwards of a million other variables, including philosophy. What does that person value? How does that person relate to what the client values?

And finally, as people we all have a responsibility to consciously plan and nurture our built environment, to consider how our personal ideas will augment what is already there. Each new building changes the landscape of the built environment, adding its own waltz or tap dance to the repertoire on the street, and in the neighborhood.

“Maybe there are buildings that are too expressive,” Sherlock muses. “Maybe there needs to be more background architecture, using a style or vernacular that would allow for more commonality from one block to the next, to create visual order. That would allow for visual crescendos like the Sydney Opera House; these exuberant expressions would be allowed to make a contrast in their places.”

Is there perfect architecture? In the end, that assessment is in the eye of the beholder.

And in the imagination, and temperament, of its designer.

“Some architects are creative and lean in a more artistic direction, and some lean more toward engineering, and technical aspects. A good architect can merge the two,” asserts Sherlock. “Sometimes architecture is a culmination, a convergence of those two things, including art and the practicality of building—all the things that make the building a physical moment in the environment.”

Additional research provided by Winston Barclay.

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THE LUXURY OF ENOUGH sarah nettleton’s “simple home” by kristin donnan standard

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“The Joneses” seem to be everywhere. They have defined what we wear, what we drive, what we eat—and particularly the house we cannot live without. A cynical view holds that over time the American Dream has Supersized basic laws of consumerism, causing builders to dot the landscape with “McMansions,” each with a multitude of specialized rooms that stand in decorative static, awaiting guests who rarely arrive.

On the other end of the spectrum: the Tollefsons from Lake Wobegon, an idealistic and fictional Minnesota community immortalized in Garrison Keillor’s “A Prairie Home Companion.” Here reigns the soft-spoken, otherworldly-Midwestern, Less-is-More perspective, where adopting any modern convenience is one step from all-out decadence. Keillor summarized this thinking in Lake Wobegon Days: “You get A/C and the next day Mom leaves the house in a skin-tight dress, holding a cigarette and a glass of gin, walking an ocelot on a leash.”

Are these the only options for the vast majority of homeowners? Must we always struggle between wanting more and feeling the weight of too much? Must we assume that thinking about less is the same thing as lowering our standards, or sacrificing our lifestyle? Is saving money an embarrassing concession to “the times,” or is it great long-term planning?

What is Enough? And is Enough truly, comfortably livable?

Photo courtesy of The Taunton Press, Newtown, CT, © 2007

The Voice of Reason Architect Sarah Nettleton answers with a resounding, provable, enthusiastic “Yes!” In her book, The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough, she explains that thinking simply can result in “delightful living” in a building that is uniquely suited to those who actually occupy and move around the spaces. She begins with asking, “How do you want to be in your building?”

From this unassuming shift in perspective, the person considering renovating an older building or starting from scratch already has left behind both the Joneses and the Tollefsons.

The cultural norms and expectations from these outside influences take a second seat to the priorities—and creativity—of the people who are actually having the experience.

The next step lies in understanding what “simple” really means. “The genesis of the word ‘simple’ is fascinating. It used to be derogatory and now is complimentary,” Nettleton explains.

“If you look historically, negative connotations included words like ‘simpleton,’ then the idea of simple moved into the utilitarian—homespun, practical, real—and then finally combined practical with beautiful. That’s where we are now in the conversation.”

In the Black Hills region, we’re familiar with the not-so-complimentary connotations that come with living in the middle of the country. Our geography brings with it a perception from “the coasts” that we are…missing something, that our “simplicity” reflects a lack of sophistication, instead of choice. In fact, many Midwesterners tossed the Joneses’ telephone number long ago, but still wonder if those city dwellers are right about us.

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“The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus understood the good life as a simple life, where the modest pleasures of home and hearth—good foods, gardens, and conversations—are the ultimate luxury.”—Sarah Nettleton All photos from The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough (shown at right) by Sarah Nettleton, and provided courtesy of The Taunton Press, Newtown, CT, © 2007.

Above: In a small prairie house in Minnesota, this transitional hall/room provides office space, connects living room and kitchen, and is spacious enough to accommodate a holiday table.

Opposite: A pergola/porch in Taos affords a long view of the canyon and river, along with quiet twilight dinners.

Following pages—Top: “Timeless Modern” on Washington’s Guemes Island: This cabin built of industrial metal is both modern and “woodsy.”

Following pages—Bottom, left to right: Several views of the “Timeless Modern” island house. 1) The rustic back wall of the living room includes built-in bookshelves, window seat, and fireplace. 2) Since mosquitoes are not a problem, a rolling garage door in the studio/guest room opens to provide a wondrous view of Puget Sound. 3) The main view of the living room, which is filled with floor-to-ceiling windows. 4) A view from the living room’s recycled deck into the studio wing, through an inventive sliding door. 5) Another angle of the deck, featuring a three-part door, a light-enhancing update to the traditional Dutch door.

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“Some places have a little bit of an inferiority complex,” Nettleton agrees. “People begin to think, ‘We’re out here and we don’t know anything.’” But the intention with which many Midwesterners plan and live their lives includes a natural and easy relationship with the beauty of simplicity: the sharp air on a cold winter morning; missing the bus because

the cattle got out; installing tire chains while wearing a bride’s maid’s dress. “It’s a very rewarding way to look at life,” Nettleton says.

And this way of looking at life fits naturally with Nettleton’s application of the beauty of simplicity to architecture.

When it comes to building a house—or renovating a charming old barn, or transforming an industrial building into an artist’s loft—“simple” has a plethora of connotations.

And it does not begin and end with “simply” paring down or doing without or wanting less. Indeed, Nettleton outlines Six Paths to the Simple Home (see page 18) that can assist homebuilders in understanding how to translate this paradigm shift into reality. Regardless of a home’s style or setting, Nettleton says that this perspective can “simplify owners’ lives by offering the right amount of space in a functional arrangement.”

Meanwhile, although moving away from the rules laid down by the elusive Joneses, Nettleton does not suggest that we live in a vacuum—or reinvent the wheel. Indeed, “simple is very local, and can contribute to the most delightful results. What is simple about a region involves looking at its local conditions.”

Think about chilling winter wind or really hot summer sun. Locate the perfect spot to curl up with a book in winter. From what direction are the best breezes? Is there a stream nearby? By taking stock of the environment, and utilizing tried-and-true, “old as the hills” techniques, a home can include dozens of wonderful details that make all the difference.

Simple construction principles include working with the environment to maximize comfort, light, and resources—and to allow the most interface between the outdoors and the indoors. For example, consider something very basic like cross ventilation. “You build to protect yourself from winter wind, but also place and set up doors and windows to be able to open in temperate times for natural ventilation,” Nettleton says. “In that way, you can truly smell the air, instead of living with a chilled, air conditioned environment that cuts you off from the real world.”

A thoughtfully built building reflects the environment, the local ethic, and aesthet-

ics. Far from a random construction, a great house is there for good reasons.

And there are reasons why “McMansions”—or other “business as usual” neighborhoods, as Nettleton calls them—are the way they are. Houses commonly built in large, platted neighborhoods usually share a few easy floor plans. Builders know these plans are “safe,” easy to replicate, and relatively inexpensive to build. And often houses are situated on lots so as to maximize the number of lots—not with a view to any given dwelling’s relationship to its environment or natural setting.

“There is often no relationship to the site; there are no windows in the side walls of these closely-set houses, so people don’t have to look at their neighbors,” Nettleton says.

“One of those side walls might be southfacing, so the house suffers when it comes to light. Quality of the living experience is not part of the builder’s decision making.”

And the buyers? “People live in them because of price. Those houses offer the largest square footage of a big sheetrock box, so, for example, a young family can afford a house with three bedrooms. It’s the financial equation that most people look at, and I think it has become the norm,” she says. “So many people live like this that we have come to expect that this is what we should want.”

Nettleton believes that this “poverty of spirit” has lowered expectations in both the housing market and our view of ourselves.

Therefore, like a good psychologist, she helps clients dig deeply to discover, “Ah, these are things I would like to live with.” And then she helps them envision how to do that.

While Nettleton uses “Practical, old fashioned concepts,” the process is not as…simple…as it looks. It takes experience and clarity to successfully incorporate “simple” into the complex issues of culture, architecture, community codes, finances, and historical considerations—not to mention navigating the subtleties of communication on emotionally significant, life-changing projects.

Still, here’s how it starts. Collect images of what your life “should be like”: imagine comfort; imagine the best parts of day-to-day in a personal space. Nettleton starts with an

example: “We read about Italy and how people pick fresh tomatoes and basil and olives.

They come straight from the orchard out back and they eat on the terrace under the olive trees. That’s just normal there,” she says.

“Because that’s not our way, we wish we could do that, but assume that there are too many

reasons we can’t. For starters, maybe our great room and five dining rooms make it so we can’t find our way to the terrace.”

Her solution: Just build a terrace as an extension of the kitchen, and then sit out there to slice tomatoes. Live like you want to live.

Hallmarks of a simple home: The following qualities describe homes integrating Nettleton’s ideas—and create livable, flexible living spaces that endure.

