Exhibit Size:
2,000 square feet

Services Performed:
Design, research, text writing, mural painting, sculpture, audiovisual, casework, graphics and installation.

Custer State Park
South Dakota Department of Game, Fish, and Parks

The new exhibits in the Peter Norbeck Center recreate and interpret the scenic beauty and natural habitats of Custer State Park. Through the use of realistic dioramas with taxidermy and floor-to-ceiling landscape murals, visitors are able to get up-close looks at the wonders of this natural paradise. The mixed-grass prairie, a buffalo wallow, the spruce-pine forests, and riparian habitats are all represented.

The geology of the Black Hills is shown with photo murals, rock samples, and a topographical map of the park. Other displays trace the park’s cultural history. A sculpted mannequin dressed as a prospector panning for gold represents the Black Hills gold rush. The CCC era is recreated by a room-sized vignette showing the rustic drawing table and studio where young men of the CCC designed the first exhibits for the Norbeck Center. Large photo murals and touchable objects, such as a radio collar for big horn sheep, fire fighting equipment, tree slices showing rings, present the topics of forest, fire, and wildlife management in interesting and interactive ways.