Past Exhibitions

This exhibition explores the vital work of art conservation — examining, documenting, treating and preventing the deterioration of artworks.

Biennial juried exhibition of some of South Dakota's best artworks and greatest artists (South Dakota Art Museum is the opening venue).

Paul Goble illustrations from his book, "Remaking the Earth: A Creation Story from the Great Plains of North America."
This exhibition displays works by Tim Peterson, inviting viewers into a world where light and shadow take center stage, offering a striking exploration of visual contrast.

"Creation.Story" engages audiences with Očhéthi Šakówiŋ oral traditions by incorporating artwork of 18 Lakota and Dakota artists.

This exhibition acknowledges the talent of and celebrates the contributions the artistic practices of several South Dakota women artists who lived and worked in the state in the early half of the twentieth century. These women shaped the creative landscape of South Dakota, having an impact far beyond the borders of the state.

This exhibition encourages views to slow down and take their time viewing the artwork on display.

Anila Quayyum Agha is internationally recognized for her award-winning, large-scale installations that use light, shadow and pattern to create immersive and shared experiences.

The title of Harvey Dunn’s quintessential prairie painting, "The Prairie is My Garden," serves as a springboard for this exhibition which considers the human connection to the land that we now know as South Dakota.

An educational art exhibition from the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS) centered on the eight days in September 1804 when the Corps of Discovery traveled up the Missouri River through Titonwanian Territory. Curated by Dr. Craig Howe.

Experience this immersive exhibition of large-scale blown glass ears of corn by farmer and renowned glass artist, Michael Meilahn. Explore the intersection of science, agriculture and art!

Selections of Termespheres ® by South Dakota artist, Dick Termes.

Featuring works by artists who have participated in the Stuart Artist in Residency (AiR) program at the şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ąapp School of Design.

Selections from the Collections to warm our hearts and souls.

Six decade retrospective of Signe Stuart's artworks.

Pairings of works by teachers and their students, including Harvey Dunn and Oscar Howe and their students.

Selections from the Collections including works by Harvey Dunn, Paul Goble and more.

South Dakota Art Museum curated exhibition of artworks by students of Oscar Howe and their students.

The acclaimed retrospective celebrating the lifeworks of Yanktonai Dakota artist Oscar Howe (1915 - 1983) culminates its national tour in Howe’s home state of South Dakota.

Paul Goble illustrations depicting birds.
Works acquired with funds from the South Dakota Art Museum Guild
Biennial juried exhibition of some of South Dakota’s best artworks and greatest artists (South Dakota Art Museum is the opening venue)

Figurative works from the Permanent Collections.
Buechel and Thorburn Collection works.
Curated by Rina Yoon and John Schuerman.

Works by Fundingsland, Henning, the Laymen’s Guild of the Church of Jesus, Rosebud, Luckhart, Bob H. Miller, Paolozzi and Wilke encourage us to linger.

This exhibition features Harvey Dunn's depictions of family and home in their various forms.
Discover old friends and new favorites as you peruse selections from the Museum's permanent collections.

Paul Goble illustrations depicting family.

Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies exhibit based on a traditional Lakotan narrative about White Buffalo Woman's gift of a sacred pipe to the Itazipco Oyate.

Paul Goble illustrations from "The Legend of the White Buffalo Woman."

A selection of smaller artworks from the permanent collection.

Drawn from the collection of the South Dakota Art Museum, Harvey Dunn: Decades shares a chronological selection of 4 - 5 works from all five decades of Harvey Dunn’s career.

A selection of works in this show, "11 Degrees of Tatanka," was created by the artist to honor the American bison, or buffalo, who, through the sacrifice of his body has sustained the body and spirit of generations of Oceti Sakowin people.

"Arc of Life" explores different phases of life captured in Paul Goble’s books and illustrations.

"Compelling Visions: Selections from the Willem and Diane Volkersz Contemporary American Folk Art Collection" includes a selection of pieces that Willem and Diane donated to the Missoula Art Museum.

The pieces contained in this show were produced over the past 25 years and draw upon the artist’s eight decades of life experience.

The sun is an important spiritual being in American Indian cosmologies. Revered by Plains Indians as a source of life and renewal, Goble’s suns and rays symbolize it’s power and importance as well as harmony and unity. This exhibition shares some of the illustrations in which Goble’s sun makes an appearance.

Martin Weinstein’s paintings are created on layers of transparent acrylic sheets. A single work is composed of several distinct views of the same location painted days, months, even years apart.

This series of floral silkscreens by Lowell Nesbitt (1933–1993) are drawn from the South Dakota Art Museum’s Cockerline Collection of fine art prints from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

They’re back! All the Dunns, 142 works, altogether in one gallery and on extended display in honor of our 50th anniversary.

Artworks in this exhibition joined the museum's collection between 2016 and 2021. Although recently acquired their dates of creation range from c. 1899–2019.

