I found this comment about the new PUBLIC art piece at the Steel District interesting, especially the last sentence.
I don’t care who paid for it, it is sitting in the public square, which would make it PUBLIC art. It actually did cost us. We provided a $21.5 million TIF package*, which included $9.4 million in Site Improvements.
My recollection is that either included in that amount for Site Improvements (or designated elsewhere in the City budget?) was earmarked for art in public places at The Steel District.
This is why public art must go thru a vetting process NO MATTER who is paying for it. What if Denny Sanford wanted to construct a massive pumpkin sculpture and put it in the Federal Courthouse plaza? He’s paying for it? So what’s wrong with that? Having the donors pick the art is a bad idea. I like the piece though, it should just be painted white.
Also, I know in the past if you were a business owner and you wanted to paint a mural on your business you had to present the concept drawings and idea to the Visual Arts Commission for approval before proceeding with a building permit and sign permit. So how is this any different? Special people get Special treatment in Sioux Falls. I hope the next mayor tells this ilk to go to Heck and find some other trough to feed at.
* also included as extra is Permanent Finance Cost of up to 5% of total eligible TIF expenses (up to $1.075 million, which likely went right to the pocket of Craig Lloyd’s SIL, who is likely providing / arranging financing for the project).
Say, is that one of those fxcking e-bikes?…. ( Just kidding, just kidding 😉 )
( and Woodstock adds: “Well, it looks to me more like one of those early 70s era Honda 90CCs”…. 🙂 )
Seeing that “Whambulance” word in the title made me hungry for ‘Whataburger’….. Just saying 🙂 (But why doesn’t Whitechurch Lane make me hungry for White Castle? )
Why the masks?….:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/12/nyregion/immigration-courthouse-arrests-trump-deportation.html
You want Iridescent Pearl, but your bike looks pretty killer contrasted with that particular “Color of Passage” (Herman Munster Green?).
We appear to have authoritarian art in this town, which makes sense, because generally when one lives under an authoritarian state the arts are the only way one can legally express themselves. Except in this case, the authoritarian state appears to dictate the art as well, but with that said, I would love to watch them try to preform a triple Axel, the state that is….
‘Herman Munster Green’ can be found at Home Depot under the Behr label. You’ll find it next to the taupe paints which are labeled, ‘Predictable,’ ‘Conforming,’ and ‘Unimaginative.’ 🙂
They should hold “Key to the City” ceremonies there, then hand the gigantic key to whoever, like a rich person or a developer, and then watch them take the key and have their way with the keyhole.
“Say, maybe that nearby green slime from the river rocks got that keyhole, huh?”….. #CanopyGreen #Cabrini-Green
“I always eat too much, when I go to Whataburger, which then causes me to need a whambulance”……:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IONvffwt8P4
I enjoy reading your point of view at times because I think it is helpful to understand what is going on in our city from others views. But I find some of them just like this one so disheartening. Of course, not every idea will resonate with everyone — that’s part of living in a diverse city. But it’s important to recognize the intention behind these efforts: to make Sioux Falls a more welcoming, inspiring place for all of us. We need more of that spirit — openness, creativity — instead of always defaulting to negativity. Constructive conversation moves us forward. Constant unhappiness and cynicism just keeps us stuck. Have you ever considered running for an office? I am fairly new to your blog ( 6ish months) so maybe I missed that you were once in public office.
Perhaps, I shouldn’t chime in; this might be Scott’s fight, but I can’t resist:
“We need more of that spirit — openness, creativity — instead of always defaulting to negativity.”
Where’s the openness and creativity if art in this town is being controlled by a few? Secondly, what you define as “negativity” is just Scott’s way of being a cynic. He’s admitted multiple times on this blog that he’s a cynic. So, why can’t he be that? Thirdly, if there is any negativity, it’s merely a test of our democratic institutions to make sure we can still be cynics and or critics.
“Constructive conversation moves us forward.”
That’s right, it’s called debate, and what one person might call, or try to spin as, “negativity” is just another person’s stubborn fact or facts. Facts are good. They’re honest. They keep us all honest and constructive.
“Constant unhappiness and cynicism just keeps us stuck.”
Sometimes, but cheerleading and allowing to be led constantly by others eventually paints us into a corner we can’t get out of.
“Have you ever considered running for an office? I am fairly new to your blog ( 6ish months) so maybe I missed that you were once in public office.”
Oh, how I love this question. I have been asked the same question before. It’s merely a trick to get some of us into the political arena so we can suffer a defeat and then be marginalized even more, hopefully. Listen, many of us on this blog probably could never win an election in this city or state, but that’s because we are, for the most part, center-left and not because we are wrong.
I hate to be rude, or “negative,” but is Erica one of those people who was born on third base, but she thinks she hit a triple?
Thanks for the defense, but after blogging since the late 90’s on various other sites including my own for 18 years, I’m used to the cynic label, and you are correct, honesty isn’t negativity. But I do want to address something else in Erica’s comments;
” We need more of that spirit — openness, creativity — instead of always defaulting to negativity. Constructive conversation moves us forward.”
You are correct, and the ‘art critique’ is just that, CONSTRUCTIVE. I don’t have the time to go into all the details, but you can google them to your heart’s content, but I wanted to give you the story of Impressionism and the importance of the art critique. See when the Impressionist artists wanted to display their work at the Grand Salons of Ol’ Gay Pari’ the art auctions weren’t having it, and the critiques were brutal, but well within what was in style of the time (realism and Baroque) and they hated the Impressionists. So what did the impressionists do? Did they give up? Nope. The criticism only made them stronger and more influential. I think if the impressionists would have been invited to the salons the movement would have been a blip on the screen of art, but since they were so demonized, it became a movement. Cynism doesn’t always lead to negativity, quite the opposite.
Needs ‘No Kings’ graffiti. I’m having a blue cap made with that in white letters. Also, a T-shirt with Huether’s picture just in case he runs for any political office.
Enough Red Republican oligarchs. Blue and white democracy please.
Would be nice of this was a time travel keyhole for before Home Rule Charter. That was a time when mayors were elected for less than $100K campaign fund and didn’t leave office multimillionaires. That was when elections weren’t rigged and councilors vote counted without King Mayor override. Public money didn’t build private tennis clubs and bathhouses. Public projects were voted on and there was competitive bidding process. Authoritarian government arrived in Sioux Falls in 1996 well before TrumpArian rule.
Whataburger is a good burger. It’s because of the soybean flour in the meat. Sticks to the grill so crispy with less fat. Fries are good too. Surprised they didn’t expand from the southwest to the rest of the country. Jack in the Box good on west coast. Not great food but cheap. Many times I bought tacos two for a dollar in individual bags for Hispanic farm workers sleeping along nearby Walmart walls.
@I3wis I appreciate the response and I genuinely appreciate your blog which is why I have been reading it for the last 6 months. I think you have good ideas which is why I asked my last question, I don’t even know what your last name is so I absolutely was not being curt.
@VSG also appreciate your responses and I did learn a few things from your perspective. But the last comment.. punch in the gut but lesson learned.
Since I offered the tip to l3wis which inspired this blog post, I could go on about the portions of a Facebook post by a silver spoon Lloyd kid which I find disheartening.
But I am choosing to be supportive and encouraging of further consumption of this blog by “Erica S”. It is here you will learn things about the machinations of local government and business which aren’t told elsewhere.
If rainbows and puppy dogs are more your jam, I would refer you to the writings of the Chamber Cheerleader over at SF.business. The Chamber Cheerlesder specializes (and is often paid) to craft rhetoric to convince you that it is raining, when in actuality someone in the local business or government community is pi$$ing on your leg.