There ’s nothing like a little public art to tell the rest of the world exactly what your residential district bear for . Liverpool , England , for example , is track in miniature replication of the city ’s hulkingSuperlambananasculpture . That ’s creative person Taro Chiezo ’s 8 - ton ( 7.3 - metric short ton ) , 17 - foot ( 5.2 meter ) lamb - banana hybrid which has been reminding tourists and residents likewise of the creepy prospect of genetic engineering since 1998 , while also memorializing the city ’s most historically significant imports . And Athens , Georgia , a town famous for its overzealous idolatry to its local college football game team , the Georgia Bulldogs , has dozens of flashily paintedbulldog statueson permanent display to remind residents who might have forgotten that SEC football is really , really , really of import .
The City of Rapid City , South Dakota , however , decided to forego capture mere local flavor in its public art . Although this urban center of about 70,000 residents could have gotten some mileage out of the nearby Black Hills or their chronicle as an Old West frontier settlement , they decided to take on the paper ofthe intact American presidency . Let it never be say that the citizenry of Rapid City are not challenging .
Granted , Mount Rushmore National Memorial is just 26 miles ( 42 kilometers ) sou'-west of Rapid City , so the whole area has a piece of a patriotic vibe — there ’s even apresidential wax museumin nearby Keystone , South Dakota .
But in 2000 , the"City of Presidents"project was born , the brainchild of Rapid City businessman and furniture manufacturer Don Perdue . He make up one’s mind to honor the American presidency by commission biography - sized bronze sculptures of all pastAmerican presidents , and placing them on every downtown street corner . To fund the project , Perdue started theCity of Presidents Foundation , which has raised more than $ 2 million so far . This money goes towards the institution and installment of each sculpture — each one cost about $ 50,000 .
The conservator of the projects have worked to focus on the American presidency , humanizing the mortal in the office and not focus on their political relation . No political political party or President of the United States is highlight or given preferential treatment in the layout of the display , and the five South Dakota artists ( John Lopez , Lee Leuning and Sherri Treeby , James Michael Maher , Edward Hlavka , and James Van Nuys ) who have create the existing sculptures have done thoroughgoing research on each Chief Executive to discover out what made the guy — and yes , so far all guys — check .
" All of the carving are really intricate — all the presidents are recognizable because they ’re doing thing they liked to do , " says Michelle Thomson , the president ofBlack Hills and Badlands Tourism Association .
And the presidents for certain are humanize on the streets of Rapid City . They ’re installed in good order at street layer , so visitors can amble up to their favorite air force officer - in - tribal chief and reckon him the right way in the human face — or sit down in his lap . Ronald Reagan , Calvin Coolidge , and Teddy Roosevelt are pretty casual , duded up in their Western geartrain , while Millard Fillmore and Martin Van Buren seem as if they might be having a courteous Sunday daybreak waiting room with some favourite reading material .
John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln are deep in conversation with their young boy while George W. Bush and Gerald Ford present with their dogs . Richard Nixon sits with his finger camp , staring intensely into the middle distance , apparently plotting world domination . Everybody has their matter .
The president have been wildly pop with holidaymaker , thousands of whom check in at the visitant ’s eye each year , grab a mapand take the presidential walking go .
" The project has been a huge welfare to Rapid City , " says Thomason . " Visitors love it and it ’s spurred other development business district aimed at drawing visitor . local anesthetic even put hats and scarves on the presidents during the wintertime months for multitude in need . "
All 43 yesteryear presidents are now accounted for in business district Rapid City , with the exception of Barack Obama , whose statueis currently in the worksbut will feature a smile Obama in a walk pose . Donald Trump will get his after he leaves role .
