Arts

In May, South Dakota singer/songwriter Jami Lynn joined the JAS Quintet for the concert series Lady Day: The Life and Blues of Billie Holiday. Although Lynn is best known for her work in folk and Americana, the performances with the Sioux Falls-based combo gave her the opportunity to show her jazz chops. 

In The Moment ... August 24, 2017 Show 163 Hour 2

What makes a city thrive in 2017? Hani Shafai is the president of Dream Design International. He joins us to talk about development in the private sector in Rapid City. It’s a conversation about affordable housing, how a new generation lives and works, and overcoming hardship.

Dr. Richard Holm is the Prairie Doc. See his program on SDPB-TV. Today we talk about eye health.

In The Moment ... August 11, 2017 Show 154 Hour 1

What draws you to American roots music? What draws you into deeper relationship with other human beings? Musicians Dennis James and Lauryn Shapter find inspiration in the brokenness and vulnerability of humanity.

In The Moment ... August 4, 2017 Show 149 Hour 1

The 2017 Folk Off winner for the Sioux River Folk Fest is Lil’ Red and the Medicated Moose Band. They're a married musical couple and they're joining us live from our studios at the University of South Dakota for this week's Moment in Sound. They play at Sioux River Folk Fest in Canton tonight at 6 p.m.

In The Moment ... July 25, 2017 Show 141 Hour 2

Today marks a landmark vote in the Senate regarding health insurance in America. This morning we caught up with Senator John Thune for details on what exactly today's procedural vote means and what happens in the days ahead.

In The Moment ... July 11, 2017 Show 131 Hour 1

In The Moment ... June 27, 2017 Show 123 Hour 2

As more than half the state faces drought conditions, the impact reveals itself in often unexpected ways. We begin hour two of the program by welcoming South Dakota Secretary of Agriculture Mike Jaspers.

Since 1974, more than 200 South Dakotans have been inducted into the South Dakota Hall of Fame. Today we welcome 2017 Hall of Fame inductee Harvey Wollman. His life in public service to the state includes time as a state senator, president of the senate, Lt. Governor and Governor.

In The Moment ... June 26, 2017 Show 122 Hour 1

Dee Dee Raap is a business consultant, motivational speaker, and author. Her book Journey Words offers strategies for great customer service. She joins us for a conversation about self-care and service.

In The Moment ... June 2, 2017 Show 106 Hour 1

If you're in Spearfish tonight you can head over to the False Bottom Bar to hear today's first guest. Dan McGuinness plays immediately following Downtown Friday Night. He also tours with Credence Clearwater Revisited through September. But first, he joins us for Moment in Sound.

In The Moment ... April 13, 2017 Show 071 Hour 2

We continue with Hour Two of “The Shift.” SDPB’s Lee Strubinger looks at legislative solutions to changing demographics in South Dakota, focusing on Build South Dakota program as it celebrates its first graduates.

In The Moment ... March 1, 2017 Show 040 Hour 1

We begin our program with SDPB’s political reporter Lee Strubinger. Today he explains Senate Bill 54 as it makes its way through the state legislature. It’s a measure intended to rework the state’s campaign finance requirements.

The South Dakota Oral Interpretation Festival competition begins Friday. The event brings together the top qualifying high school oral interp speakers in the state. Parker High School oral interp coach Cindy Froiland shares her thoughts on the benefits of an oral interpretation program and how it fits into the overall arts programming in the state. This segment also features Parker High School junior Josie Holzwarth.

This week Congress passed an act to spur tribal tourism and increase support for tribal art.    The act boosts federal funding and resources for native artists and tribal entrepreneurs.

The bill aims to increase the number of native owned art and tourism based businesses. 

The Off-Broadway Women's Project Theater is the  oldest and largest theater company that promotes women artists in the US. In business since 1978, the organization celebrates and incubates projects by theater artists who might never otherwise be heard.

Lisa McNulty is in her second year as producing artistic director for the theater. She joins Dakota Midday to talk about the industry and about how women should resist waiting for permission before producing their own creative work.

The 3rd Annual Trading Stories Film Festival is taking place in Chadron, Nebraska this week. We stopped by on opening night to view this year’s key event – the premiere of the Nebraska Public TV production “Medicine Woman”.

