Art Alley has a new mural! On the second Fridays through the summer months, Rapid City Arts Council organizes " Art Night Downtown" to bring businesses and arts together for an interactive creative experience. Visitors and locals alike will discover a cultural surprise around every corner as they walk throughout downtown visiting businesses and enjoying our creative community. 
As an Art Night Downtown activity on August 13th, 2021, Josie Weiland, Rapid City Arts Council's communications coordinator and Art Alley Guild chairperson has painted a mural. 
"Dragon Fruits are just a captivating, funky fruit. Nobody can walk by and not notice this pink crazy energy when they stroll down Art Alley! I hope it brings awareness to the RCAC and our public art project" Weiland said about her mural. Go check it out downtown!

Come check out the newest work in Art Alley from over the summer! Artists have been busy creating, expressing, and advocating through their work. 

Alley Revive October 17th - 19th, 2019
brought together artists from Denver CO, Fargo ND, Oklahoma, and multiple artists locally. Creating an event that wove the strength of community collaboration from numerous businesses, photographers, and artists alike. KOTA news and Rapid City Now covered the event. But more importantly people were able to come out and live enjoying the beautifying quality any art gives to life, together.

Multi-media artist Nada Todo in a creative twist painted one of her own photographs in Art Alley. Creating a relief from all the color surrounding it.  

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​Come out and celebrate the unveiling of Delaena Rae UsesKnife's winning mural at Art Alley, Friday, October 11, at 11:30 a.m.

This is the final part in our four part series on the Art Alley permit system.

​Part 4. Who can judge what art is?

So let’s take a minute to address the elephant in the room - What is art, and who has the audacity to judge it? (Gasp…)
 
Art is whatever you would like to define it as, but that isn’t what this debate is about. For the purposes of this discussion it doesn’t matter what art is or isn’t, what matters is where you put it and, if it is on private property, you need to consider and respect the rights of the property owner. Freedom of speech is indeed a beautiful thing, but we don’t have the right to use someone else’s property without their consent in that expression. If it is something they don’t wish to support you on, you haven’t lost your voice, you just need to find a different avenue to be heard, whether that means building your own canvas, or just finding a different way to say what you have to say. Artists, since the beginning of time, have used their art to make bold statements about society by being clever instead of vulgar or using blunt aggression.
 
Yes, the new Art Alley Permit System will change creative spontaneity in the Alley, and changes like that can be difficult. However, we need to understand the greater scope of this conversation. Do you want a little change to the space that will hopefully make it stronger and more sustainable, or do you want a big change and have the entire project dismantled and whitewashed? Those are the only two options left on the table.
 
We believe in the importance of this space, and its ability to transform our community, touch people, and change lives. It has changed some of ours, and that is why we are here, ready to do the difficult work ahead to keep this place around for the next generation, but we need you to be a part of this. 
 
There will be a public reception at the Dahl Arts Center to discuss, dream, and pave a future for Art Alley on Tuesday, April 12th from 5:30-7pm. We hope you’ll join us.

Over the next four days, we will be providing detailed information about how the Art Alley permit system works, and why it came to be.

Part 3. How It Works.

​Here’s how the Art Alley Permit System works -
There are three different classifications, and one of these classifications will be posted on each building in Art Alley for clarification.

1. PAINTING PROHIBITED. A few building owners have opted to pull out of Art Alley entirely. It is our hope that with effort and cooperation from the community they will eventually engage in the creative process again. However, we will honor and support their request.
2. PAINTING PERMIT REQUIED. CONTACT BUILDING OWNER. Some Owners want to meet the artists, some will even ask for a design concept. It will be the Owners perogative to grant the artist permission to paint.
3. PAINTING PERMIT REQUED. CONTACT RAPID CITY ARTS COUNCIL. Some Owners do not want or have the time to be directly involved with the artists and have asked the RCAC to facilitate the process on their behalf.

Once granted permission by the Owners or RCAC (as determined by building signage), all artists will need to complete the following steps to obtain a free permit.

1. Bring written permission to the Dahl Arts Center, Kansas City entrance and ask for Tyler Read or Naomi Even-Aberle.
2. Provide identification to be kept on record in case of damages or improper use of Permit.
3. Review the guidelines for painting in Art Alley.
4. Sign a liability waive, to protect themselves and the Owners.
5. Display Permit at all times while creating in Art Alley.

 
That is the Art Alley Permit System in a nutshell. It’s not a secret plot to take your artistic expression away. It’s not a power grab, and it’s not about money. It’s about keeping a public art space alive and finding new ways for it to flourish.
 
Some argue that permits will not stop vandals from destroying artwork and private property in Art Alley. To some extent, that is correct. Art Alley is a public space and there are no guarantees. However, permit systems have worked in other communities to reduce incidents of vandalism in a public areas, and it can work in Rapid City.
 
The Art Alley Permit System will provide clear guidelines to anyone interested in utilizing the space creatively, and will support law enforcement efforts by clearly distinguishing artists from vandals.  

Check back tomorrow for the next piece in our four part series about the permit system, and please join us for a public reception with artists, business and building owners for the permit system on Tuesday, April 12th from 5:30-7pm at The Dahl Arts Center.