Stunning traditional American Indian artistry will be on display in this show of recent donations from Cathy and Ken Vogele.

This exhibition shares some of South Dakota’s best artworks and greatest artists at multiple exhibiting institutions across the state through the course of the one-year traveling show.

Recent acquisitions from current South Dakota State University faculty intermingle with past faculty. Works by former şŁ˝ÇÖ±˛Ąapp students intermingle with works from past solo exhibition artists.

This selection of illustrations by Paul Goble features multiple stories of people setting out on difficult journeys into the unknown, and the leap of faith required to do so.

In celebration of our 50th anniversary this collections retrospective will share acquisitions from each of the 50 years the South Dakota Art Museum has been in existence.

This exhibition celebrates Dunn’s desire to fully and deeply render truths about humanity.

This educational art exhibit from the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS) focuses on the articles of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty between the “different bands of the Sioux Nation of Indians” and the United States.

This exhibition celebrates the current practice of nonobjective abstraction in South Dakota through the works of eight of the state’s top artists.

This is an installation of Amir Fallah’s stained and fused glass portrait of an immigrant, "Offerings," housed in a domestic structure. It features audio recordings of American immigrants talking about what being an American means to them.

This inflatable sculptural installation by Billie Grace Lynn features a grouping of three life-sized inflatable white elephants.

Co-curated by John Schuerman and Katayoun Amjadi, 1 Roof 2 Airs shares the artwork of ten US-based artists with personal histories from countries experiencing conflict in the Greater Middle East.

Co-curated by Dr. Annemarie Sawkins and Enrico Mascelloni, Afghan War Rugs: The Modern Art of Central Asia brings to the United States one of the most distinct collections of Afghan war rugs in the world.

"Two Ways Down" is an installation pairing projected animation with thrown shadows cast from rotating paper dioramas.

Laura Heit employs stop-motion, live-action puppetry, hand drawing, and computer animation in the selection of short films on view.

"S.D. Nelson: Sharing My Vision" presents a selection of original artworks by this award-winning author and illustrator.

This traveling exhibit is a celebration of Goble’s life and career. The exhibit represents a small collection of his complete works but it provides visitors with the opportunity to enjoy artworks from different books and from different stages of his career.

Present in nearly half of Dunn works in our collection, fences, cows, plows and oxen were a common feature of the subsistence lifestyle that South Dakota's settlers relied on in the pioneering era of Dunn's youth. This exhibition celebrates these prairie paintings and the roots of South Dakota's agricultural heritage.

Jantje Visscher uses light energy as a drawing material, creating installations on the wall out of focused light and reflections. Marjolein Dallinga creates felted sculptures and wearable art of intricate pattern and rich texture and color. The drama of organic unfolding is alive in the works of both of these artists, and comes together in strikingly beautiful and surprising ways in this first ever joint exhibition.

This exhibition features Paul Goble’s illustrations of Iktomi stories. Iktomi is the Lakota name for the American Indian trickster, who appears in the stories of peoples all over the North American continent. He is famous for getting into mischief, causing trouble and never learning the lessons handed out to him.

These artworks from the South Dakota Art Museum Permanent Collection reflect elemental natural wave forms in their patterns and designs. More than just a design motif, many of these works speak to the spiritual qualities and connective potency of these forms and patterns.

The South Dakota Governor’s Biennial is designed “to recognize and encourage South Dakota artists, to promote the artistic identity of South Dakota, to celebrate the cultural and artistic heritage and future of South Dakota, and to encourage a larger sense of community and connection across separate artistic communities within the state.”

November 11, 2018 marks the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended combat in World War I. This exhibition commemorates the anniversary of the end of the war with a series of artworks created by celebrated South Dakota artist Harvey Dunn.

The title for this exhibit from the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies is one Lakota word: "Takuwe." In English: "Why." The focus of the exhibit is the 1890 massacre of Lakotas at Wounded Knee, but it doesn’t begin or end with the killings. Its intent is to begin with positives and to close with a call to action.

Curated by the National Basketry Organization in collaboration with the Museum of Art and Archaeology at the University of Missouri, ninety-three objects in this exhibition provide an historical overview of American basketry from its origins in Native American, immigrant and slave communities to its presence within the contemporary fine art world.

This exhibition of Paul Goble illustrations features stories of triumph and the heroes—both mortal and supernatural—who save the day.

This exhibition features illustrations by Harvey Dunn from the collection of the South Dakota Art Museum.

This exhibition, organized by Bedford Gallery in Walnut Creek, CA, presents a sprawling collection of international artworks in a variety of media that celebrates and re-envisions the lives of iconic superheroes.

This exhibition celebrates two legendary figures with tremendous significance to this museum and its encompassing communities in the university, city and state.

Museum Parking: Just west of the museum on Harvey Dunn Street (926 Harvey Dunn St. on GPS). Check in at the front desk for a parking pass.