By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota
The arts in South Dakota are alive this summer—and they are calling you to safely step into a renewed whirl of concerts, plays, performances and parks filled with arts opportunities.
All over the state, summer programs are being announced and the activities that mark the arts season are summoning live audiences once again. The stage lights are on in theaters from the Black Hills to Aberdeen. Parks in Spearfish, Brookings, Yankton and points in between will fill with arts and crafts booths, food vendors and musical performances as festivals return to welcome visitors. Musicians are tuned up and ready for that instant feedback that only a live audience can provide. Our community arts centers are staging great exhibitions, giving neighbors and tourists alike the chance to see in person the varied and creative work of South Dakota artists. It’s all happening this summer throughout the state—and you’re invited to be a part of it.
In fact, after a year of social distancing and closed creative venues, your support is more important than ever for our state’s cultural centers, community festivals and performers of every kind. Artists, musicians and arts organizations were hit hard by the past year’s realities—and they are counting on you to help the creative industry in South Dakota bounce back from the pandemic strong and vital and ready to inspire us.
There are so many things you can do this summer to strengthen the arts in our state and have a great time, too. Take the whole family on a creative road trip to see a show, hear a concert, linger at an art exhibit and spend a day checking out the arts in the park scene. Purchase new art, buy music for a friend who can’t get to a concert and, most of all, participate. Be there this summer for our artists and arts organizations and they’ll be there for us for years to come!
Please visit www.ArtsSouthDakota.org or www.TravelSouthDakota.com for calendars of arts opportunities all over South Dakota this summer.
