{"id":3800,"date":"2012-09-10T22:00:55","date_gmt":"2012-09-11T02:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=3800"},"modified":"2024-12-04T17:34:19","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T22:34:19","slug":"not-a-bad-place-to-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/?p=3800","title":{"rendered":"Not A Bad Place To Work"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Linda Burton posting from Pierre, South Dakota <\/em>\u2013 I started snapping pictures the moment I walked in the door; the staircase straight ahead, the hallway to the right; the stained glass overhead; the rotunda, the vault, the murals, the flags, the dazzling terrazzo floor. My eyes could not decide just where to stop. It was light and shiny bright, yet colorful and warm; uplifting, can I use that word? I didn\u2019t know which direction to go first; a young woman approached the elevator by the side of the staircase and I began to ask: Is the gallery open? Can I take the elevator all the way up? What is on the floor below? I realized as I gestured that I had the Self Guided Tour Script<\/em> of the South Dakota State Capitol<\/em> under my arm; \u201cOh, I\u2019m sorry!\u201d I said. \u201cI picked this up at the front door, I should slow down and read it. But everything is so pretty I got overawed.\u201d \u201cI know,\u201d she smiled at me and folded her hands across her tummy; she was pregnant and enveloped with that pregnant glow. \u201cI love working in this beautiful place. I look forward to coming inside every morning.\u201d Quite an endorsement for a building, I\u2019d say. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>We parted company after a bit; I went up a floor and found a bench; sat down to read that self-guided script. I\u2019m sitting near one of the marble water fountains, really beautiful creations; an open seashell design; when they were installed a brass cup and a bowl of fresh water were put out each day for the comfort of visitors and employees. Later, when running water was available in the building, the solid brass spigots and handles were added. They\u2019re a little tall, requiring tippy-toes for some.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A closer view of the rotunda here; Victorian leaded stained glass in a majestic curve, the top, I read, is 96 feet from the floor. Sixteen openings represent the Tree of Life; the bottom ring represents eternity. Flags hang high, the flags of the United States, Spain, France, the Dakota Territory. Other significant flags are the blue South Dakota state flag, the white flag of the United Sioux tribes; the eagle staff, the first flag used by Native Americans as they traveled across the Great Plains. It is wrapped with smoked buffalo hide and strung with beads and eagle feathers over green willow branches.<\/p>\n

Colors have great meaning, I read. Plains Indian tribes used colors to represent the seven directions; white is north \u2013 the direction from which snow comes; red is east \u2013 the rising sun. Yellow is south \u2013 from which the sun shines. Black is west \u2013 the direction from which thunder comes. Blue stained glass is sky. Green terrazzo tiles are green grass. Finally, representing \u201cwhere you are,\u201d a brass triangle is placed in the center of the rotunda floor. I moved downstairs to find that center-of-the-universe spot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>From there, I have a clear view of the murals; four of them, done in 1910. Female figures depict the major interests of the people of South Dakota \u2013 love of family, and love of state. Mythical goddesses; there is Ceres, representing agriculture, with stalks of corn; below is the great seal of the United States. There is Europa, representing livestock; underneath is the seal of France, as the land that is South Dakota was part of the Louisiana Purchase from France. There is Minerva, operating a steam drill, representing wisdom, industry and mining; underneath is the seal of Spain, recognizing that the land that is the United States was \u2018discovered\u2019 by Columbus in 1492.<\/p>\n

Above the seal of the state of South Dakota is the last mural I see; it is \u201cMotherhood,\u201d Venus and Cupid, a child clinging to the draperies of its mother, representing love of family. The artist, Edward Simmons, said of this painting, \u201cthis is the best thing I have done in my long life of busy artistry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Not a bad place to work, I\u2019m thinking. That mommy-to-be was right.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/em>About the history of the South Dakota State Capitol \u00a0http:\/\/www.state.sd.us\/boa\/CapitolTour\/completedcap.htm<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Note: I spotted one of the legendary blue tiles as I walked towards the back of the building to leave. The story goes that 66 Italian artists were hired to lay the terrazzo tile flooring in the new capitol building. Each artist was given a special blue stone they could place somewhere in the capitol at their discretion; it was their \u201csignature stone.\u201d Only 57 of the 66 have ever been found.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Linda Burton posting from Pierre, South Dakota \u2013 I started snapping pictures the moment I walked in the door; the staircase straight ahead, the hallway to the right; the stained glass overhead; the rotunda, the vault, the murals, the flags, the dazzling terrazzo floor. My eyes could not decide just where to stop. It was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4586,836],"tags":[1141,1143,1145,1144,540,1140,1146,1147,677,1148,1142],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3800"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27297,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800\/revisions\/27297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/capitalcitiesusa.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}