On a recent road trip in the upper Midwest we had the privilege of staying in Mitchell, South Dakota and of course we had to see this years version of the Corn Palace. The theme was “Rock of Ages” and was almost complete at the time of our visit. On the front of the building there is a picture of a guitarist and Willie Nelson constructed out of pieces of grain. Moving around the building there is a mural of Elvis, a singer, piano, person playing guitar, singers, and dancers to finish off the adjacent wall.

Most of the lighter portions are created using corn cobs along with wheat stems bundled together and sorghum stems bundled together created to give a darker contrast all working together to form these giant pieces of art. This is a very time consuming and laborious process which they undertake every summer creating a new theme covering two sides of the building.

This marks the third time I’ve been to this popular attraction. The last time was about 6 years ago with my first visit occurring a little over 7 years ago on my first trip to South Dakota. One of the surprises for me this summer was the change in domes on top of the building. Previous domes where solid and painted yellow and green that I remember. I like the new ones better.

More modern and interesting allowing light to play off of the metal creating some nice effects. We didn’t see it at night but from pictures I searched the Corn Palace lights up beautifully with the new metal domes. Another nice addition since I last visited was a second floor balcony allowing more light inside due to large windows and the ability to walk outside on a nice day such as the one we visited on.