UKULELIST BRINGS MUSICAL OPPORTUNITIES TO LEMMON

There’s a new generation of ukulele players in Lemmon thanks to a $4,000 GIG (Grow, Invest, Gather) Fund grant from Arts Midwest. The funds, awarded to the Grand River Arts Council, helped bring Pierre musician Katie Dwyer to town in March. She spent a week offering ukulele lessons after school in the Lemmon Public Library and leading music production classes for teens and adults. After her residency, she offered additional lessons virtually through the library.

Dwyer is an independent singer-songwriter, music producer and arts advocate. She is half of a band called Moon and Sea and works as a freelance audiobook narrator for the South Dakota

Historical Society Press in Pierre, where she lives with her husband and four children. “I loved my time in Lemmon,” Dwyer says. “I’ve always been multi-passionate, so I really appreciated that I was able to teach workshops on a variety of topics in addition to performing at multiple locations.”

Ukuleles are still available to check out at the library, where Raven Christman, who also serves as president of the Grand River Arts Council, is the head librarian. “Working with Katie was a dream,” Christman says. “She is extremely talented and patient and really knows her stuff. She opened up musical opportunities for our kids that many of them don’t have.”