• The floor plan and form are straightforward • Its style, be it be modern or traditional, is timeless • Interiors are functional, human-scaled, uncomplicated, light filled, and open • Rooms serve more than one function • The design expresses a beauty in practicality • Siting and room layouts offer excellent natural light and ventilation • Details and finishes tend to be simple and unadorned • Storage is well located and often built in to minimize free standing furniture

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Six Paths to Simple “I didn’t make up the concept of using simplicity when it comes to building,” Nettleton says. “But it’s been my approach to how I like to help clients think and solve problems.

Other ‘simple’ approaches have focused on minimizing clutter or thought processes, and this approach—to consider an overarching view of building a home with hallmarks of ‘enough’—makes a lot of sense.”

Indeed, in these financially-constrained times, “simple” might be the ticket. And simple, practical, functional, yet still “delightful” styles never go out of vogue.

1: Simple is Enough “What we want in our life is how we appear to the outside world. Think castles: if we want to look grand and imposing, then that’s the house we want. As times have changed, we have battled this part of our nature. It happened after World War II, and it’s happening again with the recession. Veering away from ostentation is fashionable, both to the pocketbook and public perception. We realize we can have everything we need with less.

“The luxury of enough stems from knowing what you love and how you want to live at home. The journey is to find your own modest pleasures…your own true tastes, and throwing out notions of what you should have and like. A simple home is not something you buy or assemble; it is something that you discover within yourself. You might slow down and begin a ‘place journal,’ a quiet written diary of 18

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the feelings, sounds, and movement in your envisioned den or porch or cabin.

“The luxury of enough is the result of careful decision making. For example, enough can begin with appreciating the utility of old.

Keep those old, swell, cool things. Begin with considering what’s important. We can turn practical, formerly working barns and warehouses into new uses. We can appreciate the old and the new, combining them into a new, delightful use.”

2: Simple is Flexible “With thoughtful insight into what you value and how you spend your time, you can create a home where life’s events flow together. Life is simpler when rooms are well planned for multiple purposes, easy to maintain, and comfortable.

“Using rooms in many ways is a very oldfashioned concept that comes forward into today. Before Victorian, older buildings were typically bigger and had simpler floor plans.

Think four-square New England houses, where any room could be anything. The front room could be a bedroom, an office, or where you hold the wedding.

“The great irony of our current, hugely comfortable American life is the Great Room—we’ve built a million specialized rooms, but everyone lives in the Great Room.

People don’t use the rest of their house. Now, we’re thinking about multi-purpose rooms that shift over time. Maybe a kitchen is adja-

cent to a little area full of children’s toys. That play space is planned as the future breakfast area, allowing us to avoid building a whole playroom.

“Achieving multipurpose simplicity in your rooms, workspaces, and furniture—both built-in and freestanding—requires some thought. Although relatively small, multifunctional homes focus on spacious rooms that bring living, dining, and play together.”

3: Simple is Thrifty “Simple thrift is about more than saving money. Rather, it’s part of the prosperity of planning and making wise decisions—and of needing less. Thrifty design doesn’t necessarily mean small or unadorned…it’s about value. In designing a home, thriftiness can be achieved by employing simple forms, an efficient floor plan, a smaller size, and recycled materials. It means spending less to build and maintain a home over the years.

“This is an interesting balance point, because we always need to answer, ‘How much does that cost?’ But in this use, ‘thrifty’ means you don’t throw something away if it’s built well and it’s something people really like.

When we talk about problem-solving and attitude, we realize that we can make choices in quality: don’t build so cheaply that you have to do it over again. Thrifty also means using what’s around. Using local materials, like local stone, makes the building look like it belongs in the environment.

“Like the maintenance of a savings account or an orchard, thrift is something that takes advance planning and persistence for its fruits to be born. In building a home, simple thriftiness takes place over time. A home with relatively lower costs frees up time and money for the other bank accounts of life: time to spend with the kids, money to invest in their future education.”

4: Simple is Timeless “How can you build a timeless and simple home when the world is moving ever faster?

The answer lies in the questions that we ask; what do we really value in our homes and daily routines? The fundamental questions that underlie building the simple home—How do I find comfort? What daily pursuits do I really value? What kinds of environments are healthful?—remain timeless.

“Every house is an expression of the technology and precedents of its time and culture.

Throughout the history of residential architecture, there have never been truly ‘timeless’ designs. But there have been what architect Christopher Alexander calls ‘timeless ways of building’—which grow out of the materials of the land and the spirits of the people.

“It doesn’t matter if a building is an old or new style, but if it’s timeless, it will remain what it is in a delightful way. Not because it’s amusing and quaint, but because it’s well designed. For example, some libraries go forward through generations, and work well as they are reinvented over time. Others hardly have room for bookshelves and have to be reused as a dress shop. Some are timeless and some are not.”

5: Simple is Sustainable “It’s now trendy, but actually sustainability really is as old as the hills. It’s a practi-

cal, commonsense way to take advantage of what’s real for the environment in which a building is built. First, it just means to take advantage of what’s around. Simple can work as a charming, sunny little farmhouse in Minnesota, where you sit in the chair enjoying the winter sun—at the same time you’re not using a lot of energy.

“Second, sustainability is about finding the right balance between needs and resources for the long term. Sustainability is not only about yurts, composting toilets, and green gizmos. And it’s not just a dreary necessity.

Sustainable living and design is an opportunity to be in tune with the simple pleasures of nature.

“Third, sustainable simplicity is about selfreliance. Compare rural living, with built-in sustainability, to living in a city, where you need the electric grid to turn the furnace on.

If that grid goes down, what’s Plan B? To burn the furniture? In rural settings, sustainability is about thinking locally, and taking care of business.

“Finally, sustainable does not have to mean ‘really expensive.’ When deciding on sustainable approaches, we balance cost and benefit. A well-built building is going to last at least 50 years, and people tend to own a building for a long time. That starts to shift the equation from capital to operating costs.”

6: Simple is Resolved Complexity “Seemingly simple things, like maple syrup or a good single-malt scotch, are surprisingly complex to make. Just as it takes 30 gallons of sap to distill out one gallon of syrup, the process of designing a simple home is about refining a house down to its essence.

What appears low-tech and fairly effortless can in fact represent many decisions and time-tested processes. Such is the case when you try to refine complex family needs into design solutions for a simple home.

“It’s a lot easier to overbuild than to design for refined simplicity. Simple design is precise in its proportions and attunement to your needs. The art is in making it look effortless. Simple design strives for refinement rather than ostentation; it is not about masking shortcuts but finding the most direct and lasting solutions to meeting the owners’ needs and tastes. And for many modern families, these needs can be complex.

“Focusing on problem-solving on a design level, resolving complexity considers the architect’s job of making the multi-dimensional space make sense. Design is about thinking through all aspects.” Nettleton will focus on this more integrated approach in her talk at the Hill City symposium, Inside Out: Transforming the Built Environment.

Sarah Nettleton, principal of Sarah Nettleton Architects in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was awarded a Residential Architects Vision and Excellence Honor Award for “Sustainable Modern Meets Kyoto Protocol” by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Minnesota Chapter and Mpls./St. Paul magazine, for a house that appeared in her book, The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough—which she published in 2007 with design journalist and historian Frank Edgerton Martin. Nettleton holds a master’s degree in architecture, is a member of AIA, the American Society of Landscape Architects, and is certified by the US Green Building Council for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The National Committee on the Environment for AIA awarded Nettleton’s firm a Top Ten Green Projects Award for its remodeling of the 1947 Tofte Cabin. Nettleton is adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota Architecture School and taught architectural technology at the Minneapolis Technical and Community College for 11 years.

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John Lopez Sculptures MONUMENTAL SCULPTURE

IN SCRAP IRON & BRONZE www.lopez-ranch.com

43rd ANNUAl

Red Cloud IndIan aRt Show THE HErITAGE CENTEr JUNE 6 To AUGUST 15, 2010

the heritage center 100 Mission Drive, Pine Ridge, South Dakota 57770

Four unique prehistoric and historic collections and our new planetarium programming allow you and your children to actually see, hear, and touch history.

The Journey Museum takes your family on an incredible trek through time and space, from the formation of the mystical Black Hills over 2.5 billion years ago to the continuing saga of the Western frontier; and now to the far reaches of space in our digital universe theater.

222 New York Street Rapid City, SD 57701 605.394.6923 www.journeymuseum.org

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www.redcloudschool.org

605/867-8257

Rethinking by Floyd Nez (Sicangu/Dine)

introducing “THE COLT OF MANY COLORS” scrap iron and enamel

THE RIGHT STUFF

ONE FAMILY’S BLACK HILLS HOME by kristin donnan standard

“We weren’t sure what style to build. We asked each other, ‘What is the feel of the Black Hills? Are we western, are we rustic?’ So we went for a hybrid, a combination of western and upscale country.” —Tonya Gomez

Pactola Spillway, which made the house long and narrow,” John says.

Built in 2006 to fit into the landscape and surrounding community, the Gomez family’s house was intended to appear “as if it had always been here,” John adds. “We wanted the house to fit within an old mining town, so we borrowed specific architectural features.”

