Living Map: What Grows When We Gather
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The Rapid City Arts Council (RCAC) is proud to announce an interactive art exhibition, Living Map: What Grows When We Gather, created by Rapid City artist Sophia Clarke in response to a “hopes for the hills” call for art sponsored by the Black Hills Area Community Foundation for its 20th Anniversary. The exhibition will be on display in the Denise Du Broy and Inez + Milton Shaver Gallery of the Dahl Arts Center from October 9 to December 26, 2026 with an interactive opening reception on October 9 from 4 to 6pm.
The exhibition is a large-scale interactive installation that invites Black Hills community members to become co-authors within the artwork itself. While exploring a living landscape painted on silk panels, visitors will be invited to consider questions such as “What has created hope for you in this place?” “What will foster hope here for the next twenty years?” “What have you planted here?” and pin their responses to a topographic map of the Black Hills. Over 11 weeks, the map will accumulate with the community’s collective reflections.
‘The people who walk through this space are not just visitors. They are the living material of the work itself, and what they plant here will outlast the exhibition,” Clarke wrote in her proposal.
About Sophia Clarke
Sophia Clarke is a visual artist and educator based in Rapid City, South Dakota (Pennington County). She holds a Bachelor of Education from Black Hills State University (2023), majoring in Art and English, and works across painting, modified wax resist technique, mixed media, and digital print. She has been exhibited at the Matthews Opera House and the Dahl Arts Center on multiple occasions. She completed an artist residency at Sylvan Lake, South Dakota.
The RCAC will host What Grows When We Gather: A Community Night to celebrate the exhibition opening on October 9, 2026 from 4-6pm. This will be a night for our community to collaborate, reflect, and interact with the questions in What Grows When We Gather. Breadroot Natural Foods Co-Op will serve locally sourced snacks for visitors on a What Grows Here table. Come as you are!
The exhibition is a large-scale interactive installation that invites Black Hills community members to become co-authors within the artwork itself. While exploring a living landscape painted on silk panels, visitors will be invited to consider questions such as “What has created hope for you in this place?” “What will foster hope here for the next twenty years?” “What have you planted here?” and pin their responses to a topographic map of the Black Hills. Over 11 weeks, the map will accumulate with the community’s collective reflections.
‘The people who walk through this space are not just visitors. They are the living material of the work itself, and what they plant here will outlast the exhibition,” Clarke wrote in her proposal.
About Sophia Clarke
Sophia Clarke is a visual artist and educator based in Rapid City, South Dakota (Pennington County). She holds a Bachelor of Education from Black Hills State University (2023), majoring in Art and English, and works across painting, modified wax resist technique, mixed media, and digital print. She has been exhibited at the Matthews Opera House and the Dahl Arts Center on multiple occasions. She completed an artist residency at Sylvan Lake, South Dakota.
The RCAC will host What Grows When We Gather: A Community Night to celebrate the exhibition opening on October 9, 2026 from 4-6pm. This will be a night for our community to collaborate, reflect, and interact with the questions in What Grows When We Gather. Breadroot Natural Foods Co-Op will serve locally sourced snacks for visitors on a What Grows Here table. Come as you are!
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Where is it happening?
Dahl Arts Center, 713 7th St,Rapid City, South Dakota, United States
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.
Host or PublisherDahl Arts Center
