Learning a valuable lesson from history
By Pat Boyd, Executive Director, South Dakotans for the Arts
 

Looking for rays of hope in the sun dogs on the horizon of a dangerously cold winter, with recession and depression encroaching, Governor Rounds invoked the “realistic optimism” of legendary Governor Peter Norbeck in his State of the State address in January. The great statesman of the last century had faith in us, the future generations of South Dakotans, and now we must prevail for the sake of our own future generations.

In his State of the State address, Rounds called on the Legislature and the people of South Dakota to face up to the widening economic recession by summoning our spirit of cooperation and our history of coming out ahead of challenges.  We are a hardy and ingenious lot, he believes. We will not only prevail, but “survive and prosper”, as we have in hard times past. The Legislature can lead us over this rough road by “keeping the right priorities” and then “funding them as well as we are able”.

That last sentence, fellow arts advocates, is our call to reason and action. Help them to recall that Peter Norbeck had his priorities too, and willed them to us. He would have us heed his surprising declaration, that “I would rather be remembered as an artist than as a United States Senator.” Holding a series of the highest elected offices of our state from 1909-1936, he led South Dakotans through challenge after challenge. It was not an easy time; we boomed and busted to boom and bust and boom again. He never lost an election, and he never lost his convictions about what is important, nor his vision of the future for South Dakota.

Norbeck was an artist on a grand scale; his love of natural beauty brought him to national prominence in park and conservation legislation.  The Federal Migratory Bird Act, the establishment of Custer State Park and Badlands National Park, and the Mt. Rushmore Memorial are among his most revered accomplishments.  An early advocate of creating a great national shrine to democracy on the mountain, he became the friend of sculptor Gutzom Borglum. To seal his bid for federal support, Norbeck brought President Coolidge out to launch the project at a formal opening ceremony. Peter Norbeck was closely involved in designing Iron Mountain Road, with its three rock tunnels framing spectacular views of Mt. Rushmore.  A newspaper of the day called him “a leader in the development of a new form of art. In laying out these magnificently beautiful roads, he pioneered in the framing of natural scenery for the public.  He found great pictures in nature and gave them to the world by building roads to them.”

This history lesson is thought provoking, at a time when people don’t like to think about what might happen next. Let’s do think about it. Let’s encourage our children to think about it, to change the predictable course of history with an embrace of imagination worthy of Peter Norbeck. Let’s encourage our Legislators as well, to be mindful of our priorities and our heritage if we are to muster that ingenuity and spirit we are all counting on to move us forward once again. The arts are intrinsic to our well-being, and hard-working elements of education, communities, health and social services, tourism, industry and commerce. We have to be diligent in protecting their functions in each of these areas – that is our priority as citizen advocates for the arts in this austere political season. It will be the difference between being grim and determined and being determined to prosper.

President Obama also invokes realistic optimism, hope. His economic stimulus package includes a $50 million increase for the National Endowment for the Arts, and addresses positively each of nine points of interest proposed by Americans for the Arts. These proposals are in the national interest, but can engender tremendous developments in states as well. States like South Dakota, where we have just begun to explore the possibilities, keeping the faith. Read the summary, think about those possibilities and voice your support:  advocacy@artsusa.org.

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The South Dakota Arts Council is undergoing its own transition, as Dennis Holub gently retires – he will stay on as consultant during the SDAC’s spring grant making – and Michael Pangburn gracefully assumes his office. We are eternally grateful to both for their dedication, professionalism and sensibility.