The couple also moved the construction solidly into the 21st Century, with several choices that contribute to a low-environmental-impact paradigm:

John and Tonya Gomez built this house in the Central Black Hills as part of their transition from city life in Miami. “We wanted to slow things down,” explains Tonya, a South Dakota native. “You can’t get this life anywhere else. Here, we’re back in time twenty years, there are no cell phones, no DSL, and there’s more ‘kids being kids,’ playing in the creek, making mud cakes, sledding.”

“This house was built exactly how we live,” John says. “We have a family of four, and a ton of company, family who comes for weeks at a time.” But instead of building a guesthouse, the couple simply designed guest quarters in the basement with two extra bedrooms and a family room. Other spaces are multi-use and flexible—a play space under the stairs will later become a storage closet.

“We also had to take into consideration our site selection, which includes this steep hill and also a flat section of flood plain. We built into the hill, and just one foot above the

• Window placement takes advantage of west-to-east canyon cross winds.

• Wide eaves block summer sun, but allow lower-angled winter sun to provide passive solar heating of the entire length of the south-facing house.

• Rigid insulation was applied on the outside of the foundation, providing both enhanced insulation and a moisture barrier.

• This rigid foam also was applied inside the house walls above ground.

• Rusty corrugated metal was used on the roof and back wall. This steel is treated so that it rusts naturally to a certain layer and then stops. This old look helps the house feel part of the landscape, while also protecting against fire.

• Fire awareness also led to burying the propane tank for safety.

• Recycled snow fence was purchased from a Wyoming company that produces actual snow fence. It is gray, weathered, 20-year-

old wood complete with cut-off nails and brace marks. “We’re all about low maintenance,” Tonya says.

• Local natural stone was used for house and retaining walls.

• Horizontal geothermal lines, in-floor heating in the basement, and a “Desuperheater” allow for less energy use in heating, cooling, and providing hot water.

• Nearly all of the home’s electrical appliances are Energy Star.

• Sky-friendly outside lights point downward, minimizing troublesome nighttime light pollution.

• Outside path lights are solar-powered.

• The wood-burning fireplace is rated EPA Phase 2, which is so lean-burning that it is legal to have a fire even with burn ban in place.

• Dual Flush toilets allow users to choose how much water is expended.

• The wastewater system separates gray and black water.

• Future plans call for a cistern to catch and reuse rainwater.

Below, left to right: Views of the “hybrid” Gomez home.

1) View from hall into the light-filled living room, which takes advantage of south-facing windows. 2) Outside view including original structure on the property (left) and main house (center). 3) The rustic dinner bell.

4) Multi-use kitchen, including abundant hang-out space and Mom’s office. 5) Under-stair play area that will later convert to storage. Photos by Jessica Simons and Ray Berberich.

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Photo by Rodger Slott / Flashbox Photography

looking back

History and the built environment by kristin Dispenza

B

Browse through almost any travel magazine, and you’ll see titles such as, “The 10 Prettiest Towns in America,” “Charming Destinations of the Midwest,” or “Best Getaways.” These articles list the top spots to visit, the best venues in which to enjoy arts and culture—essentially, where to go to enjoy “the good life.” And each year, millions of travelers flock to places like those named in these stories.

What criteria are used to select towns for this kind of honor? Beautiful, unique architecture usually heads up the list. And frequently, architectural styles that capture the imagination of cultural tourists are evocative of an historic era. In fact, travel industry studies have found that roughly half of all adult Americans visit an historic or cultural site each year.

Throughout the world and across this country, towns that have managed to preserve a significant portion of their heritage offer tourists the opportunity to get a feel for what life might have been like in bygone eras.

Sometimes these destinations are overtly educational, as is the case with Colonial Williamsburg. Other times, a town’s architectural history is packaged with attractions that create more of a resort atmosphere—think the mining-turned-skiing communities of Telluride or Silverton, both in Colorado.

A combination of factors gives rise to the development of these environments. Sometimes a locale has attempted to integrate at least some superficial design elements borrowed from the architecture of its indigenous peoples. Whether successful or not as true representations of these styles, a “traditional feel” is the target in these towns. In other

cases, incoming colonists and immigrants brought with them traditions from their home countries, and added architecture that both felt familiar and symbolized what they deemed important. For example, a New England fishing community might reflect what worked in English fishing towns.

Towns that modern-day Americans perceive as having a specific “look” or “feel” can be most easily understood as places that had a natural evolution of a distinctive building type over time…and then experienced a halt to that evolution.

At times such a halt occurs naturally: historic buildings exist simply because they have not been torn down, creating “towns that time forgot.” But at other times—and this is usually the case when an area with a large population demonstrates an architecturally cohesive look—a selection process has been put into effect. This process generally takes the form of government intervention.

On a federal level, the 1966 Historic Preservation Act gave rise to many programs that have helped neighborhoods restore and revitalize their built environment by capitalizing on their historic roots. More common are local zoning ordinances, which can vary in their degree of control according to the desires of a given municipality. Sometimes, cities establish design review boards that regulate the character of the built environment, ensuring that new buildings fit into the existing neighborhood fabric.

Many people believe that this type of regulation is too restrictive. They object to the stifling of individual creativity and believe that over-zealous ordinances lead to environments that are too homogeneous, even fake—

“Disneyesque” is a term that has come into common use to describe, derisively, neighborhoods that appear to be themed. But an increasing number of towns find it worth their while to utilize design review or revitalization tools, since tourists obviously appreciate the result of efforts that highlight “a look and feel.” And tourist dollars can reverse an area’s economic decline.

Even economically thriving areas attempt to balance saving their sense of history with an impulse to exploit it. Add to that the influences of other arms of economic development, such as today’s pervasive “big box” development strategies, and maintaining cultural “personality” in a community becomes ever more challenging. Therefore, wherever a historical motif is pervasive, it is usually, at least to some extent, contrived.

So how do some cities achieve this alchemy, turning their day-to-day, architectural vernacular into a nationally acclaimed look?

Timing is everything. Some of America’s best-known sites exist today because steps were taken early on to preserve or restore them, before a majority of significant structures was lost. In the 1920’s, for example, the philanthropist John D. Rockefeller, Jr., began working with local community leaders in colonial Williamsburg, Virginia, to preserve more than 80 original structures. These buildings represented the European building types that had been adapted by the colonists to suit their North American environment. Today a private, not-for-profit foundation continues those preservation and reconstruction efforts.

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Native American adobe structures. As early as 1912, city leaders established the Spanish Pueblo Revival style as the official building style. While the indigenous cultural meanings inherent in original adobe buildings are not necessarily part of today’s understanding of this building style, Santa Fe remains one of the most identifiable “looks” in America.

On the other hand, some of America’s most picturesque towns cannot claim to have made early, deliberate attempts at future planning—but have reaped rewards for fortuitous building decisions. For example, Madison, Indiana constructed many 19thCentury-style buildings during prosperous days as a bustling stop on a river trade route.

After stagnating when railroads took business away from river towns, the community later was ripe for preservation when those efforts picked up in the 1960’s. Because of its built environment, today Madison repeatedly makes those magazine lists of charming and beautiful destinations, and 133 blocks of its downtown district are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Closer to Home Previous Page: Prairie Berry Winery, just outside Hill City, South Dakota, takes advantage of the topography to enhance “gravity flow” wine production. Its design reflects the area’s mining history, and includes “old world” elements like hand-forged door hardware and patterns borrowed from Homestake Mine. Photo by Rodger Slott / Flashbox Photography, provided courtesy of Prairie Berry LLC.

Opposite Page, Top Left: Cities around the world illustrate in their architecture the influence of various cultures, and in regions of America we sometimes see indications of Native American architectural forms. Here, one of Santa Fe’s pueblo-influenced modern structures, the New Mexico Museum of Art. Photo by Chris Corrie.

Top Right: A detail of one of the iconic Fall River sandstone buildings at the US Department of Veteran’s Affairs Hot Springs, South Dakota, campus. All of the early, major buildings in Hot Springs were built from this sandstone in the 1890’s, thanks both to a local quarry and the material’s ease of use. Photo by Neal L. Larson.

Bottom Right: Deadwood, South Dakota, in its early days as a mining town. With an eye to practical function, wooden buildings were constructed quickly and in close proximity along the steep walls of the narrow valley.

Photo courtesy of the Deadwood Historic Preservation Commission.

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When compared with high-profile locations like those, how do cities in the Great Plains stack up ? Does the Black Hills region even have a style?

Experts agree that Black Hills architecture is not significantly different than the architecture of other 19th Century settlements across America. This is probably due in large part to the fact that Midwestern states obviously did not see the country’s first waves of immigrant settlers, who arrived along the continent’s borders in homogenous groups and brought with them distinctive building styles from their homelands. By the time settlers arrived in the Black Hills, their cultures had already been assimilated into recognizable patterns that took root elsewhere.

In fact, the pervasive influence on architecture in the Black Hills region would not be European or indigenous building styles.

Instead, once Custer’s men found Black Hills gold in 1874, what had been designated as Indian land quickly became populated with miners, some of whom had already been liv-

ing in the west. Therefore, particular requirements associated with the gold rush would provide the area’s “western” character—a character it shares in large part with hundreds of other mining towns.

