Location: South Dakota

The Matthews, originally known as Matthew’s Opera House, opened in 1906, just shy of 30 years after the Black Hills Gold Rush. The Matthews still stands in its original location on Main Street in Spearfish, South Dakota. Since its inception, the building has gone through various program changes to better serve its community.

Sisseton, South Dakota is a unique place. This rural town of 2,400 is located on the Lake Traverse Reservation: about half the town is Native American, and the other half is mostly white. But it is not only the residential makeup of the Sisseton that makes it unique. It is the survival and persistence of art in the area, and new movements that are bridging a historically separated community.