January 2017: 38 Years Later

Yep, folks, it's been that long for us. Prairie Edge started small and then evolved into a cornerstone business of downtown Rapid City, SD.

Our business began in a chicken coop outside of Sturgis SD and then eventually moved to Rapid City, SD. Rapid City has become the permanent home of Prairie Edge.

We opened our small gallery in historic downtown Rapid City in March of 1988. It was met with some opposition but we persevered and proved that we were important for the growth of our community. There were already some shining examples of businesses that carried some Native American artwork and certainly the collection from the Sioux Indian Museum was worthy of a look, but to actually get your hands on a quality remake of historical pieces by Native American artists, that was truly the trick for collectors. Well then along came Prairie Edge, the very concept of Prairie Edge has been to represent the Northern Plains Native Americans.

Rapid City was already the home of many Native American artists and they truly needed a place that appreciated their art and would pay them a fair price for their work. We've strived to maintain the highest standards for fair prices and fought the rumor mill when it came to folks who accused us of price gouging which has been the practice of other galleries.

We built relationships based on mutual respect, learned about each others cultures, quirks and pushed each other to be better than the norm. The natural abilities of each artist has just gotten better over the years and that's not bragging as our collectors will attest to this statement.

We've also established a place in our community. We reached out to important events like the Lakota Nation Invitational, the Language Summit, the He Sapa Wacipi (Black Hills Pow Wow), all of the area schools including the reservations and our downtown. We maintain a relationship with law enforcement, city government and other businesses in the downtown area, we can pretty much tell you about every restaurant, gallery and boutique within walking distance of our store.

Our long term goal is to remain a cornerstone of downtown Rapid City beyond the next 38 years and we will continue to provide a venue for our Native American artists, authors and performers, one that respects their culture and a place that they can be proud to say "Hey, my stuff is there."

Thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years, we are nothing without our customers and supporters.