American folklore—and Hollywood—has made at least a few features of many western towns familiar to most of us. Sometimes the layout flowed from the constraints of the railroads; sometimes the layout grew in response to local conditions and to a community’s own utilitarian needs. Mining towns, in particular, have a unique geography. Communities were usually situated in narrow valleys that put them in close proximity to the mines, and their street organization necessarily follows that mountainous topography rather than adhering to a strict grid. Because some main roads were made wide enough to accommodate wagon traffic, some wide thoroughfares can still be seen today. Cumulatively, these characteristics contribute to a singular look.

Kevin Kuchenbecker, Historic Preservation Officer for the City of Deadwood points out, “The City of Deadwood was built in a gulch. Many cuts were made in the hills, which necessitated the use of an extensive retaining wall system that provides an accent.

There is an amazing number of walls.”

Another feature common to western towns was the use of timber. Easily harvested from surrounding hillsides, wood was used to quickly erect a village of closely-set buildings with utilitarian purposes. Often the only concession to “style” was to add a false front to enhance a building’s stature. Timber even provided infrastructure, such as sidewalks, and several area towns maintained their wooden sidewalks well into the 20th Century.

But devastating fires were a fate common to many of these densely built communities, and they were typically rebuilt of brick and local stone, and often incorporated the nationally popular Victorian style. Such was the direction that Deadwood took after its 1879 fire.

“Most of our towns followed national trends. You’ll find the same housing styles— Victorian, Craftsman, four-squares—that you’d find anywhere,” Kuchenbecker says.

“Mostly,” he continues, “it is the use of materials that makes our architecture unique.” For

example, the area’s distinctive pink sandstone shows up in many buildings throughout the state, with Hot Springs’ downtown boasting at least 35 of the structures. In some cases, the effort to use local materials to imitate national styles led to regionally unique features: columns in the interior of the capitol building are wood, not stone, and craftsmen employed scagliola (the art of applying a mix of plaster, pigment, and bits of colored material to wood to look like stone) in order to make them fit the Neoclassical building style.

Discovering Uniqueness Some of the features of the Black Hills that attract visitors as well as residents are based less on the built environment than on the territory’s wide open spaces: back-to-theland activities, like hunting, fishing, hiking, and climbing, are key to the area’s reputation.

Like neighboring Montana, South Dakota retains its founders’ spirit of rugged individualism, a sense of freedom, and frontier adventurousness. And in many ways its identity is writ large in its architecture.

South Dakota is a state that is both geographically and culturally divided by the Missouri River. In the 1850’s, homesteading settlers, many of Scandinavian or German descent, made inroads from the east as far as the river boundary. Contrasting Sioux Falls with Rapid City, and several of the Black

Hills’ smaller towns, serves to illustrate the East/West cultural divide.

Sioux Falls is not only South Dakota’s largest city, but also it is the fastest growing metropolitan area in the Midwest. In the late 1800’s, business-minded land companies were drawn to the area, hoping to utilize the water power of Sioux Falls, and that enterpreunerial spirit defines the city to this day. In the 1970’s, city leaders created an economic climate favorable to business development, attracting major corporations to the area. So although present-day Sioux Falls has some historic spots—many rendered in quartzite, a

local stone—overall it has a modern economy, and retains the look of a modern city.

By comparison, the Black Hills region has always sought to optimize the tourist trade.

With its unique geography and gun-slinging history, the area was a tourist destination as early as 1890. For example, the carving of Mount Rushmore, conceptualized in the 1920’s, was a project undertaken for the express purpose of increasing tourism. Rapid City, founded in the 1870’s, sought to become the “Gateway to the Black Hills,” and established itself as a center for trade. However, it was not in the cards for Rapid City to Spring2010

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develop a highly localized architectural identity. The number of tourist dollars entering Rapid City has fluctuated dramatically over the past century, and other endeavors—notably the establishment of an Air Force base— provided another shift. Furthermore, episodes of flooding have wiped out a significant number of the town’s built structures.

However, several Black Hills towns have maintained more visible links with their lively past. Deadwood, a national historic district, “has many of its commercial and mining structures, as well as residences, still intact,” says Chris Nelson, Historic Preservation Specialist with the South Dakota State Historical Society. Of all South Dakota’s towns, Deadwood has sparked the most interest nationwide, mostly because of the city’s colorful history.

Mining town founders saw an opportunity for thriving “side industries” such as gambling and prostitution, and Deadwood claims to be the final resting place of legendary figures like Calamity Jane and Wild Bill Hickok. As with Rapid City, however, natural disasters have plagued Deadwood. After some historic structures were lost to fire in 1987, gambling was legalized in an effort to revive the town’s economy, making it one of the first towns in the U.S. to tap into gambling revenues for this purpose. Consequently, some view the town’s newest look as somewhat “Disneyesque.”

The nearby town of Lead is also an historic district. It is home to the Homestake Mine, the longest and deepest mine in the Western Hemisphere at the time of its closing in 2002.

The mine’s future is closely tied to Lead’s: the site has been selected by the National Science Foundation to house a Deep Underground Science and Engineering Lab (DUSEL).

According to Nelson, there is reason to hope that the money brought in by the DUSEL project will be channeled into preservation efforts. “There is plenty of affordable housing to restore in Lead. For members of the scientific community coming in, the real estate prices should be comparatively good, and that might lead to the rehabilitation of some of these properties.”

Similarly, the Southern Hills town of Hot Springs has a rich past, and still offers some 26

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of the amenities that established its fame. In 2009, Hot Springs was recognized as a Distinctive Destination by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The natural springs of Evans Plunge, with their “healing waters,” are the oldest tourist attraction in the area.

Today they have been modernized, but Hot Springs retains its central historic core. Explains Nelson, “Since the springs are located in a river valley, the geography limited new development. There is no room for intrusive structures. Most of the new development has occurred on the south side of town.”

In most cases, whether or not a particular region of the country has its own architectural look is a matter of debate. Except in those rare instances where circumstances produced a truly one-of-a-kind building style, the originality of a town’s architecture can be considered to exist somewhere on a sliding scale.

The only thing that seems certain is that in an era of increasing globalization, it behooves every town to remember where it came from.

“All over, small towns are dying,” says Nelson, “It is their distinctness that may factor into their survival. As buildings are being preserved, towns are prospering. But private investment is the only way that this can continue. Chambers of Commerce and city councils can work with investors, and help them see the economic advantages of reuse.”

As our towns get well past the century mark in age, benign neglect will no longer serve to preserve them. Nationwide interest in 19th Century building styles—and in their solid construction—has proved that historic structures and traditional craftsmanship have market value. The popularity of historic sites further suggests that it is possible to attract people, and money, by leveraging the past.

While some western towns do this by maintaining those false storefronts and rebuilding wooden sidewalks, others have considered how to identify and build on other features of their uniqueness. In these cases, mining histories become a textured backdrop.

And the Black Hills? One glance reminds us that there are some things people simply cannot build.

Kristin Dispenza is a freelance architecture and design writer who lives in Athens, Ohio.

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design: South Dakota—reinventing rural by kristin donnan standard In South Dakota communities, planning and “visioning” about the built environment can include the assistance of experts, thanks to design:SD, a group of volunteer design professionals, architects, and planners who conduct evaluations of rural communities. “design:SD was created by a team who cared both about design and about rural places. It’s about bringing the expertise of design professionals to rural communities that often don’t have the time and resources to commit to community design,” explains Lindsey Karlson, Community Outreach Coordinator at the Rural Learning Center, which is the headquarters for design:SD. “Many of our small communities have unintentionally let design go, instead focusing on the basic infrastructure of community. The design professionals remind community members that design is a part of basic infrastructure, and impacts the quality of life in small towns.” design:SD has already taught communities to “think design” in four South Dakota projects, three on the east side of the state: In Deuel County, two communities worked together, Gary and Clear Lake; then Sisseton, which has an intimate relationship with the Sisseton and Wahpeton Indian Reservation; then Corsica, an agricultural hub. In late 2009 design:SD went west, into Hill City.

Alan Wieskamp, the organization’s cofounder and an architect with the TSP Architecture and Engineering firm, says the main challenge when entering a community is prioritizing. “How do you quickly get to know the community, and then focus on what’s important? We have to identify the long-range goals and also evaluate, ‘What are the easy wins?’”

Team member Tanya Davis, a project designer for Fennell Designs, adds the other crucial element. “What makes design:SD successful is enlisting and empowering community members to become a collaborative part of the solution,” she says. “No one can be more motivated to improve a town than the people who live there.”

The team involves the people in each community through a structured, three-day visit, which begins with a thorough tour during which key areas are photographed. Representatives from a variety of organizations or groups then present summaries of community issues and priorities, and later join the greater community to participate in a charrette—during which residents vote on a variety of subjects, including “what’s working?,” and “what could be improved?”

Then the professionals draw, draw, draw.

They draw on computers—a whole bank of computers—and they draw on paper. They use a lot of tape and sticky notes.

During this period, the group develops “meaningful improvements through design that fit into the big-picture suggestions of the design:SD team and the community,” says Paul Boerboom, senior architect at TSP. “It is very challenging in such a short time.”