Christine Lesiask is co-producer of the documentary film “Medicine Woman”.

Rolling Rez Arts, a bus that has a bank, business center and art classroom, is gearing up for a busy summer. The bus crisscrosses the Pine Ridge Reservation, stopping in each community. This week it made a stop in Rapid City.

Gus Yellow hair is an artist and also bus driver for Rolling Rez Arts. Today on the bus, he’s joined by his granddaughter.  

“My t'akója her Lakota name is (speaking Lakota), Growling Bear Woman, she carries the name of her grandmother, who has since passed on,” says Yellow Hair.

After dedicating a new sports and wellness center this past month, Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell is now focusing on the arts. The school is planning a $1 million project to build a new theater.

Plans for a new Dakota Wesleyan facility include a black box theater, classrooms, and faculty offices. Lori Essig is the vice president of marketing and communications at Dakota Wesleyan. She says the new theater will replace one of the oldest buildings on campus.

A new installment in a downtown Rapid City park aims to recognize the history of Lakota, Dakota and Nakota people in this region and highlight contributions of 20th century Native Americans.

 The First Nations Sculpture Garden has broken ground in Halley Park in the center of Rapid City and organizers are now working toward their fundraising goal in order to finish the project.

Rebecca Cruse discusses the role of the South Dakota Arts Council ... how artists can apply for  grants, how grant money infuses the state with quality arts programming, and what state residents might not know about the Arts Council.

Paintings by Wesley May, a Red Lake Chippewa from Northern Minnesota, are now on exhibit at the Sioux Indian Museum in Rapid City. SDPB’s Victoria Wicks spoke with May at the show’s opening this weekend, one of many events held to observe Native American Day and the Black Hills Powwow. May tells Wicks his art flows from within and celebrates the positive turn his life has taken.
The Sioux Indian Museum is housed in the Journey Museum in Rapid City. Wesley May’s paintings are on exhibit until Dec. 3.

A reviewer for No Depression magazine wrote that If Natalie Merchant and Neil Young were to form a band, the result wouldn’t be distant from Sweet Wednesday’s harmonious mélange of folk, country, and roots rock.

Milwaukee Guitarist Greg Koch is admired for his astounding chops as well as his versatility. He plays a variety of styles: rock, blues, country, jazz and more. Koch has described his approach as “Chet Hendrix meeting the Kings (BB, Albert and Freddie) at the first annual Zeppelin-Holdsworth Coffee Guzzlers Hoedown.”

But there’s more to his playing than just his phenomenal skills and talent. Guitar Player magazine says he also has the feel, the groove, the swing and the soul that draws you in and keeps you there.

 Joe West and the Sinners was one of many alt-country bands in Austin, Texas in the late 90s. It was more offbeat than most, though, with songs about dream tractors, chasing UFOs in Roswell, and NPR-listening trailer park liberals. The band's 1998 album, Jamie Was a Boozer, was acclaimed by Austin critics as a masterpiece and one of the best CDs of the year.

In his new book of historical fiction set in 1894, And the Wind Whispered, author Dan Jorgensen takes real-life legends like Buffalo Bill, Seth Bullock, Theodore Roosevelt, Annie Oakley, John Philip Sousa and a young Will Rogers and puts them together in the southern Black Hills. They all play a role as a trio of teens tries to solve the mystery of what happened to a man found dead in Wind Cave. Meanwhile, there's also the mystery of missing Homestake gold and an outlaw gang terrorizing the area.

Vermillion’s National Music Museum is home to the world’s earliest known cello. But this summer the the 16th century Amati 'King' cello is on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Given its rarity and value, the stringed instrument rarely leaves South Dakota.

Since July 1, Lee Ann Roripaugh has been South Dakota's new poet laureate. She was appointed by Governor Dennis Daugaard and succeeds David Allan Evans who served the state for more than a dozen years.

Brian Masek is back at Sioux Falls JazzFest this year. His band, Brian Masek and Friends, performs Friday evening on the main stage.

The group plays an energetic and often danceable style of jazz that also combines elements of rock, blues and funk. Masek played in rock bands like Ivory, Closet Monster, Leghorn and the Toby Kane Band before becoming intrigued with the improvisational aspects of jazz.