South Dakota anniversary project plants trees in soil from each county

PLANKINTON — A Plankinton artist has come up with a unique way to use dirt to help celebrate South Dakota's 125th anniversary of statehood this year.

Art teacher Altman Studeny collected soil from each of the state's 66 counties and has planted 66 trees to be distributed across the state.

"I wanted to try to come up with an art project to engage all 66 counties equally," Studeny told The Daily Republic newspaper. "All of them have this same thing to offer."

Studeny, who works at Aurora Plains Academy and an artist in residence with the South Dakota Arts Council, spent two weeks in June traveling to each county and gathering soil in 5-gallon buckets. He mixed the soil and in each bucket planted a bur oak, a tree that grows in each region of South Dakota and can live for centuries.

"It comes back to the idea of how to make something common seem special," he said. "The idea of all that soil coming from different places brought into one bucket equally. That's kind of the story of our state anyway. Every place has something different to offer, but together we're all South Dakotans."

Studeny hopes the trees will grow to full height in time for the state's bicentennial, 75 years from now.

"It's a mighty oak," he said. "It's in the story of our culture. It's strong and will last long into the future."

The trees will be on display along a walking path near the state Capitol in Pierre through Aug. 24.