The temperature is approaching 100 degrees and we see what appears to be a sculpture of a larger than life horse and bull’s head off in the distance as we drive west on Route 90. These sculptures were visible from miles away and we were compelled to investigate. We took exit 374 for Montrose and followed signs directing us to a small gravel road that took us back into cattle fields where we found ourselves at the Porter Sculpture Park. A South Dakota gem!

The Sculpture Park is the sole work of Wayne Porter who was there to greet us. We spoke with Wayne and also ran into his sister who was visiting and they both provided us with some the history of the Park.

Wayne graduated from South Dakota State University with a degree in Political Science and History. He was accepted to USD Law School but decided to focus on his art. His father was a blacksmith and Wayne spent his youth at his father’s Black Smith shop in St Lawrence, SD. Wayne first began sculpturing and displaying his work on Main Street in St. Lawrence. He quickly outgrew that venue and eventually purchased 18 acres of prairie land in Montrose, SD.

All of these sculptures are larger than life and many are enormous. This bull’s head weighs 25 tons and is 60 foot high. Many of the sculptures including this one are made of metal plates that weight between 40-50 pounds each.

One can walk inside to see smaller sculptures embedded in the Bull, including nesting bats. Embedded sculptures are a common motif in Wayne’s sculptures.

The whimsical themes are belied by their massive size. Here is Sue swimming in the goldfish bowl to provide some scale.

Wayne has no formal training in art or math and does not sketch his work in advance. He builds his creations one piece of metal at a time.

Interspersed with his sculptures is Wayne’s poetry.

Creativity runs in the Porter family as included among the poetry offerings was a poem by Wayne’s mother who was a registered nurse. The poem is included below for our many friends in the healthcare field.

Wayne spends 6 months each year at the Sculpture Park while it is open to visitors and the remainder of the year working on new projects. His sister told us that before the park is opened, Wayne lets a neighboring farmer graze his cattle on the grass. After the cattle have grazed, Wayne and his family spend time removing the cow dung to make the Park ready for visitors. Our thanks go to the Porter family for that!

We spoke to Wayne’s sister who visits periodically to help Wayne maintain the park and install new pieces. She was removing grass from around a piece and touching up paint on the sculptures. She told us that the family has encouraged Wayne to work on smaller pieces of art. We mentioned this to Wayne as we were leaving and he told us that he would like to build larger works.

Both Sue and I were deeply touched by Wayne’s art and poetry. One can look at these pieces and think that sculpture is a vulture, that is a boy sledding and that is a fish. It is only when you look at the piece in person that you come to understand how much craft and ingenuity was needed to bring each piece into being.

Here are a few more photos. There are more than 50 sculptures in the Park. This is not something that you stop by on the way. This is a destination.