Donor Spotlights A CHAMPION OF THE ARTS
F
OR SOMEONE who always wanted to be an artist, donating to Arts South Dakota is one way Jacque Fuller of Lead can be a champion of the arts. Through her support, she is happy to see the arts continue and expand in our state. “I think just appreciating art enriches your life,” she says. While
dabbling in pottery, painting and gardening, Fuller will suddenly find herself unconsciously singing. “I have no musical ability, but ‘Happy Talk’ from ‘South Pacific’ or the song, ‘Climb Every Mountain’ just seem to come out of my mouth,” she laughs. “It makes everything better.” Moving forward with whatever artistic impulses a person has is important, Fuller says. “If you don’t use some of those creative suggestions, you lose them. Plus creativity can lead to total relaxation.” Fuller is a retired speech and language clinician in the Lead-Deadwood schools. She served eight years on the Lead City Commission and
UPLIFTING THE ARTS THROUGH MUSIC
M
ike and Judy Connor of Sioux Falls are familiar to music fans in the area as both educators and performers. Mike began performing when he was 13, and is a three-time South Dakota Rock and Rollers Hall of Fame inductee. Both Mike and Judy taught music, and for years they were involved with the beloved South Dakota Acoustic Christmas performances. In a sparsely-populated state, strong organizations like Arts South Dakota and the South Dakota Arts Council are important to the Connors, and their donations give them peace of mind that the arts will continue to flourish in South Dakota. “Judy was an intern with the South Dakota Arts Council and they supported me with a touring program early on,” Mike says. “Charlotte Carver (the first executive director of the South Dakota Arts Council) was very influential in our careers.” Now retired, Mike enjoys playing in The Shamrockers with musicians Boyd Bristow and Guy Gullickson. He also performs several gigs a year with fiddler Kenny Putnam, playing at festivals, reunions and crowded shows at the Levitt in Sioux Falls. This winter Connor and Putnam will perform a Christmas show titled “Fiddlers and Friends,” debuting in Watertown and Rapid City.
one term as mayor. She was instrumental in the preservation of the historic Homestake Opera House on Lead’s Main Street, and also spearheaded the charge to rebuild after the catastrophic opera house fire in 1984. She has served on many arts boards at the city, state and national levels. “Historic preservation is a celebration of the arts,” she says of her opera house efforts. “I believe in all the arts, and I hope we can expand the arts curriculum in every elementary and high school. People who are involved in the arts are more interesting and more interested in other things.”
