** This is my 100 "first to review" - Getting it all into Yelp one new review at a time…read more..
To say this is off the beaten path is an understatement. You will likely need to read a good old fashioned map, or GPS to find this place. But, once found, well worth it. I found it because I saw a sign )(Granery Sculpture Garden) by the side of the road, and a few miles further another sign, and since I have yet to regret a detour, off I went. One way in is a more or less gravel road, so be prepared to go slowly and carefully if you find yourself heading in that way.
This is a small sculpture garden in South Dakota. Its connected to a museum in Aberdeen - the Dacotah Prairie Museum.
http://www.dacotahprairiemuseum.com/granary/about.html
There are a number of outdoor sculptures that "tell the story" of the plains Indians, the settlers coming west and more. Its well designed, the path leads you through it the right way without any thought on your part.
There are two buildings, one is a museum/store I believe (it was closed when I was there), the other is a community space where students and local area people can display their artwork as well as create it. That building was open and its quite nice to see the artwork.
About the Granary - from their website.
The Granary Rural Cultural Center is a unique gathering place for people to celebrate the culture and art of the Northern Plains. The 2.3 acre campus is located in rural Brown County, South Dakota, in the heart of the fertile James River Valley, one of the greatest grain producing regions in the US.
The park-like campus includes the Granary Memorial Gallery, a 1928 wooden granary converted into five art exhibition rooms; Putney Hall, a restored 1912 town hall moved to the campus in 1996; a gazebo with seating for 40 and an outdoor barbeque pit.
The Granary's "Walk with Dakota" interpretive landscape and sculpture garden tells the story of the region's Native American people and the coming of the white settlers searching for a brighter future as they claimed thousands of acres of free land in Dakota Territory. The purpose of the Walk is to examine the relationship between humans the the Dakota environment through art, landforms, and natural vegetation.
Click here to view the Granary Campus Self-Guided Tour brochure
John Sieh, Granary founder, once said about his vision for the cultural center "We want to celebrate the land and the animals and the people who live here through the arts. We think the fact that it's rural--and very rural--is what makes it unique."
Mr. Sieh and his family donated the Granary to the people of Brown County in the spring of 2012. The Dacotah Prairie Museum, a longtime program partner of the Granary, has accepted responsibility for maintaining the Granary, its campus, its programs, and its purpose for the benefit of the public.
The Granary Logo was designed by artists at Northern State University in Aberdeen, SD, and is a visual tribute to the land, agriculture, wildlife, water, sky and the native people of the Northern Plains.
