Friday, July 16, 2010

Corn Palace

You ask "Corn Palace" . Well it sits in Mitchell, South Dakota. We were driving past and Dau #2 says- I have seen that on "Ripleys Believe It or Not", We must go see. So we make a turn off the interstate and we go see. It's a building adorned in all types of corn cobs! Actually very interesting. I don't know what I expected to see. but here it is. Much larger in life! At the end of this post is a little something from their site.
The whole town seems to be fascinated with corn! In the background is the Palace



Inside the palace are many treasures one could purchase. All corn related! This id the corn man of course!




The Christmas Tree with ornaments made of corn cobs. And the kiddos being corny!


AH yes, corn hats, At first I thought they were the "cheese hats" till I looked further!

You can in the background some of the more recent murals made from corn. Every year they have a different motif.




See the duck made from corn of differing varieties!



This is how the artists block out a mural to actually make the entire picture.


The Corn Palace is a multi-purpose arena/facility located in Mitchell, South Dakota. It is a popular tourist destination, visited by more than 500,000 people each year.[1] The Moorish Revival building is decorated with Crop art; the murals and designs covering the building are made from corn and other grains. It also hosts the home basketball games of Dakota Wesleyan University and the Mitchell High School Kernels.
History
The original Mitchell Corn Palace (known as "The Corn Belt Exposition") was built in 1892 to showcase the rich soil of South Dakota and encourage people to settle in the area. It was a wooden castle structure on Mitchell's Main Street. In 1904–1905, the city of Mitchell mounted a challenge to the city of Pierre in an unsuccessful attempt to replace it as the state capital of South Dakota. As part of this effort, the Corn Palace was rebuilt in 1905. In 1921 the Corn Palace was rebuilt once again, with a design by the architectural firm Rapp and Rapp of Chicago. Moorish domes and minarets were added in 1937, giving the Palace the distinctive appearance that it has today. It costs $130,000 to decorate the Palace annually.
The exterior corn murals are replaced and redesigned each year with a new theme. The designs are created by local artists. From 1948 to 1971 the artist Oscar Howe designed the panels. Calvin Schultz designed the murals from 1977 to 2002. Since 2003, the murals have been designed by Cherie Ramsdell. No new mural was created in 2006 due to an extreme drought.[2]
Besides being a tourist attraction, the Corn Palace also serves the local community as a venue for concerts, sports events, exhibits and other community events. Each year, the Corn Palace is celebrated with a citywide festival, the Corn Palace Festival. Historically it was held at harvest time in September, but recently it has been held at the end of August. Other popular annual events include the Corn Palace Stampede Rodeo (in July) and the Corn Palace Polka Festival (in September). It is also home to the Dakota Wesleyan University Tigers and the Mitchell High School Kernels basketball teams.


10 comments:

Sandee said...

What a fun place. I'd like to visit as well. Have fun. :)

Carver said...

What a fun post and place. I enjoyed it.

secret agent woman said...

Corn. One of those things that would be a lot of fun to visit, but not sure about actually living there.

Virginia Gal said...

I love it! You guys really got to see America!

Gill - That British Woman said...

what a neat place. That duck picture is so neat. That was a very interesting post.

Gill in Canada

Iowa Gardening Woman said...

The corn parlance is just one state away from me, I have always meant to get there but have not made it yet. Nice photos.

Rambling Woods said...

This was a very corny post..lol.. Love the family photo...

Patty said...

We went to Mitchell's Corn Palace back in 1967. That's been quite a while ago.

sandy said...

hahaha the girls look so happy and "corny"... cute post. Never heard of this place.

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