Found: Art Alley in Rapid City, South Dakota

Look what we found! Well, we didn’t really find it. Not like we discovered something that no one else has seen before, or that no one else knows about unless they’re part of some secret society.

Alas, we stumbled across something we didn’t previously know about. Hence, it has been found. Readers of this blog, welcome to Art Alley in Rapid City, South Dakota.

The best way to describe it is as a color explosion tucked inside an otherwise unassuming and quaint mid-size city.

As we had just finished up drinks and dinner at Firehouse Brewing Co., we decided to walk around a bit on our first night in town.

After turning a corner and walking down a side street…bam!

An entire city block-long alley of graffiti, street art, ramblings, scribblings, and more.

From the little-to-no research I did, I found that it was started when a couple people began painting there. After a while, it turned into an endorsed, legal free-for-all.

As you can see, everyone gets in on the action.

We didn’t have any paint on us and have no idea when one can actually paint here, but we did manage to get some vinyl out.

This alley now serves as an open art and exhibition space where installations and other art shows take place from time to time.

It also gives people total freedom of expression. We particularly like this inspired “The Black Hills Are Not For Sale” wheatpaste.

Unfortunately for the conviction behind it, the Black Hills were sold long, long ago to an onslaught of capitalism.

While some of the art is great, some just okay, some are merely tags, some are just some scribbles, and some can barely be called art at all, it was great to stumble across something so vastly different than what surrounds it.

It’s also always a nice feeling to know that people are given the opportunity to freely express themselves through artwork. Even more so in a space that doesn’t allow for hate due to misunderstanding or misplacement, as street art and graffiti are often subject to.

Art Alley in Rapid City, South Dakota, is located in the alley between Main St. and St. Joseph St., bordered by 6th St. and 7th St.

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Have you ever been to Rapid City, or visited Art Alley? Any thoughts about it? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!