Oct. 21, 2026 · 6 min read
Sioux Falls Listens, what the arts community told us
A packed room at the Levitt spent Wednesday night telling the mayor what the arts need. Here's what they want to keep, what they want to fix, and how you can still add your voice before the Nov. 18 town hall.
On Wednesday night, I spent two hours at different tables with neighbors, artists, and supporters. By the end, we weren't strangers anymore.
It was the first Sioux Falls Listens session, Mayor Christine Erickson's series of community conversations during her first 100 days. This one was about the arts and what it's like to live here. The DSU Community Room at the Levitt at the Falls was packed. Artists, nonprofit leaders, teachers, neighborhood leaders, city staff and a few folks who said they couldn't draw a stick figure.
Here's what I heard.
How the night worked
The format is called a World Café. Small tables of four, butcher paper and markers, and three rounds of questions. After each round, one person stays behind and everyone else moves to a new table. So you hear from a lot of different people in a short time.
The three questions were simple. What should we preserve? What deserves our attention? What can we do together? Every table put its best ideas on sticky notes, and those went up on a big "Harvest Wall" at the front of the room.
John Beranek, who co-chairs the mayor's transition team, ran the night. He asked us to be curious instead of judgmental, to speak from our own experience, and to think beyond city government. Not every idea has to be something City Hall pays for.
What we want to keep
A lot of the love was for what we already have. The Pavilion, SculptureWalk, the Levitt, the South Dakota Symphony and our community theaters. People kept saying how rare it is for a city our size to have all of that.
A few other things came up again and again:
- A giving city. Neighbors pointed out that much of what we enjoy, including the Levitt itself, was built with private donations.
- Things you can actually afford. Free concerts, student rush tickets and low-cost family events, especially downtown.
- A downtown that feels good. People said they feel safe downtown, and they love how old buildings have been turned into something new.
What deserves our attention
Taking the arts beyond downtown. This was the biggest theme of the night, and it came up at almost every table. Downtown is the heart of our arts scene. But if you live on the far edges of town, it's a long way to come. Some people told us they just don't feel comfortable downtown, or they get turned off by parking.
The ideas were practical. Use the parks, libraries and community centers we already have. Book more local artists, singers and children's theater at the bandshells in Terrace Park and McKennan Park. Put a sculpture in every park and make a bike route out of it. One table summed it up: more art in the parks.
Space to make art, not just see it. People asked for free or low-cost places, open year-round, where groups can rehearse and people can paint, make pottery or just create.
The cost of getting in. Several people said kids' theater and arts programs cost a lot more than they used to. Young families are stretched thin, and a trip to the zoo or a show at the Pavilion is out of reach for some of them. One idea I loved was a city arts pass: a ticket bundle for a couple of shows at the Pavilion, one at the State Theatre and a symphony concert, with the city helping to cover the cost.
Arts that do more. A few speakers pushed us to think bigger. The arts can help with mental health, isolation, literacy and even juvenile corrections. One person suggested connecting artists with businesses, science and medicine, since many businesses don't know how to hire an artist.
Funding that lasts. People worried that donors will eventually get tired. Some suggested an entertainment tax, shared fairly across the whole city, so the arts aren't only funded by the same generous few.
What I heard at my table
Two things stuck with me.
The arts can't find each other. A member of a watercolor society with about 100 members said other people at the table had never heard of the group. A theater staffer said many nonprofits guard their donors because they're afraid of losing them. Everyone is doing good work in their own corner, and it's hard to see the whole picture. We talked about a simple directory of arts groups, and maybe a path for new arts groups to get support, like the one the city already has for neighborhood associations.
Some neighbors aren't in the room yet. I looked around and noticed there weren't many people from our immigrant and refugee communities. A leader from the Multicultural Center said their events can draw hundreds of people sharing their own art and culture. The center works with partner groups free of charge, but has very few staff. The fix isn't for the rest of us to decide what those communities want. It's to find people who live in both worlds and bring them to the table.
That ties back to neighborhoods. Strong neighborhood associations could be how we bring arts, events and feedback to every part of town, not just the core. I wrote about that after a full night at the library earlier this month, and I heard it again on Wednesday.
What happens next
Every idea on the Harvest Wall and the table paper is being collected. The ideas from all the sessions will be prioritized at a community town hall, and the results will go to the mayor's transition team as recommendations.
Two more listening sessions, both at the Levitt at the Falls, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.:
- Thursday, Nov. 5: Business community
- Thursday, Nov. 12: Economic development
Community town hall: Wednesday, Nov. 18, 5:30 to 8 p.m., at Cherapa Place, 300 N. Cherapa Place, on the third floor.
Can't make it? You can share your ideas online at siouxfalls.gov/SFListens.
The night started with live music and ended with a group photo, everyone waving at the camera. That's how it should be. The arts have always been a big part of what makes this city feel like home. Now the mayor is asking how to make sure everyone gets a piece of it.
It's always been our city, and now is our moment. Let's rise together.
Sources
- Mayor Erickson Announces Sioux Falls Listens Sessions, City of Sioux Falls, Sept. 28, 2026
- Sioux Falls Listens Community Session, Oct. 21, City of Sioux Falls
- Christine Erickson announces members of transition team, Dakota News Now, July 13, 2026
- My own notes and recording from the Oct. 21 session
Photos by Vince Danh.
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