SculptureWalk’s 20th anniversary pieces arrive, in downtown and just beyond

Twenty years after the first sculptures were installed on downtown Sioux Falls sidewalks, SculptureWalk has grown to become the world’s largest annual exhibit of public sculptures.

The 2023 season will feature 67 new sculptures, chosen from 165 applications.

“The first few years most of the applicants were fairly regional — Midwest — and now it’s across the country and even worldwide,” said Regan Smith, board chair for SculptureWalk Sioux Falls.

All photos by Paul Schiller

“The quality has definitely improved over the years as the program has gained a good reputation, and the artists travel here and love it, and the word spreads among other artists.”

Visitors are encourage to begin the SculptureWalk route at the SculptureWalk Visitor Center on the second floor of the Washington Pavilion at 301 S. Main Ave. The route then is focused along Phillips Avenue, over to the East Bank along Eighth Street, under the Arc of Dreams, back down Phillips Avenue and ending in front of the Washington Pavilion to make a complete loop.

“This year’s SculptureWalk exhibition features a diverse range of sculptures in terms of style, material and subject matter,”   said Jana Anderson, curator for SculptureWalk Sioux Falls.

“In 20 years of SculptureWalk, the diversity of artistic perspectives and styles has grown so much.”

“Sara’s Inspiration”

About 30 percent of the artists who applied to exhibit were new to SculptureWalk.

“It’ll be a wide variety of bronze and steel and aluminum and all kinds of concepts and creativity,” Smith said.

Here’s a sampling:

“Meandering Connections”

“Pick Me Up”

“WWII Flyboy”

The public votes for the “People’s Choice Award” through Sept.  30, and the favorite sculpture is purchased by the city of Sioux Falls to become part of its permanent collection.

And here’s a little trivia for you. If you head to the Phillips Avenue Plaza, you’ll find two sculptures together representing the 20th anniversary. “Bacchus” was in the first SculptureWalk in 2004, and “Kana” is new this year.

“Bacchus”

“Kana”

Next month, inside the Visual Arts Center an exhibit will open featuring 20 sculptures and hundreds of photos of the past SculptureWalk exhibitions over the years.

“SculptureWalk is such a great outdoor public art exhibition, but we want to highlight the history of this program through an indoor art exhibit as well,” Anderson said. “This will be a great opportunity to come check out the exhibition inside the Visual Arts Center and then step outside to start the walk just outside our building.”

The future

As for how SculptureWalk could evolve in the decade ahead, Smith said he expects the show will expand with downtown itself.

“We’ve been going north the last couple of years to lengthen it out along Phillips Avenue to get to Falls Park, and we’re having discussions with the Steel District and Cherapa to figure out what their needs are going to be and whether we can support that and integrate SculptureWalk into that,” Smith said. “And even into phase three of the Greenway. Nothing firm yet, but we’re are definitely looking at that. We’ve been on the same trajectory as the growth of downtown the last 20 years.”

“Gradation of Self” photographed with the Arc of Dreams

SculptureWalk also has started expanding into nearby neighborhoods. Last year, neighbors in the Cathedral neighborhood helped fund the installation of several pieces. New sculptures are there for this season.

“We’d have to be strategic about it and find pedestals, but we definitely know there’s interest from All Saints and other neighborhoods and we would definitely work with them,” Smith said.