DAKOTA LIFE: Arts Corner

Southeast South Dakota Creates

by Katy Beem

This month, Dakota Life showcases just a taste of the art blossoming out of southeast South Dakota. Connected by the southern-most leg of I-29 and boundless creativity, artists in Sioux Falls and Vermillion are demonstrating canvases are to be found not just in bronze and brick, but in coffee cups and community.

EUNKICHETUPI: COME BACK TO LIFE WITH VERMILLION'S LATEST MURAL

Near the banks of the Vermillion and Missouri rivers, Vermillion’s quaint, vibrant downtown bespeaks a community blessed by the creative milieu of a university town. Home to a sculpture walk and prodigious murals by artists Dick Termes and Rick Johns, two new public paintings have recently emerged on the walls of the Coyote Twin Theater. Eúŋkičhetupi, meaning “Come Back to Life” in Lakota, was born of community meetings held by lead artists Reyna Hernandez, Inkpa Mani, and Liz Skye and assisted by Jenae Porter and University of South Dakota professor Amber Hansen. The issues and ideas that emerged in public conversations inspired lead artists to incorporate images and themes that address identity, motherhood, landscape, and water, among others. A tribute to women worldwide, the striking work tells the Sioux creation story while also addressing the contemporary tensions of living in modern and traditional culture. April Matson, who is Lakota and Alaska Native, and her two young daughters participated in the design and painting process. “The colors that we’re painting are very Indigenous colors,” says Matson. “The brown skin… it’s really overwhelming and emotional and beautiful.” Work for the second part of the mural, titled Wanáhca, (Lakota: “flower that blooms”) intensifies this spring. See the mural and meet the artistic crew who stewarded the project, sometimes painting in 100+ degree heat, to bring the vision to life.

SCULPTOR DARWIN WOLF: THE HEALING PROCESS OF VERY PUBLIC ART

Art in the lobbies of buildings is not uncommon. Artists actively making art in the lobbies of buildings is less so. But sculptor Darwin Wolf likes to be mobile. One place he set up shop is the lobby of the Sioux Falls VA Medical Center to create a sizeable monument to the first female fighter pilots. “He’s located right outside our primary care waiting area,” says Erin Bultje, SFVAHCS Public Affairs Officer. “And so for the veterans to sit in the waiting area and have him to watch has been a really calming effect, is what some veterans have said. You know, they’re here for treatment and it can be a scary process. So for them to watch something and take their mind off of what could be happening, it’s been really nice for them.” Working amidst the bustle of the VA, Wolf receives all kinds of input from the veterans. “The feedback here has been really, really good,” says Wolf. “Both on the critical side and the appreciation side. People who have really enjoyed it tell me their stories over and over again because I’m kind of telling them a story here. I’ve had three different pilots come and tell me, ‘Oh, my gosh that’s spot on.’ Or, ‘try this differently, that’s a bit off.’ They’ve been really helpful in helping me compose this and get everything really right and that’s what I want. So, their critique has been fantastic.”

ESPRESSO YOURSELF: MASTERPIECE IN A MUG

As one might expect, latte art contests, where the coffee is the canvas, are stimulating events. Baristas arrive to their coffeehouse coliseums armed with select weapons of the trade: favored stainless steel frothing pitchers and well-honed foaming techniques. SDPB captures the high spirits of camaraderie and competition at the Latte Art Throwdown, hosted at The Bean coffeehouse in Vermillion, where champion coffee artists and rising stars work deftly to turn espresso foam floating on the tops of coffee drinks into delicate but drinkable shapes: tulips, ferns, rosettes, swans and hearts. “I think coffee tastes amazing whether it looks beautiful or not,” says contest coordinator and The Bean barista Cristobal Francisquez. “But I think there’s something really wonderful about making anything beautiful.”

FROM THE BARD TO NIOBRARA

Every summer since 2011, “the play is the thing” at Prentis Park in Vermillion. The South Dakota Shakespeare Festival stages a work by the bard in the park’s stone amphitheater, an outdoor performance space constructed in 1937 by the WPA. Actors and technical hands from throughout South Dakota and the U.S. converge in this town of 10,000 for several weeks of rehearsals, set-building, and costume creation. While in Vermillion, the cast and crew gather with South Dakotans for performances and workshops that transcend Shakespeare. Meet West Coast-based actor Kenny Ramos (Diegueño Iipay/Kumeyaay) who led students like Kendra Elk Looks Back of He Dog and Kevin Hare (Ihanktonwan) of Wagner through theatre workshops, including a reading of Mary Kathryn Nagle’s play Return to Niobrara, about Chief Standing Bear’s case against the U.S. “It directly deals with Ponca and Omaha histories and stories,” says Ramos. “Bright Eyes, who is the daughter of Chief Iron Eye of the Omaha people, and here we are, in what is Omaha territory.” Elk Looks Back and Hare share their experiences with fine arts and representation. “I played the dad in one of the plays,” says Hare. “I got to experience what it’s like for parenthood figures of Native American children to experience what it’s like for their children to be discriminated against for who they are. It puts you in a place where you can experience it almost firsthand. You can see what it’s like for other people to be in the situations that they’re in.” Traverse to southeast South Dakota and appreciate the creativity in this little corner of the state, in an all new Dakota Life. Premieres Thursday, February 6, at 8pm (7 MT) on SDPB1 and rebroadcasts Sunday, February 8, at 1pm (noon MT).