Art Alley

Art Alley is an alleyway in Rapid City, SD. It began as a place for artists to paint or display their artwork. It was basically an outdoor gallery space that is constantly changing. There were/are mounted paintings, graffiti (positive), murals, wheat pasted drawings and sketches as well as sculptures on the walls, dumpsters and hanging from the power lines. This may be one of the most interesting areas to go hang out in Rapid City. It certainly was one of the most common areas to get senior pictures taken.

One of the fascinations with Art Alley is that it keeps changing.  You art gets painted over and you paint over other peoples work.  Your work falls down and the remains get used in another work.  The thing that I loved about trains was how they were always moving.  Art Alley is similar in the fact that it is always changing.

This creative space was quite controversial my senior year of highs school.  The city ended up taking control.  It was no longer the same community ran space as it was before.  There were some sad aspects to the city's new control.  But some of the positives included paving the road, having concerts, a free place to display positive artwork, and a community that is heavily influenced by art that is changing on a daily basis.

 Images from Awardspace.com

Some of my photographs of Art Alley.

Art Alley's MySpace