By the end of that session, the whole group has not slept, but somehow its members have produced high-quality, full-color “boards.” These are comprehensive graphical “snapshots” that break the community into sections or topics, and outline short- and long-term suggestions that can assist in the

community’s creating a more people-friendly, attractive, integrated place.

In Hill City, for example, ideas included Main Street beautification and renovation, “greenways,” a pedestrian “mall,” a new through-town walking path, changes in signage, traffic flow, town entry markers,and more. These concepts were presented in a town-hall-style meeting, where the group translated its architecture-speak into lay terms.

The process is challenging for everyone. A lot is required for any community to digest and implement the broad range of design suggestions—or the community’s own spin on these suggestions. Improvement at this level requires good communication, a method to test and gain consensus, solid planning, and funding.

Evaluating the “feel” of a community at this level also requires a firm understanding of who lives in the place, its history, and what lies ahead. (See Craig Howe’s development of this idea in Building From Within on page 32.) For information on how to apply to design:SD, or to see design boards from past projects, visit http://designsd.wordpress.com.

Above: A charrette during the Hill City design:SD project, where architects, planners, artists, and the public gathered to discuss the lay-out and design possibilities in the community. Photo by Ray Berberich.

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design: South Dakota—PROJECT HILL CITY by its design team

design:SD team members for any given project are drawn from a pool of professionals who volunteer their time and expertise.

Because of schedule constraints, different members volunteer on different projects. And while many would “rather draw pictures than write about what (they) do,” some did offer a glimpse of the “inside story” that went into creating the Hill City program.

—KDS

Thomas Baffuto,

AIA / NCARB / LEED AP, principal of Baffuto Architecttura, Rapid City.

We participated in a good old brainteasing design session with top community leaders, design professionals, artists—all in a setting that is the cultural-art center of the Black Hills. The design ideas and future prospects we suggested will build on the existing quality-of-life atmosphere in Hill City. The future looks bright!

Paul H. Boerboom

AIA, Principal / Senior Architect of TSP Architecture & Engineering My goal when I enter a community is to focus on the downtown, the main street, the living room, the heart of the community. Hill City’s downtown is defined, prospering and active. The schools are at the center of the community, literally, and a variety of economic engines support the town: business, agriculture, industry, tourism, retail, arts. It’s enjoyable to identify what complements or detracts from a downtown’s unique character.

Ollie Byrum

Retired Civil Engineer and City Planner The ideas brought to the team by townspeople, and developed and illustrated by the team, built on what is basic about Hill City: a fine natural setting, with outdoor activities of many sorts, proximity to Wind Cave and Custer State Park, the attraction of Mount Rushmore, the 1880 Train and depot, history and architecture, and an evolving art community. It’s tourism without tacky.

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Jon Crane

Local watercolor artist and founder of Black Hills Preservation Trust The architecture of a town is the first impression people get when coming into a town.

Continuity in design and developing a cohesive theme say a lot about people working together, caring about a place. That translates to visitors as welcoming, comfort, and caring. An art-related theme has happened very naturally in Hill City. The synergy that occurs from that kind of growth can be very powerful, and the architecture of an art community should speak to the nature of that focus.

Tanya Davis

LEED AP, Architect & Project Designer, Fennell Design, Inc. design:SD-Hill City provided the chance to collaborate on how to solve real problems in tangible ways for a deserving community.

Architects are trained problem-solvers who look at every problem from a “big picture” angle. Bringing together a group of creative thinkers yields amazing results and both the process and the end product in Hill City were incredible. The community was exceptionally welcoming and engaged; I feel fully invested in the success of Hill City as a result.

Gene FENNELL

Owner / president, Fennell Design, Inc. Planning, re-purposing and long range planning are all special interests of mine.

Each community has a dynamic that is significantly different from others’. Each has a governance, ownership, community interaction and internal engine that are unique to that community. I try to find the “givens” and meld them into a future picture. Hill City was a challenge of narrowing the focus to those items that will have the most shortterm potential with long-term benefit. “It is easier to ride the horse in the direction he is headed, and turn him gently, than to try to make an about-face.”

Michelle L. Holter

Assoc. AIA, LEED AP, Architectural Graduate, TSP Design in general is much more pervasive than many people realize. Drive or walk through any town and you will see design all around you—whether it is as small as a street sign or as big as a building. Good or bad, it has been designed, and just as a person needs regular check-ups for health, so do our cities and towns. The places around us can either invigorate those who spend time there, or they can stagnate us. That is where design:SD comes in. As part of the team, my personal goal is to open the eyes of the community members to see with fresh vision the place in which they live.

Lindsey Karlson

Community Outreach Coordinator, Rural Learning Center Hill City was a unique experience for me, and it was a slate of firsts for the design:SD team. Hill City was our first community west of the Missouri River, the first community that has been actively working in community design, and the first we’ve worked with to have a developed a creative economy. All of these elements, along with its natural environment, were fundamental in the design work that was completed for the community.

≠≠

AIA, Co-founder of design:SD, TSP Architecture & Engineering Hill City exceeded my expectations: While some communities might have one gem of an idea, Hill City provided lots of gems. As a coordinator of the group, I was the “storyteller,” helping to flesh out others’ ideas. I also considered how to graphically tell the story.

In Hill City, we changed the team dynamic.

In other projects, we gave team members specific assignments, but this time everyone collaborated on every single board. The body of work that was produced flows and has one message; it’s cohesive from beginning to end.

REINVENTING HOWARD

by Paul Higbee

Howard, South Dakota’s Main Street will resemble no other small town business district in the region by early 2011. That’s when the expanded, $6.3 million Rural Learning Center complex will open its doors.

“It will be a beautiful complex and Howard’s people had a voice in the design, through participation in open meetings with our architectural firm, Koch-Hazard of Sioux Falls,” said Randy Parry, Rural Learning Center president. “It is our goal to reach the highest LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standard, the Platinum level. In fact, we will be a LEED teaching site where people can visit the building to learn about environmentally responsible design and construction.”

The Center grew out of a local project that began in the 1990s to pull Howard and surrounding Miner County out of decades of economic decline. Now the program helps other rural communities nationally develop their own plans for doing the same. The Center will be a site for regional and national trainings and meetings, in person or by teleconferencing, and will feature on-site hotel lodging and food service. It will also be used for local community functions.

But just as important as what will happen at the complex is the look and feel of the place. It makes a bold statement that small towns can and should be contemporary and environmentally conscious.

Howard, with a population just over 1,000, is located an hour’s drive northwest of Sioux Falls, well off both South Dakota Interstate highways. Despite being away from those traffic arteries, where most of the state’s business growth is, Howard has improved its economic well-being dramatically. Between 2002 and 2008, 247 jobs were created in Miner County, largely due to industries developed to build and maintain wind energy systems. Seventy percent of those jobs went to people previously living in poverty. The

new complex will reflect the community’s belief in alternative energy, with built-in wind, solar, and geothermal features. It will be significantly more energy efficient than typical structures its size. A first phase of the complex, housing mostly offices, was completed and occupied in 2006. The completed Center will be 36,000 square feet.

As construction moves forward, the community’s history isn’t being forgotten. Maple floors, corrugated galvanized steel, tin ceiling sheets, and other elements from old buildings are making their way into the new. KochHazard believes in re-using historic materials for their quality, for aesthetic reasons, and to save energy in manufacturing new materials.

While the complex is winning lots of attention, it is by no means Howard’s first stab at improving its appearance and working with architects. “We knew early on in this project, more than ten years ago, that we had to clean up our look if we wanted to attract and keep industries and residents,” said Parry.

“Like a lot of small towns that experienced a period of economic decline, we had abandoned houses and Main Street shops. Some were beyond repair, and in fact dangerous, and they came down, opening up lots for new construction.”

Removing dilapidated structures seemed to open most people’s eyes to new possibilities. At the same time, some other older structures gained a new lease on life. The Rural Learning Center program tapped federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds for rehabbing older homes and bringing them up to modern safety codes. These homes were then sold with “fixer-upper” work wrapped into the mortgage.

A new Main Street building that’s generated a lot of downtown traffic, is the Higher Grounds coffee shop, which opened in 2008.

Owners Julie Calmus, Cheryl Laible, and Jill Wunder tore down an existing shop on the site, then made use of a neighboring build-

Top: An 80-year-old American Legion building, among others, came down to make room for new construction. Bottom, An artist’s rendering of the future complex.

Images provided by The Rural Learning Center.

ing’s brick wall for their interior north wall.

The trio added rich woodworking to create a remarkably warm ambiance.

Architecture is so central to the Rural Learning Center philosophy that the organization teamed with South Dakota’s chapter of the American Institute of Architects to help small towns imagine how they might be physically structured to best meet future lifestyles and business needs. The program is called design: South Dakota, and is featured on pages 29 and 30. Residents in those communities came together to offer their vision with visiting architects—a process that parallels the Rural Learning Center complex’s development.

Paul Higbee is the Communications and Media Development Director for Technology and Innovation in Education (TIE).

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the Art of Business

building from craig howe’s cultural architecture by kristin donnan standard

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within

Photo by Neal L. Larson

V

Very likely any architect could take issue with a summary of his or her entire field that could be contained in one paragraph. So let’s begin with two.

