Cameron Stalheim was awarded the juried 3D category prize at ArtPrize 2025 for his sculpture Persist, which originally was shown on SculptureWalk in 2018.
ArtPrize is probably the best American sponsored yearly art festivals. I have dreamed of going for years! To win this award will be huge for Cameron’s career!
Like I said, many talented artists in our community like the ladies that did the censored mural in SF at the Smithsonian or Eyob Mergia who is known internationally and now resides in Vegas.
We have the cultural figures in SF but can we appreciate them?
These were my final words to a mayoral candidate today after we had coffee. I really believe that. While this candidate wanted me to be on their team, I told them my mind is not made up yet, and I am going to weigh all of them equally. This wasn’t an interview for the blog, we were just touching base and talking issues. Let’s just say a municipal ambulance is in our near future and Erica Beck ain’t running for mayor (she’s a bit busy running from her past command post).
They also asked me what I would like to see in my city, knowing that I was a biking advocate. I said I had to think about it;
ITS TIME SIOUX FALLS SUPPORTED AN ARTIST COOPERATIVE
There is an artist cooperative in Downtown Omaha that is really cool, and I always thought we could have one here with the help of the taxpayers. We used to have such a space at Falls Park, the Horsebarn Art Center, but the city kicked them out because they needed the barn for lawn mower storage (no f’ing lie). The reason I started thinking about this is because I have been watching our fine stewards 🙁 on the council give away $1 a year leases for city property to for profit businesses. There is tons of space downtown the city owns that they could lease for a $1 a year. The bus barn would work perfectly (if they build a replacement). The location is awesome, plenty of parking in the back and enough space for an amphitheater, gallery space and workshops and studios. The best part is on nice days you can open the garage doors! You could also set it up as a non-profit with a partnership with the city (they would do all maintenance to the facility (externally) and cover utilities and provide a used city van for facility transport. While we are at it, put the Arts Coordinator’s office in the building. We can do good artsy things in this community without kissing the ring at the Bazillion (Wash Pav). I think the city is considering cutting their subsidy substantially which is way over due.
What Hubris!I heard that Selberg was seriously still considering a run for mayor. A word of advice, Marsh, probably need to move back to Sux from Hartford 🙂 you know, that whole district thingy.
OH, and still not sure where MMM stands on the election. I guess the bride isn’t too keen on it (like the rest of the city) but peeps have been seeing him appear in public like those parasites on that new Alien TV series. I saw him on the bike trail the other day with his grandkids(?) it was quite the scene 🙂
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).
My first critique of the sculptures is something everybody has been saying that have seen it ‘There is too much crap in that space and it just looks like the lawn sculpture garden on Cleveland Avenue’. Besides the overcrowding I would have done one of two things with the sculptures. The pieces themselves are beautiful and I think they will withstand the rigors of SD weather (I have a wait an see on that one, glass doesn’t do well in hail and subzero temps). I would have either spaced out the existing sculptures more or I would have made the bases narrower to make more space between the pieces. It goes back to the overcrowding in that space and it looks like the space between the pieces was compromised. But hey when you hire Mark Cotter’s kid with a lawnmower to prepare the site, what do you expect? I even saw them hauling in a bunch of trees today.
Speaking of city projects, looks like the ice ribbon is finally getting poured.
I saw the below RFP and wondered why? I thought we specifically hired an Arts Coordinator as a full-time position with the city to coordinate the arts. Part of YOUR job would be to come up with a cultural plan and use local non-profits as reference and help. But this is what the city does all the time. They have internal attorneys, engineers, etc., that we pay well with great benefits, and all they do is coordinate the consultant reports. We need to do one of two things at this juncture. Either eliminate her position and hire a consultant to put together a plan, OR, better yet, let her keep her job, AND MAKE HER DO IT! You were hired for your supposed talents, show us what they are. Because the words ‘consultant’ and ‘public art’ have nothing to do with each other. Not to mention you could probably lift a cultural plan from another city our size and tweak it. This is all public information, another city can’t ‘charge’ you if you take their plan and tweak if for our town. I think the first question they need to ask potential directors interviewing with the city is, “Do you know what google is?”
l3wis 
