Over the past few years, gallery openings in the Black Hills have started spreading beyond the usual downtown art walk rhythm. A geodesic dome outside Spearfish is reopening for the season. A new gallery is opening its doors in Hill City during the town’s 150th anniversary celebration. In Hot Springs, artists are gathering around work that asks people to think about land and the body at the same time.
Summer Kick-Off Weekend at the Termesphere Gallery
Summer hours officially begin Friday at the Termesphere Gallery, where more than 50 rotating Termespheres hang inside the dome just outside Spearfish. The gallery will be open May 22 through 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with free admission all weekend.
Each sphere is painted by Dick Termes using six-point perspective, turning every piece into a full environment rather than a single framed image. Visitors move through architectural interiors, surreal spaces, geometric experiments, and impossible viewpoints while the paintings slowly rotate overhead.
The gallery is also continuing its virtual reality experience this season, giving visitors the chance to step inside the paintings themselves.
Grand Opening for Face The Storm
Hill City’s 150th anniversary weekend will also include the grand opening celebration for Face The Storm on Saturday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.
The opening will feature performances by Robi Yellowhawk and family, followed by flute music from Sequoia Crosswhite. The event adds another creative space to Hill City’s already growing mix of galleries, studios, and artist-run storefronts.
LAND / BODY Opening Reception at Art House – Hot Springs
Saturday evening, Art House in Hot Springs hosts the opening reception for LAND / BODY, this year’s Spring Exhibition, from 5 to 7 p.m.
The exhibition runs through July 8 and brings together artists responding to ideas connected to landscape, physical presence, memory, and environment. Saturday’s reception includes light fare and a wine bar, along with a chance to meet the artists while the show is still fresh on the walls.
Other Exhibits Worth Catching Right Now
Not every worthwhile gallery stop comes with an opening reception attached to it.
Anastasia Smith
Work from Anastasia Smith is still hanging inside Aby’s followinga grand dance-heavy opening reception that mixed live drumming, figure drawing, watercolor activities, belly dance performances, and improvised music into one long community art hangout.
Dahl Arts Center
Several exhibitions are currently running simultaneously at the Dahl:
- BHSU Art Majors Senior Exhibition
Works from graduating Black Hills State University art students across painting, sculpture, ceramics, photography, printmaking, and mixed media. - Take Me To Your Moon: Journeys into the World of Dementia by Yoko Sugawara
A deeply personal ceramic series exploring memory loss and dementia through sculptural forms inspired by lunar surfaces and shifting mental landscapes. - Best of the West High School Student Exhibition
Regional student work spanning painting, photography, collage, sculpture, ceramics, and traditional arts.
Looking Ahead
Next weekend, the Suzie Cappa Art Center hosts its Spring Open House on May 28 from 4 to 8 p.m., adding another stop to what is turning into a very full stretch of gallery season across the Hills.
By Saturday evening, somebody could realistically start the day standing underneath rotating spheres in Spearfish, hear flute music in Hill City by lunch, and end the night drinking wine beside fresh paint in Hot Springs.