A layperson might assume that Architecture 101 is about how a building looks, maybe even how it’s built, conceived, and designed. A well-considered assumption even includes vital information such as who will use the building, its specific site, and the local environment.

101’s primary textbook might muddy the waters with terms like “vernacular,” which describes buildings—usually dwellings—that are indigenous to a specific time or place, and reflect environmental, cultural, and historical context. Vernacular architecture is contrasted with the more stylistic “polite” architecture, which incorporates aesthetic elements that move well beyond strict physical function. Then there’s “traditional” architecture, which includes buildings like palaces and temples, and can overlap with either of the other two types. And all of these are distinct from “styles,” which are classifications of architecture that emphasize design features: Gothic, Postmodern, Victorian.

Although these fundamental ideas encompass the basic concept that buildings are built so that people can occupy them—live in them, work in them, think in them, be in them—the layperson still might be a bit hung up on the outside of the buildings. When we think architecture, we start by thinking from the street, or the water, or the air, or the field. We start by looking at the building, or the place where the building will be. We start by marching around the site and gazing and imagining and measuring.

But that’s not what Craig Howe does.

“If we want a building to feel like something, not just look like something, then we’re into another world,” he says. A PhD in both architecture and anthropology, Howe looks at the built environment from the perspective of the space inside structures first—not just their overall purpose. Far beyond whether it’s a bank or a house or a barn, he goes back to the beginning.

Howe starts with his own summary, from Architecture 102: “In architecture you consider three things: the built forms, anything you can touch; then the architectural spaces within the forms, which have to be concave and enable human, face-to-face interaction; and finally a method to connect the architectural spaces. That’s where you get the grammar of architecture, a spatial syntax.”

And then he launches into an Anthropology seminar entitled Architectural Space Syntax: “You look at these spaces and consider theoretically how you can combine them. And everything about this process is culturally based. We’re looking for the cultural rules that define how you think about space, how you organize space.”

Howe’s approach grows from the basics of how humans work in groups. He explains, “Any group that thinks in a certain way—any group with a unified belief system—encodes socially important meanings.” These meanings define…well, everything: how we interact; what we Spring2010

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Previous Page: The altar of the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montréal. Howe believes that sacred architecture provides the strongest examples of “powerful rules” of culture that shape and define architecture. Photo by Neal L. Larson.

Above: Dr. Craig Howe caught in the act of describing his theories of how culture influences architecture.

Photos by Ray Berberich.

Opposite: Song to the Great Spirit, a facility at Sisseton Wahpeton College in South Dakota, was the collaborative effort of Lakota artist Vic Runnels and the architectural team at Herges, Kirchgasler, Geisler & Associates in Aberdeen. Designed as a facility where students can learn building trades by constructing single-family homes inside a large open space, the structure contains classrooms and offices around its perimeter; its roof is designed to accommodate 300 people for open-air events. Pam Wynia, Director of Development at the college, said that Runnels’ design, depicting four Native drummers—one representing each of the four directions—was especially appropriate in the “cultural context” of the school. This type of architecture, where the outside form conveys this type of expression, fits into the “Echoing” section of Craig Howe’s model (see page 36). Photo by Pam Wynia, provided courtesy of Sisseton Wahpeton College.

believe; what we prioritize; and, in this case, how we organize our physical environment.

When considering building, Howe says that going back to cultural meanings “theoretically grounded architecture” for him. “It helped me see and study cultures. Every community is a culture, can have a culture. We can’t deny that. Be diligent and rigorous, and you can find culture anywhere.”

And culture provides the fundamentals from which a community develops an architectural “code” that informs the “built forms, architectural spaces, and spatial relationships.”

It tells how to build a building, any building, within a specific cultural set of norms.

When we look from place to place, we can find in the built environment examples of these codes; buildings can illustrate what a particular culture finds important. Howe believes that the strongest examples occur in “sacred architecture where the rules are so powerful,” buildings like cathedrals, mosques, temples, synagogues, and sundance grounds.

“Think of a Catholic cathedral,” he suggests. “You enter on an axis, and there is a nave, side aisles, the transept, the apse. Although the built forms that create these spatial elements in any particular cathedral generally reflect where and when it was built, these architectural spaces are the same as in cathedrals built in other places and at other times, and therefore Catholics everywhere and always know how to move around inside them. A given building could be limestone, marble, concrete, but all cathedrals have the same spatial relationship; it’s familiar and you’ll know how to behave in it.”

Reimagining Main Street Craig Howe initially was approached for this story, and for his participation in the Inside Out symposium, because of the cultural awareness he brings to architecture. The sym34

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posium’s authors hoped that an understanding of blending cultural influences might assist in any Black Hills community’s efforts at consciously creating a visceral “experience,” one that includes architectural expression.

Instead, Howe delivered a primer on how culture defines architecture—and not in just the “usual” ways, like when pyramid shapes make sense or how best to integrate local materials. He merged philosophy and anthropology and history—and then cut straight to the chase: Architecture 999, a groundbreaking theory on the level of thinking that made Frank Lloyd Wright different from his contemporaries, and made Wright’s buildings stand out, or blend in, depending.

And suddenly a present-day rural American community researching how to find both a “look” and a “feel” recognized that considering a simple architectural “face-lift” is as meaningful and impactful as stapling a happy face on the outside of a skyscraper. Put on another pot of coffee.

Chapter 1: A culture’s architectural code, which results in its most meaningful architecture, derives from its most “fundamental beliefs,” Howe says. “Not beliefs like, ‘This is what is needed for a good life,’ but instead, what does the group believe about how the universe was created and how it functions? What are the rules that define how the community works?”

For tribal communities, these beliefs are found in origin stories. For communities that are not bound together with such fundamental common threads, then “the group would have to come to a consensus of beliefs,” Howe says. “It’s about how the universe and space are organized. And so any community, which can be made of many religious traditions, must agree on the purpose of the architectural code, and how this code should be created.”

This, he says, is why each cathedral follows a recognizable design pattern based on the rules inherent in the Catholic tradition, such as why to have an axis here, where worshipers walk, where priests walk, which areas are designed for specific purposes, and the integration of significant symbols, like the cross.

Importantly, a culturally-derived architectural code is general, and applies significant design elements to all buildings within the cultural framework. “The code does not design a church or anything specific like that.

Instead, the elements of the church refer back to the code,” Howe explains.

Chapter 2: Thankfully, Howe has derived his own process to assist in arriving at an architectural code, when a culture already has its belief system—its “rules”—in place. It consists of five concepts: Centering; Orienting; Moving; Arranging; and Echoing. (See box, p. 36.)

“You follow these five concepts and develop a code from the beliefs of how the universe was structured in a group,” he explains. “Once I’ve got the code, I could design a cup, an airport, or a coffee shop, in the tradition of the Lakota or the Catholic Church, or whatever.”

Chapter 3: If a Black Hills community wants to consider itself a “culture,” and demonstrate that culture in its architecture, then Howe described how he would go about that process.

“First, you have to accept some assumptions, in your architecture,” Howe says. “You would have to create the story, and it’s not going to be an historical story; it’s got to be a fictitious story, and one that…does not paint over differences [within the community]. So it’s a hard conversation to have in a group, but that would be the premise, the starting point.”

The good news, according to Howe, is that once the story is created, then its “convictions” can be expressed in architecture that perpetuates and promotes the story. “A community can manifest convictions in architecture that are long lasting,” he says. According to some writers, he adds, architecture has successfully delivered a particular conviction “not because everyone in a community believed it,

but because they thought they should believe it.” And it worked.

Chapter 4: Whether well conceived, culturally relevant, story-based or not, architecture becomes pedagogical. “You can learn about people and beliefs through the spaces that are created,” Howe says. “No matter what, you’ll learn about the people who made them.”

Even if old mining town buildings are “just boxes with facades,” they still allow historians to learn why they were built, what 18th Century builders prioritized, and how long these structures could “express their convictions.”

And ever since people have created a built environment, architecture remains “one of the best arts for communicating boundaries,” Howe says. “If you want Hill City to be differentiated from other mining towns all the way to California, then you consider what makes it different.”

Chapter 5: It’s tempting to look to communities with an “integrated style” as templates, or models of successful cultural storytelling. For example, Rome is a city that was built entirely based on the rules derived from a culture.

But in other instances, Howe cautions to look deeper than the surface. “Santa Fe became Santa Fe because of design guidelines or covenants. The Santa Fe Style was intended to tie in with Hispanic and Pueblo architecture in that region,” he says. “But this is

all about the superficial, built form—which looks nice, integrated, and related, but still: its just one of the three elements that constitute architecture. The guidelines or covenants control the ‘look’ of the built forms, but do not consider architectural spaces or spatial relationships.

“In the Southwest, Northwest, and Northeast, people can argue that their contemporary architectures go back to Native traditions—like pueblos and longhouses—but it’s only a look,” Howe continues. “How those Native structures actually came to be or how they’re actually organized is not included in the process. And, ironically, the architectural spaces inside Native-looking structures can actually work against Native traditions that ostensibly are being celebrated by being encoded, often inadvertently, with anti-Indian meanings.”

