Artist, donor partner to bring mural to downtown parking ramp

Downtown’s eyesore parking ramp will become a canvas for art after all.

It’s happening thanks to an offhand conversation between Sioux Falls artist Walter Portz, who earlier this year painted a large mural at Levitt at the Falls and wanted to see something painted on the parking ramp on 10th Street east of Phillips Avenue.

“I jokingly said to (city finance director) Shawn (Pritchett), ‘You can tell the mayor I’m ready to do a mural anytime because it needs something,'” Portz said.

“I’ve done a few murals here and there. I always wanted to do something there, but the time just wasn’t right for me to apply at the time.”

After failing to reach a consensus on a design following a submittal process earlier this year, Mayor Paul TenHaken decided to see if bringing a design by Portz forward could still be an option.

“I gave them a slew of things we can do, and we had discussions about that, and it led us down the path of picking something colorful,” Portz said. “It’s very bright. It’s big, blocky, fun colors. It’s enough to get people’s attention and should be a fun addition to town.”

The proposal worked only because a private donor stepped forward to fund it, though.

Matt Paulson, founder and CEO of MarketBeat, originally had signed on to sponsor a mural for the ramp and decided to back Portz’s proposal.

“While this project has taken a bit longer than we would have hoped, we’ve gotten together the right team of people and organizations to get this done,” Paulson said. “We are really excited that Walter Portz is going to paint the mural because he is a Sioux Falls guy through and through. He has done a bunch of projects to make Sioux Falls a better place, and he now has a track record of making large-scale murals in our downtown. We couldn’t think of anyone better than Walter to tackle this project.”

In a statement, TenHaken thanked the city’s Visual Arts Commission for recommending this week that the city move forward with Portz’s mural design.

“His track record and passion for building community through art is incredible, and we are honored to partner with him on this city asset,” TenHaken said. “We appreciate Matt Paulson with MarketBeat stepping up to support this project financially to see it become reality.”

There’s also a practical side to the project as the ramp needs to be sealed anyway to avoid long-term issues, the city said.

Portz utilized artificial intelligence in honing his design, iterating hundreds of images and adjusting to customize the work for Sioux Falls.

“It’s got the Falls flowing through it, as well as nods to the Levitt … and some architectural elements with the Cathedral and clock tower, so combining Sioux Falls but not making it a cheesy Sioux Falls postcard. Making it cooler,” he said.

MarketBeat values local and public art and sees the $30,000 sponsorship as a way to support both, Paulson said.

“We think he has done a fantastic job of coming up with a design everyone can enjoy and feel good about. We think it also might be the largest AI-assisted art installation in the world, so that’s really interesting too,” he said. “The mural is going to beautify this part of downtown until this site is ready for future development. We’re really excited about the project, and we can’t wait to see it come together.”

The mural will stay on the ramp until a development proposal comes together that potentially would take it over. The city solicited interest last year but didn’t receive any formal proposals, though the property continues to be available for some sort of additional development. At one point, two hotels had been proposed for the site, but a deal never materialized.

Portz anticipates the mural will take about three weeks to paint once it’s primed. That means it will be done by sometime early this fall.

“I’m just excited,” he said. “I think it will be a fun thing to do.”