July 10, 2020
If you were rolling down Hwy 90 through southern South Dakota and you spied the largest bull head sculpture in the world could you possibly pass it up? I don’t think so!
Today rates pretty high on our list of great touristing days. We didn’t have far to drive, we stopped at no fewer than three “attractions” and pretty much geeked out as tourists having a great time seeing the sights of South Dakota.
Without a doubt however, the Porter Sculpture Park (http://portersculpturepark.com) was the crown jewel of this great day. Porter Sculpture Park is located in Montrose South Dakota – and obviously you can’t miss it if you are going west on 90. I had checked into staying at the park overnight on our trip as the park is also part of an organization we belong to called Harvest Hosts (http://harvesthosts.com). Members can stay for free at participating venues (wineries, breweries, farms, museums, etc.) but I just couldn’t work it into the schedule and, truth be told, it is just too hot here right now for me to camp without the air conditioner (#firstworldproblems! #poorprincess!).
Anyway, I had found the sculpture park on the Harvest Host website and if I couldn’t stay there, I definitely wanted to see it. When Dan alerted me to the bull head sculpture I nearly made him run off the road exclaiming “This is the sculpture park! This is the sculpture park!” Poor Dan didn’t have a clue what I was talking abouts but turned off the highway and we proceeded to search for the park’s driveway amidst the corn fields.
Beware the free range cows as you head to the park. The artist and owner Wayne Porter was there to greet us and tell us about the railroad tie plates he used to sculpt the cow head (I am pretty sure the horse is made from the same thing). The charge to get in is $10 per adult $5 child. A walk in this park is well worth your tourist dollars.
I believe our perception of some of these pieces could be skewed because the “gallery” they are being viewed in is the outdoors and simply comparing their size to the sky doesn’t work very well. But walking among these pieces you realized just how impressive they are, some of these pieces are truly monumental in size.
There, that should help!
The park is something of a field that has been mostly reclaimed from the cows and is well kept. Watch your step though, there are some older cow pies around and little flags marking the holes that have been dug by some sort of ground squirrel or another. It looks like a small prairie dog – they were pretty cute but kept startling me when they charged between stands of tall grass. Also among the sculpture is old farming equipment and lovely flowers.
Not only is Wayne Porter a sculpture, but he is a poet as well. All along the trails of the parks are handwritten (and printed) poetry of his writing. Some are silly, some are biting, some are poignant. Some seemed to pertain to the sculpture they were near, others were just thoughts written down as art. All were an unexpected and an excellent addition to the exhibit.
I liked this particular grouping with the action between the dog and the boar.
I can’t end this post without photos of the fan-tailed goldfish sculptures. I have a weak spot for these fish in all forms of art and these did not disappoint.
Visiting Porter Sculpture Park was some food for my soul today. It felt so good to be surrounded by art again, (I can’t remember the last time I was able to visit an art museum!) to be awed and inspired by another human’s creations along with a walk in the fresh air combined all the elements of a perfect day come alive on the prairie.
Travels with Gidget 