These efforts underscore the importance of Howe’s model, and why it focuses on what’s inside first. “Eternal messages are not encoded in brick. That’s the here and now,” he says. “But the space is eternal. The space is what makes it functional. The space is what’s critical. The space within is where you have your identity.”

Chapter 6: “And this has nothing to do with beauty,” Howe adds, almost as an afterthought. “We haven’t even gotten there yet. Ugly architecture could be the most meaningful inside.”

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HOWE’S Five Steps to cultural architecture Dr. Craig Howe developed a cultural architecture model for his doctoral dissertation.

The model was designed to be implemented

by Native tribal groups, including some “urban Indians” who longed for architectural traditions tying them to their heritages—and their geographical homelands. Howe’s cultural architecture ideas celebrate “rethinking, going back to our origins,” he says.

Everything needed to create an architectural code is embedded in culture. “In architecture, it’s like overlays, or trace paper—you can use these symbolism levels to create many layers of deep meaning, or use just a couple of layers,” he says. “Either way, it’s fine. But the deeper you can go, the better.”

Centering The first challenge when creating an architectural code is defining how the concept of a “center” is understood by the community.

If there is a center, then the group determines whether or not individuals can occupy it. “Often, people put an obelisque or some other object there, if the center is where no one should be,” Howe says. “On the other hand, some cities have an open plaza in the center. The center also could be a mountain peak that is not really in ‘the center’ at all.”

or whatever the story says, there are rules by which cosmic space was ordered.”

The concept of movement within Lakota culture provides a good example. “There are two types of motion,” Howe explains. “One human and the other precedence. Humans move from the east and then move in a sunwise direction to the left. For an important process, like praying, the precedence begins in the west, then north, east, and south. Both of these types of movement have rules. It’s about that simple.”

Among the settler community, he suggests, “maybe the movement could be a mimicking of manifest destiny, east to west, or take a more linear, more axial path. The community would have to come up with this.”

Arranging “If orienting is situating the center in relation to geography or the landscape, then ar-

ranging is proper internal placement,” Howe says. “For example, Lakota spaces, opposite the entry is the place of honor. You can tell if you’ve entered a Lakota space immediately. You would also arrange the space based on the gender division within a traditional Lakota house. There are many levels of arranging in a tipi: male, female, fire, animals, visitors. And within a Sundance arbor, there’s the entry direction, the music direction, the direction of importance—all are layers of arrangement.”

Echoing According to Howe, “echoing is the concept most people use for design guidelines: forms, colors, numbers, shapes, plants, animals, time. Usually echoing just reflects forms and materials in the environment.”

Orienting Orienting describes how the community positions the center in relation to the landscape and skyscape. “Does this culture orient its spaces in relation to the Cardinal directions? By prominent landmarks? In relations to constellations? Or by existing highways and streets?” Howe explains. “Orienting is not about town entrances or byways; beginning here and going there is irrelevant.”

Moving Moving begins with the cultural rules to understand the “order of movement—what’s the motion when structuring space?” Howe says. “All belief systems begin with a period of chaos, and in some way it was ordered into this universe. Whether this ordering happened over seven days or by the four winds, 36

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Craig Howe, PhD, is the former Director of the Center of American Indian History at the Newberry Library in Chicago, where he developed new modes of accessing sources of tribal histories. In collaboration with tribes from Argentina to the Arctic Circle, Howe also developed the inaugural exhibits of the National Museum of the American Indian at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Currently, he is building Wingsprings (above), near Martin, South Dakota, the home of the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies, where he is also director. Howe consults and speaks on a variety of topics, and teaches at Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge Reservation.

Above: Wingsprings complex under construction in 2008. Photo courtesy of Craig Howe.

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www.move2hillcity.com • 605-574-2368 • hcacoc@hills.net MIDWEST LIVING MAGAZINE - Hill City, South Dakota ranked 23rd in the 100 Best Small Town Getaways

support is provided with funds from the Sate of South Dakota, through the Department of tourism and State Development and the National Endowment for the Arts

Spring2010

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PROUDLY FEATURING FINE ART WITH ALTITUDE

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Bronze Sculptures Artisan Jewelry Original Paintings Flame-work Glass Wearable Art Pottery Books Photography

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Anna Achtziger

Karen Carlson

In my passion for designing jewelry, I pay great attention to detail, color, and texture, working to create a look that is stylish and artistic. I focus on making distinctive, eye-catching pieces made from the highest-quality materials, with inspiration derived from the intricate designs and colors found in nature. My work can be seen in SD at: Spearfish Center for the Arts in Spearfish; Blue Dog Galleries, Lead; Reflections of Dakota, Rapid City; and Dakota Nature and Art, Hill City. In WY: Herizon Fine Art in Jackson Hole; www.avacenter.org.

In AZ: Pinetop Contemporary Art, Pinetop.

Crafted from multiple prints of the same image, three-dimensional paper tole is an art form that emerged shortly after the printing press made standardized illustrations available to artisans. Using several identical prints, medieval artisans created a new kind of paper art.

They cut pieces from each print, then shaped, layered and reassembled the pieces into an amazing, seemingly magical three-dimensional image. Building upon this magical beginning, I specialize in paper tole fairy pictures, but I also have floral, landscape, and wildlife pictures available at ArtForms Gallery in Hill City.

alexannacreations@gmail.com

605-574-2237 • Box 957 Hill City, SD 57745 • www.artforms.smugmug.com

RON BACKER

Deborah Casey

In the settling of the west in the late 1899’s every town had a Main Street and Deadwood, Dakota Territory was no exception. In fact, almost all of Deadwood was Main Street. The elite Forest Hills looked down on Main Street and the “badlands” of lower Main. Its most prestigious section was on Williams Street with it’s Victorian homes, nicknamed “Iron Hill Row” because of the profits its residents enjoyed from the silver of the Carbonate and Iron Hill’s mines.

See complete painting and story on website.

A Touch of Bronze, will create memories of Gold.

760-636-0404 • www.sdartists.com

605-381-6864 • 605-381-6864 • www.DeborahCaseyStudio.com PO Box 469, Hill City, SD 57745

Nancy Bowman

Jerry Green

Cacophony This etching is 18” X 18” on copper plate. Ink hand ground and image printed by the artist, Nancy K Bowman. Crows’ conversations remind me of orchestras’ pre-concert tuning and practice. I glean inspiration from the Black Hills and prairie lands of grand blue skies, intersecting flowing land forms, diverse life forms and their influences. Other media include oils, pastels, watercolor, and jewelry. Commissions are welcome.

The Black Hills-whether shrouded in mysterious cloaking fog, blanketed by a layer of quieting snow, or dancing with spring wildflowersare the enduring source of inspiration, and sometimes the palette, for my work. The lathe provides the means of exploration into the many layers and complexities of the wood that I turn. My goal is to craft a form pleasing to both the eye and hand, while challenging my skill and creativity with each new piece. Mastering the lathe is not an easy task. But the journey there is infinitely compelling.

www.artitsoftheblackhills.org and Blue Dog Gallery, Lead, SD

Immortalize your loved ones with an original bronze sculpture. We’ll capture their likeness, add some creative ideas, and create a long lasting tribute to a beloved family member. This one-of-a-kind commissioned artwork will be treasured by future generations.

The instant love of a child at birth is the feature of Casey’s sculpture entitled “First Son” shown to the left.

605.673.3404 • www.bearrockwoodwork.com

Jenny Braig

Bonnie Halsey-Dutton

Jenny’s intentions when painting are: To create well crafted, beautiful objects out of paint; to speak stories of a place; and to create form that is strong, passionate, and reflects how she feels when making these works. She has exhibited at the Dahl Fine Arts Center in Rapid City, SD, and her work can be seen regularly at: Prairie Edge Gallery in Rapid City; Spearfish Art Center Gallery, Spearfish, SD; Blue Dog Gallery, Lead, SD; Iowa Artisans Gallery, Iowa City, IA; and Outside the Lines Gallery, Dubuque, IA. Jenny has received awards, and grants, and one of her works was purchased for the Art in State Buildings program in South Dakota. Jenny grew up in Dubuque, Iowa, and now lives in Spearfish with her husband and two daughters.

• Striking artwork honoring stories and exploring mankind’s connection to the past.

• Cultural and personal symbols threaded throughout.

• As our ancestors did, looking to the earth for balance.

• Imagery inspired by local petroglyph rock carvings as symbolic human links to the earth.

• Reflecting the world’s growing awareness of the ecological impact of our lifestyle.

Jacque Callis

Karla Harnois

Living in the beautiful Black Hills of South Dakota, Jacque has been weaving for more than 20 years. Her original handwoven creations include rugs (wool or recycled denim), scarves (silk, chenille and tencel), table linens (cotton and linen), and baby blankets (so soft you have to touch to believe). Jacque’s creations can be purchased from her current stock or she can design one personally for you. Check out her website to see photos of her work and find out more about the weaving process.

My inspiration for my work comes from nature. I prefer to paint flowers because I like their softness against the hardness of the world. I feel that completed paintings give me a great sense of accomplishment.

When I finish a painting, I have created part of myself, which gives me great fulfillment and pride. I feel my paintings are a unique treasure all their own. The road to getting to this point in my career at times has been a struggle, due to my Cerebral Palsy. However, 33 years ago I learned to hold a paintbrush in my mouth, with the help of an adaptive mouthpiece. I use neck muscles to move the brush on the canvas.

