The original Corn Palace, called "The Corn Belt Exposition" was
established in 1892. Early
settlers displayed the fruits
of their harvest on the building exterior in order to prove the
fertility of
South Dakota soil. The third
and present building was completed for it first festival at the present
location in 1921. The
exterior decorations are completely stripped down and new murals are
created
each year. The murals are
designed by local artists, Oscar Howe having been one. New materials
are applied to the building
with each mural depicting an important facet of the lifestyle of South
Dakota. These murals require
thousands of bushels of corn, grain, grasses, wild oats, brome
grass, blue grass, rye, straw
and wheat each year.
Wade Strand is the Product Grower for the Corn Palace. They use 12
different colors or shades of corn in the decorating processes. Rye,
Sour Dock, Grasses, and Milo are used in the trim work of the designs.
Each year they redecorate the World's Only Corn Palace. Each ear of
corn is cut in half lengthwise and nailed in place with an annual cost
of $130,000 to decorate.
The current (2009) Corn Palace artist is Cherie Ramsdell. Ramsdell is
an Associate Professor in the art department at Dakota Wesleyan
University. She taught for 14 years in Mitchell High School District
and was named the Mitchell School District Teacher-of-the-Year in 1994.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in graphic design.
Present Corn Palace constructed in 1921. The domes were placed on the
Palace in 1937.
