As people travel across South Dakota, tourist attractions lure them in with such enticing things as petrified wood sculptures, animatronic cowboys,jackelopes and miniature Conestoga wagons. These attractions are sometimes dismissed as “tourist traps,” but Wall Drug, the Corn Palace, Kadoka Petrified Gardens, Reptile Gardens and other places are an iconic part of the South Dakota experience.
A new exhibit at the Fresh Produce Ipso Gallery in Sioux Falls called This Exit, Last Chance features pieces from favorite tourist stops in one place. The guest curator for the show is Altman Studeny, a founding member of South Dakotans for the Inclusive Arts. Studeny wants people to see the state's iconic tourism sites in a brand new light. "We want [the] work to be recognized as the artwork it really is," he says.
Studeny joined Dakota Midday to discuss the show with Ted Heeren, owner of Fresh Produce and host of the Rock Garden Tour.