A Free Passport to doing What I Love to Do? 

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Miss Indian World

Yes, state tourism and arts leaders are awarding prizes to travelers who explore our cities and backroads for art and culture

Most travelers never imagine that they are welcome to just stop at Dick Termes’ Termesphere Gallery in Spearfish. They may not even realize that John Lopez’s sculpture studio is in the little town of Lemmon, on the border between the Dakotas. And who among us wouldn’t want to visit Dave Huebner’s pottery shop, a 50-year treasure in the tiny town of Bushnell — if only we knew how to find Bushnell.

Travelers are welcome at those and dozens of other art and cultural treasures in South Dakota, and the new State of Create Passport Program makes it simple to find your way. In fact, the mobile-exclusive passport even awards prizes for the most accomplished explorers. “We’ve always known that South Dakota has a rich and vibrant arts scene,” says Erin Weinzettel, the global marketing and brand manager of South Dakota Tourism. “We also know that our visitors increasingly are looking for new ways to enjoy and explore the state, and that especially includes learning more about our arts and culture.”

Weinzettel says the new passport program, which was developed with the South Dakota Arts Council, is intended as a fun way to let people know that there are theaters, playhouses, galleries, studios, sculptures, murals and museums to be discovered and enjoyed.

Forty-five “stops” have been incorporated into the launch of the new program. Some will be very familiar even to travelers from afar, such as Crazy Horse Memorial near Custer and the Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant in De Smet. However, others may be new territory even for veteran backroad afficionados. How many people know about the bicycle sculpture at Pringle, the Chautauqua Artisans Market at Hot Springs, or the RedCan Graffiti Jam in Eagle Butte?

Lopez, the Lemmon metal sculptor, is enthused about the new passport program. “We love visitors,” he says. In fact, his Kokomo Inn is an interactive gallery that has a scavenger hunt for kids and both indoor and outdoor sculptures. Lopez believes people who take the time to discover Lemmon will be delighted to find that the historic cowtown also has a Petrified Wood Park, a museum that features Native American ranching and geological history, one-of-a-kind shops, several eateries and the nearby Shadehill Reservoir and campground.

Those sorts of surprises are the genesis of the passport program, but it doesn’t just welcome visitors. Even better, it rewards people for stopping. The prizes range from local artist stickers to gift certificates, vintage South Dakota park posters, custom Vans shoes and even a chance to win a South Dakota vacation, which will be awarded in January of 2023.

The first tier prizes (awarded for 10 stops) are stickers designed and developed in Brookings by Kevin and Kaia Smith, father-daughter entrepreneurs who started a business to fund Kaia’s eighth grade field trip to Washington, D.C. They now sell greeting cards, stickers and postcards at shops across South Dakota and they have a monthly subscription program for people who like to send imaginative cards. The Smiths’ participation illustrates the myriad ways the passport program might bolster small business connections across South Dakota.

Weinzettel believes the passport program also addresses several goals of tourism and arts organizations in South Dakota. “Though we are gearing up for it in our peak travel season, it will continue on through the off-season.” She says most artists are operating their own small businesses; Huebner, Lopez and Termes are three good examples. “So we also hope this becomes a boost for our main streets and small towns throughout the year.”

She says the passport program is a multi-year effort that will be modified as it grows. New “stops” will be added, and the prizes may change.

Jim Hagen, secretary of the Department of Tourism, says he and his team are excited about the passport program because it spotlights what he has always championed as “a world-class arts community.”

The Department of Tourism and the state Arts Council partnered with Bandwango, which has provided technical support for similar travel programs in the U.S. and Canada. South Dakotans and prospective visitors can receive their free mobile passport and all the details about the program on the tourism website at TravelSouthDakota.com/StateofCreate.

PASSPORT STOPS

Aberdeen: Capitol Theater & Cinema

Avon: Johnny Swatek Fine Arts

Black Hills Film Festival

Brandon: Wilde Prairie Winery

Brookings: South Dakota Art Museum

Bushnell: Dakota Stoneware Pottery

Canton: Sioux River Folk Festival

Chamberlain: Dignity of Earth & Sky

Custer: Crazy Horse Memorial, The Custer Beacon music venue

Custer State Park: Black Hills Playhouse

Deadwood: Deadwood Alive re-enactments, Paha Sapa Cowboys & Indians Art Festival, Wild West Songwriters Festival

De Smet: Laura Ingalls Wilder Pageant

Eagle Butte: RedCan Graffiti Jam murals

Faulkton: Grain elevator murals

Freeman: Heritage Hall Museum

Hill City: Quilt Show

Hot Springs: Chautauqua Artisans Market

Keystone: Dahl’s Chainsaw Art

Lead: Homestake Opera House

Lemmon: John Lopez’s Kokomo Inn

Mitchell: Carnegie Resource Center, Corn Palace

Mobridge: Oscar Howe Murals

Montrose: Porter Sculpture Park

Pierre: South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center

Pine Ridge: The Heritage Center at Red Cloud Indian School

Pringle: Bicycle Sculpture

Rapid City: Dahl Fine Arts Center, Racing Magpie gallery & studios, Suzie Cappa Art Center, Tusweca Gallery

Sioux Falls: BronzeAge Art Casting, Jennifer White’s Post Pilgrim Art Gallery, Visual Arts Center at Washington Pavilion

Sisseton: Nicollet Tower & Interpretive Center

Spearfish: Termesphere Gallery, Matthews Opera House

Vermillion: National Music Museum, University of South Dakota Art Galleries

Watertown: Goss Opera House