The last information I have regarding the amount the state spends on the arts is .08% of the total budget.  I sympathize with Governor Rounds in having to “tighten belts” or whatever the phrase is these days.  However, I don’t think he or most of the legislators know how much the arts contribute to the State of South Dakota.  The most obvious reason being that the very symbol of the state; appearing on the license plate and bringing in millions of tourist dollars is in fact a work of art itself.  Ask any schoolchild (or anyone from out of state) what is special about South Dakota, and the first thing (or maybe the only thing) they say is: Mount Rushmore National Memorial.  The fact that this monument was sculpted by an artist seems a given by most people.  Artists such as Mr Borglum need to be trained and schooled if any more such works are to be accomplished in South Dakota and the potential here in the Black Hills is enormous.  I have only been here 3 years and I continue to be impressed with the quality and commitment of the painters, sculptors, craftspeople, musicians and writers who live here in the Black Hills area.  These artists spend money and create wealth through sales, equipment, supplies, and use of venues for their work.  Any money spent on them will return 10 fold in my opinion.  Don Jones

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 11:25 am and is filed under community, controversial, econ development, sculpture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.