Programs
Public Art
One of the most visible aspects of the work at the Hill City Arts Council is the public art we have helped to put in our community.
Our first public art project occurred thanks to sculptor Peggy Detmers, renowned for her work on “Tatanka, the Story of the Bison,” a 17-piece, larger-than-life monument just outside Deadwood. Peggy Detmers created “Patriarch,” the bison sculpture that welcomes visitors into the heart of Hill City. The sculpture project required years of work, both for Peggy and for the Arts Council, which partnered with the community’s Heart of the Hills Economic Development Corporation to raise the funds. After installation, the sculpture was donated by HCAC to the City.
The second public art piece we are proud to own is John Lopez’s “Iron Star,” a hybrid-metal sculpture that sits on Main Street in Hill City. “Iron Star” has received waves of praise from far across the region, and indeed the sculpture has been called “the most photographed horse in South Dakota.”
Art for Hill City Youth
The Hill City Arts Council believes it is essential to support artistic endeavors in our school classrooms and local youth organizations. We do this in various ways, including:
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Providing grants to our school music programs to purchase band instruments, new choir folders, or scholarships for band camp
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Helping local youth organizations like the Boys & Girls Club bring arts experiences and creative programming to their members
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Awarding an annual scholarship to a student pursuing the arts in higher education
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Striving to include a program for youth in each Hill City Arts Council event
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Kids crafts-sculpting and leather work at the Fine Arts in the Hills
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Kids crafts-quilt design, coloring and wool needle felting for kids at the Hill City Quilt Show
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Donations to the art teacher to provide supplies for the students
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Donation to the Missoula Children's Theatre where 100 of our local students get to participate and perform on stage.
Arts-in-education is important to our mission. Creative schooling from K-12 assists students in thinking better, testing better, being more successful in college, and winning more powerful and interesting jobs. The arts help students- even “non-art students”- to be smarter, more creative thinkers.