Will and determination work!

calliscreationsweaving.com • calliscreations@q.com • 605-574-4048

Pictured: “Petroglyph Symbology” 11x32”Watercolor & Gouache on paper 2009

605-334-4220 • karalh@sio.midco.net • 3600 S. Duluth Sioux Falls, SD

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www.artofthehills.com

ARTIST DIRECTORY

Shirley Jane Hobbs Capturing the spirit of the Black Hills on Silk

Susan Scheirbeck Contemporary and craftsman styled stained glass with quality lead came and reinforced fabrications. A well designed window can enhance a home or business interior by controlling light, hide a poor view, or add a new dynamic. Smaller works can be seen at Dakota Nature & Art Gallery in Hill City; or visit the studio, by appointment.

Member Artists of the Black Hills In the Black Hills at: Dakota Nature and Art in Hill City

605-574-9005 • susan@rapidnet.com • 207 Pine Ave. Hill City, SD

The Gallery of the Spearfish Arts Center Prairie Edge in Rapid City www.landscapesinsilk.com

Lori Jones

Dorothy Snowden

I paint mostly in an impressionistic style, and concentrate mainly on the figure.. I love to paint people because it is especially fun to see if I can discover their soul and depict it well. My preference is in painting imperfect people because I feel that beauty lies in “flaws”; our distinctive uniqueness is what sets us apart from each other and truly makes us beautiful. Most of my paintings have a bit of humor or irony in them, which also gives viewers a glance at me in the process.

Northern Hills artist Dorothy Snowden works in oils and pastels, depicting area landscapes in vivid color, using loose, textural brushstrokes in an impressionistic manner. Often the larger studio paintings are derived from smaller, quickly executed plein air sketches.

She is a Signature Member of the Artists of the Black Hills and is represented by Blue Dog Framers and Studio Gallery of Lead, Spearfish Arts Center, Reflections of South Dakota, Rapid City, and ARTworks of Jon Crane Gallery, Hill City.

lorijns@aol.com

www.dsnowden.com.

Dick Kettlewell Dick Kettlewell has been a professional photographer for 28 years, having worked as a photojournalist and a nature photographer while earning numerous awards in both fields.

In addition to publishing his nature images in other well-known publications such as the Smithsonian Magazine, the Discovery Magazine, the Natural History Magazine, etc., Kettlewell has also published two books about the wildlife and landscapes of the region entitled Black Hills Impressions and South Dakota Wildlife Impressions. Both are produced by Far Country Press and are available in major bookstores such as Borders and on the Amazon network.

Grant Standard Grant’s passion for bronze sculpture has been the main expression in his artistic and professional life for 20 years. His subject matter has long been inspired by his spiritual experiences and his heritage; Celtic and Native American themes are evident in many of his pieces. Many of his latest sculptures are bronze, stainless, and copper wall hangings of various dimensions, which are available at Dakota Nature & Art in Hill City and Prairie Edge in Rapid City, SD. Please call or check his website for a complete selection, including his newest work.

605-574-3200 • www.standardmetalworks.com

(605)255-5919 • lamejohnny@gmail.com • springcreekchronicles.com

Mary Jo Marcy

BJ Stych

Mary Jo Marcy’s Artwork has always been inspired by the natural beauty and spirituality of the Black Hills area. Her pottery, sculpture and jewelry, reflect this as well as the use of Angelica leaves that grow at her home. Her paintings create a visual feast as well as give the viewer some of the spiritual energy from the Hills.

Her art can be purchased at ArtForms Gallery, Old World Plaza, Hill City. Special arrangements can be made to visit the Artist’s studio-gallery at Elk Park Antiques & Art.

Always, I want my paintings to “come alive”. Have heart. Because the outdoors is ever changing, and magnificently alive, I can find endless inspiration there.

605-673-3365

To capture that “aliveness”, I paint in watercolor and have been using a variety of media to add texture and depth to the vivid colors. The most striking images capture our attention from a distance and invite us to look closer into the extravagant details.

The aim, however, is never the mere facts, but the soul of the scene. I am honored when people respond with their hearts.

605-673-3627 • bjswc@gwtc.net • PO Box 4034, Custer, SD 57745

Anita Paige

Lynn Thorpe

Wire wrapping is one of the oldest techniques for making jewelry by hand, with some examples in museums dating back to thousands of years BC. Anita has used this ancient technique to create beautiful pendants, rings, bracelets and earrings. Her designs feature gemstones cut and polished by other artisans, although she fuses her own glass cabochons. She uses gold-filled and sterling silver square wire. There is no solder, heat or glue - “it‘s just the wire holding on for dear life.”

Her work can be found at ArtForms Gallery in Hill City and A Walk in the Woods in Custer.

Distinctive large scale landscapes done with a sensuous eye and by an enquiring mind. Composed from observed landscape forms, these works are constructed in the studio with an idea in mind. Rich but subtle color, blended brushwork, and often starkly simplified forms emphasize the ideas behind the work and evoke the huge space and elemental silence of the great plains.

Represented by Warriors Work/BenWest Gallery in Hill City, SD. 605-390-3628 • www.lynnthorpe.com

605-355-9208 • http://wonderfulwire.madeinsouthdakota.com • RC, SD

ARTIST DIRECTORY

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Perspective q & A with Pat Wyss

In 1981, Pat Wyss founded Wyss Associates, Inc., the first private-practice landscape architecture firm in South Dakota. Mr. Wyss is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and has won numerous design awards. He has been a guest presenter internationally and has completed projects throughout all regions of the United States. The firm is now partially employee-owned.

What is the scope of landscape architecture, and do most people understand it?

The title “landscape architect” is sometimes misunderstood. People hear the word “landscape” and associate that with traditional “landscaping.” However, we actually design outdoor and public spaces. The scope of the profession includes urban design, site planning, environmental restoration, parks and green infrastructure—all at varying scales of planning and management. Our design palette includes such things as plants, paving, lighting, furnishings, land contours, and water. Sustainable design principals are also a major part of our practice, and have been for a long time.

People generally consider “architecture” to be about buildings. How does your work relate to structures?

We like to see buildings complement the landscape. Oftentimes our work seeks to blend indoor and outdoor connections. Other times, with good sustainable site planning, we seek to arrange buildings in the landscape to minimize environmental impact. From a creative standpoint, we often think of our designs as outdoor rooms, where the floor might be decorative paving or groundcovers; the walls could be a row of trees, a fence, or the exterior wall of a building; and the ceiling might be a tree canopy or the sky.

The architecture of buildings includes engineering, design, and the artistic sense of the architect, among other things. How would you describe the 44

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“artistic” or creative side of landscape architecture?

We regularly deal with sightlines, scale, balance, color, proportions, positive-negative spaces and visual rhythm. You can think of our work as permanent installations at a very grand scale.

Wyss Associates, Inc., worked with the City of Spearfish, S.D., to design a championship golf course, including multiple teeing areas, target fairways, strategic placement of hazards, and greens with multiple pin placements. This photo depicts hole #5, where Wyss designed the sand bunker complexes in the shape of giant elk tracks leading the viewer’s eye to Elkhorn Peak in the background. Photo courtesy of Wyss Associates, Inc.

How does a landscape architect assist community development, “visioning,” and planning?

Urban design is an important aspect of

Is there a project in the Black Hills region that stands out as a great example of landscape architecture’s doing its job well?

In what way can landscape contribute to a specific “look and feel” of a place?

Keep in mind that visionary projects require visionary clients. I can think of numerous examples in the Black Hills, some by my firm and some by others, but let me refer to one that really stands out and was started just prior to my move to Rapid City. The Greenway Park in Rapid City is a great example of designing with nature that changed the culture of our community. Landscape architect Floyd Tanaka worked with Rapid City after the 1972 flood to remove structures from the 100-year floodplain and create a linear park for the entire community to enjoy.

our profession, and often involves multiple stakeholder groups. Since participatory design can lead to new and exciting visions for community development projects, we are often asked to bring these groups together to brainstorm. We help facilitate the group dynamics, and assist with forming consensus. Our subsequent designs then incorporate the stakeholder input. A “workshop” format like that, where participants share visions and dreams, can really empower citizens to guide and direct their community’s future.

Creating a “sense of place” is a great role for landscape architects. One step in our design process is called “site analysis,” where we look closely at an area’s climate, vegetation types, soils, hydrology, views, community connectivity, locally available materials and aesthetics. My office works all over America, so we find it is very important to study an area’s unique characteristics prior to developing any design concepts.

Is most of your work related to civic or private projects? Are you working mostly with governmental agencies or architects and their clients?

We have a pretty even mix between public and private clients. There seems to be more activity in the public sector now, but that varies. On larger projects such as parks and golf courses, we hire architecture consultants to design the buildings. Other times, such as the DUSEL in Lead, we consult to the architects.

ELK RIDGE Bed & Breakfast w w w. e r b a n d b. c o m

1-605-574-2320

12741 Matthew Court Keystone, SD 57751

◆Minutes from Mount Rushmore ◆Intimate Accomodations◆Eclectic Decor

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