In downtown Rapid City, there’s always a pop of color between Sixth and Seventh Streets. The walls along Art Alley are a canvas for up-and-coming creative minds – a great photo opportunity for visitors – and now there’s a call out for new artists.
While those huge graffiti murals make for some eye-catching social media snaps, behind each is an artist with their own family, career, and dreams.
Art Alley is organized through the Dahl Arts Center and Leah Killian is the center’s communications director. She said they’re trying to rethink what public art is.
“I think it’s wonderful to have this public space, because in a lot of cases when a city contemplates public art it gets really bougie, really quickly, and you need $500,000 to install a sculpture," Killian said. "Those are wonderful, but this serves a part of the population that say, can’t afford to pay $180 for a ticket to a show.”
Killian said spray painting the side of buildings is a medium that comes with baggage.
“Street art isn’t typically an art form that is accepted – we look at it and think of it as graffiti while failing to acknowledge the beauty and the humanity that’s being shared there," Killian said. "Art Alley, which has become a phenomenal tourist attraction, brings a lot of life to downtown and allows us to really appreciate these different forms of art and to see them in an ever-changing landscape.”
That constant change creates a living alleyway, that evolves each day in ways both big and small. New murals can pop up overnight in any number of styles, occasionally sponsored by the Rapid City Arts Council.
Despite its popularity there is a need for new painters with artistic visions beyond quickly thrown tags.
“Come here, we’ll give you a voice," Killian said. "We’ll give you a canvas to paint whatever your message is on there. For those people who feel so unincluded and feel so silenced, it’s still there for them, and that’s one of the reasons it’s so important to keep Art Alley. Graffiti did start as a form of self-expression somewhat against 'The Man,' it was an act of rebellion, but it morphed into true, talented people making incredible things.”
And according to the Dahl center’s Education Director Melissa Nelson, it might be easier to get the ball rolling on your first mural than you think.
“The permits for Art Alley are free," Nelson said. "There’s no charge to get a permit, and almost everybody is approved. It’s a pretty easy simple process that you would do anywhere.”
One regular contributor to Art Alley is Rahman Barika, also known by his artistic handle Komie. One of his pieces, a mural on the south end of the alley, is something of a self-portrait.
“The two faces are merged together like the dichotomy we play with, the good and the bad," Komie said. "Everything in your life is always going to be two-sided, and it’s vibrant and it pops – that’s kinda my style. I want everything to be in your face. I want to make pieces that you can’t forget. If you look at this, you’re gonna go to sleep and go ‘oh yeah, I saw that really cool thing.’ I’m not going to go to bed thinking about a landscape I saw at a dentist’s office, you know?”
Komie said his transition from pencils to spray paint was a fast one.
“Just go for it," Komie said. "With me, this is what I want to do full time. If you have something that gives you that itch and that drive, why hold yourself back? You don’t have to listen to what anyone says. That’s what art is – it’s freedom, it’s expression. You can’t have expression and freedom if you’re in a box.”
But there’s another piece to being an Art Alley painter. Komie said you need to be able to let go of your work – because inevitably it will be tagged over by unofficial, illegal graffiti.
“Part of me is sad because I want people to view it as it was intended to be viewed, you know? At the same time, Art Alley is about turning a page and moving on, so the fact someone else wants to create over it doesn’t bother me,” Komie said.
Another regular is Kady Jo Dufloth - or Lumi. She sees the consistent turnover of the work in Art Alley as just a part of the space.
“I’m very capable of letting go of a piece, and that’s something that took me a long time to deal with – like I used to treat it like a masterpiece and if this gets destroyed, I’m completely distraught because of it, Lumi said. "As I’ve aged, I’ve learned it’s part of the graffiti world.”
Lumi said in the modern art market, there’s true value in making pieces wholly accessible.
“The art world has become so saturated with the numbers," Lumi said. "Composition and themes are being compromised for the sake of it, so I think eliminating the money side of it has helped me to be more authentic and be more honest with what I want to show. To display your work in places you’re not going to profit off it helps not only people connect to it better, but it allows it to be more you.”
There is a small, but welcoming community of artists involved with Art Alley, and their murals are usually visible in the alley for a few months before gradually being covered by other tags.
To apply for a permit, visit Artalleyrc.com.