Unique Creative Expressions on America's Prairie
Each one of us is a passionate artist as we express our tastes, styles and talents in creative ways. Yours may be sleuthing for ancestors to add to your family tree. Crafting exquisite wooden bowls or quilts or furniture. Taking photos of birds and sunsets. Painting landscapes. Preparing a delicious meal or baking mouth-watering desserts. Or restoring classic cars, to name a few.
On our recent journey across the MidWest, my husband and I happened upon several unique and impressive examples of creative expression. They ranged from the whimsical to the majestic.
CORN PALACE, Mitchell, South Dakota
Murals created with corn? Each of the richly depicted scenes on the Corn Palace’s exterior walls is created entirely with naturally colored corn, other grains and native grasses. This amazing tribute to the area’s prominent crop started in 1892 when the Corn Palace was built for residents and rural neighbors to celebrate the end of the growing season with a grand festival.
Each year a new theme is selected and the murals are redecorated. The 2025 theme is Wonders of the World. Among the murals are the Statue of Liberty, the Taj Mahal and Christ the Redeemer.
Corn cobs are individually nailed to the building to create the mural scenes. Most of us are familiar only with the yellow, white or bi-color corn we eat. Yet corn comes in a surprising number of colors. The palace currently uses 12 different colors of corn to decorate the murals, including blue, green and calico.
The Corn Palace truly is the “folk art wonder on the prairie of South Dakota.”
DIGNITY OF EARTH AND SKY, Chamberlain, South Dakota
On a bluff overlooking the Missouri River, a 50-foot high stainless steel statue towers near the site called Camp Pleasant where the Lewis & Clark Expedition took respite in 1805 from its arduous journey exploring the territory of the Louisiana Purchase. Sacagawea, a Lemhi Shoshone woman, accompanied the expedition for thousands of miles. She helped them establish cultural contact with tribal nations and contributed to their knowledge of plants and wildlife along the way.
The sculpture, titled Dignity of Earth and Sky, depicts an indigenous woman in Plains-style dress holding a star quilt, decorated with more than 100 blue diamond shapes that sparkle in sunlight. It honors the culture of the Lakota and Dakota peoples.
This stunning statue is the artistic expression of South Dakota artist laureate Dale Claude Lamphere.
CARHENGE, Alliance, Nebraska
What do you do if you can’t go to England’s Stonehenge on the Summer Soltice? Go to Carhenge!
It’s definitely unique. Instead of building Carhenge out of huge, heavy stones, its creator, Jim Reinders, chose to use 39 vintage cars to represent Stonehenge’s 39 stones.
But why build it?
As the story goes, while living in England, Reinders became enthralled with the design of Stonehenge, the archeological site of a prehistoric circle of stones on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England
As a memorial to his father, he copied Stonehenge’s design and placement in alignment with the sun and built Carhenge. It consists of a circle of 39 cars painted gray, three standing trilithons within the circle, the heel stone, slaughter stone, and two station stones. The project was completed in 1987.
Since then, additional car sculptures have been erected on the site‘s Car Art Reserve. Among them is Reinder’s “Fourd Seasons” comprised of Fords and inspired by Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” the “Spawning Salmon,” and a life-sized metal dinosaur skeleton. Local people have also contributed time capsules, or Car-sales to the site.
Jim Reinders gave Carhenge and 10 acres of ground to the Friends of Carhenge, a local group of dedicated people who preserved and maintained it until October of 2013 when it was gifted to the City of Alliance.
GOING HOG WILD, Fairmount, Minnesota
Hog statues galore decorate the sidewalks of Fairmount’s Downtown Plaza. And dozens of them accent other areas of Fairmount, as well as other towns and locations in Martin County.
This artistic project honors the county’s standing as the largest pork-producing county in Minnesota.
Many of the hog statues’ names are as creative as the painted statues themselves. Paisley Pork, Crisp P. Bacon, Rocky Pigasso, and Nacho Pig, to name a few.
My favorite hog statue is Dancing Queen. Her ruby red lips, tutu and ballerina slippers tickle my fancy and make me giggle.