Removing Walls

Great art is meant to elicit an emotion from its viewer. And as far as local artist and sculptor Cameron Stalheim is concerned, everyone could use more of it. Through his creations, he hopes to better express humanity in all its forms, building a repertoire of pieces that disrupt space and, hopefully, give people some much-needed insight into things and ideas outside of our worldview. But first, there are some metaphorical walls — barriers that need to be removed...

What’s your visual-arts origin story?

I grew up in a household where my mother was an art teacher and my father was a carpenter of sorts, so I was always around creative projects. Growing up I made a lot of little figurines out of clay and it sort of morphed into, I guess, painting and drawing in elementary and middle school. Come high school, I was really interested in makeup, and I did a lot of theatrical makeup. That was what I thought I was going to pursue for a long time. When I went to college at USD, I had a dual major in makeup and art. But I found I just didn’t have the freedom I thought I would in makeup, so I dropped theatre and went full-time into sculpture.

I was really inspired by my sculpture professor, Chris Meyer, and actually was a part of his first class. I just loved the freedom of expression. Come 2011, there was a call for art for the Coyote sculpture on campus, and I submitted. I got in and was the artist who was chosen to make the Coyote sculpture — that was really the launching of my career. To have something at the forefront of the university kind of snowballed into realizing I could maybe do this professionally.

I took a couple years off and then went to graduate school. The one I applied to with the least gusto was the only school I got into — and it was the No. 1 sculpture program in the country. It rocked my world. I moved to Baltimore, and it was incredible — meeting like-minded people trying to carve themselves into this world. I was so grateful for all of that. I knew I sort of had a chance to have my voice heard.

What brought you back to Sioux Falls?

I moved back to Sioux Falls because I got a really big commission for Good Samaritan Society. Their national campus is here. I moved back and made a giant Jesus sculpture and actually utilized all of my family members. I molded hands from my stepdad, feet from my dad, the figure was made of my friend and my sculpture professor was the face of Jesus. It was lifting up this figure, which was made out of my sister, primarily.

If I was going to make this big sculpture, I had to include all these people who are so meaningful in my life. I was working as a pastry chef at Breadico and had a studio across the street at 8th and Railroad. I would go to work at 6 a.m., make rolls, and then go across the street to make art. It was a really fun time in my life. I worked at Bread & Circus for five years, which provided me the ability to buy a house and build this space to create.

What is the market like here for sculpture?

I would say the bulk of my sculpture work is probably personal. I have gotten some commissions here and there — I made a feather for Lyons Park and I had Good Samaritan — and the rest of it has really been SculptureWalk-based. It’s an amazing institution for this town we live in. We have one of the largest sculpture walks in the nation. 

It’s hard being a sculptor in this town. It’s hard being an artist in this community, because so many people value what you do but monetarily it doesn’t pay the bills. We have a long ways to go. There’s so much money here and so much potential to make this an arts hub in the nation. We just have to connect the patrons to the artists. I think that’s going to come — it’s just hard waiting around for it. 

I think the missing piece is gallery space. I think having the visual space to show art isn’t always here — and it should be. I don’t know how to bridge that, but I want to bridge it and be a part of this community. I have roots here — I want to be a part of this community. But people need to see the art, and they don’t always have a chance to. What it comes down to is finding more space for artists to be seen.

What are some of the local barriers to art as expression?

Sculpture takes up space. It takes up space in your worldview as well. You have to be able to walk around it. It’s taking up space that can’t be put on a wall. It’s expensive to produce and to find investors. And that’s one of the lucky parts about SculptureWalk is that there’s a space for 3-D art to display. 

There are spaces here to show 3-D art, but there are often limits on the work you can show, based on nudity, based on politics. There is oversight and walls you have to work around. I have to work so hard to show my work — why are all these walls built up? It’s because people are afraid of experiencing true art. They’re afraid that they might have to think outside of themselves — think outside their religion, their sexuality, their race. It can be difficult to be an artist in this community, because people can be afraid of otherness.

Why is exposure to art important in our community?

It’s valuable because we live in a world where people are celebrated for their uniqueness. And because we need people to be exposed to the outside world. To outside change. I think change is probably what’s scary about art. People are having to see that there’s more happening than themselves. I think there are a lot of people in our corner, wanting this. But I also think there is a lot of push-back from people, who have the money, who are scared of change. People need to see the world around them. 

There’s so much beauty and so much kindness — that’s the big word in my literature. How we treat other people and how we treat ourselves. If you want to experience life, you need to experience other people’s culture, happiness, joys, conflicts and frustrations. There’s so much happening that you are not a part of, but you can be a part of it by supporting artists and celebrating the uniqueness of humanity. None of this is about just one person. There’s a lot of love in this world. And there’s a lot of love expressed through art. I think when you’re so caught up in your own worldview, you forget that love exists between other people, other entities. You forget that love is beautiful.

What draws you to a particular subject?

I’m drawn to the figure, because I think it has a direct correlation to the mind. I’m excited about the way we connect our mental status to physicality. I am largely focused on traditional sculpture, and I’m really interested in the idea of fantasy versus reality, and our perception of the two. I think we live in a world where everything is finite, but in our dreams it’s endless. I like to sort of try to connect the two. I like to do that through the physical creation of sculpture.

It’s a way for me to create the ramblings that are happening within the mind and process them physically. Growing up gay in South Dakota was really f**king hard. Not because I was picked on and made fun of, but the hard part was expressing myself in a way that was approved of. I’ve been judged a lot of my life for the things I want to see and do, but I’m a person and I want to express myself in a way that shows love and kindness. That’s what I try to do — to illuminate the thoughts we have, the problems we face and the love we’re not guaranteed.

What around you inspires you as an artist?

I’m inspired by people’s problems. I’m inspired by trying to create vulnerability. People are so tied up in their own self that they forget to ask for help. And I think a lot of the work I do is trying to elicit some form of self-care.

Why sculpture?

I think I like sculpture because it impedes your reality. It’s physically in your space. You have to move around it. And that creates a lot of movement, joy and curiosity. You discover things that you don’t get in a 2-D world. As you move around a 3-D piece, I really think you get to immerse yourself in something. It’s disruptive.

What are your hopes for the future of visual arts here?

My ultimate dream is to have the Stalheim Scultpure Park. I know it’s a little crazy, but I would love the idea of showcasing artists internationally that we don’t get to see. There are so many beautiful artists out there in this world that we are blind to having the opportunity to witness and be impacted by. I think it’s really important to bring art to the people. For the public to get to see it outside of the white-walled gallery. So I think my ultimate goal is to get people from the community — not just artists, curators and patrons — people who are just paying their taxes that want to see artwork. Who want to see something that could impact them.