National arts leader sees the best of South Dakota
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota Recently one of the people helping to bring arts funding to South Dakota toured our state and was blown away by the diversity and quality of our [...]
There’s no substitute for face-to-face meetings
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota During the summer, Arts South Dakota co-hosted a number of Arts Happy Hours around the state, from Hill City to Aberdeen and from Yankton to Faulkton. Situated [...]
Creative leaders join Arts South Dakota board
Three South Dakotans have joined the board of directors of Arts South Dakota. With expertise in the performing arts, Native American advocacy and STEM education, the new board members bring a wealth of talent [...]
Arts Education Institute connects schools to the arts
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota The arts should be a part of every classroom—and the arts can make every subject fun to learn. That’s one lesson of the Arts Education Institute, being [...]
Band directors are the musical heart of our communities
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota For many of us, the portal to the joys of making music was opened by a band director during our school years. Those first tentative notes became [...]
Arts Education Institute celebrates 20 years of inspiration
By Jim Speirs, Executive Director, Arts South Dakota This year, the week of July 15-18 will mark the 20th annual Arts Education Institute—two decades of providing inspiration, new ideas and networking opportunities to art teachers, [...]