They say Sioux Falls is an arts and culture hot spot in the heart of America.
Certainly from what I have seen this could be true given the number of museums and galleries that exist in a city of just 200,000 people.
My interest there has been mainly in the visual arts with the Sculpture Walk around downtown always on my to do list.
But a few years ago I read about a new project.
Back in 2016, the Arc of Dreams, a giant stainless steel sculpture by South Dakota Artist Laureate, Dale Lamphere which would span the Big Sioux River was mooted.
The initial design immediately caught my attention.
There was some controversy with divided opinions as to the work's relevance to the city.
But in the end the community made this dream a reality.
In March of
2017, the Sculpture Walk organization put out a request to people to
help support the work.
It became a project that has been funded
entirely by private donations.
I followed it’s construction on the web through local media, both press and TV.
It was quite an engineering feat not only to put it together, deliver it (from Denver) but to install which was finalised mid 2019.
The overall sweep of the sculpture was inspired by a blade of prairie grass.
With a span of just over 90m, the centre of the Arc has a 5m gap, 26m above the river, symbolising the leap of faith dreamers need take to see their dreams come true.
And I couldn’t wait to see it.
And what a wonderful addition to the city it is.
Couldn’t be more perfect.
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