The World Comes to Whittier

Sioux Falls, South Dakota 2013

Assisted by Ashley Laird and Nate Buchholz

Whittier.jpeg

Initiated by Whittier Middle School students in teacher Lela Himmerich’s class, students were urged to assess what makes their neighborhood vital. Imagining a number of civic improvements they took their ideas to the city government, spoke at city council meetings and eventually perked the ears of the Sioux Falls Arts Council with the idea for a mural. The mural and the process that led to it celebrate the remarkable ethnic diversity of the Whittier Neighborhood, a home for immigrants and refugees from around the world. Whittier, known to many as the ‘Ellis Island of the Plains,’ continues to embrace its cosmopolitan culture while being firmly rooted in the history of its working class past. To get a feel for the project, check out this beautiful short documentary by Nicholas Ward, and this essay by journalist and project participant Lori Walsh.