Please join us at the Cultural Heritage Center at noon this Thursday, May 7, for a program by Donald F. Montileaux. He lives in Rapid City and is an enrolled member of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Well-known for his art, Montileaux illustrated three books for youngsters published by the South Dakota Historical Society Press. He will speak about these books and the inspiration for his artwork. Time has been set aside at the end of the program for him to autograph copies of his books. The books are: “Tatanka and the Lakota People: A Creation Story,” “The Enchanted Buffalo: A Prairie Tale” and “Tasunka: A Lakota Horse Legend.”

Copies of the books are available for sale at the Heritage Store at the Cultural Heritage Center.
Everyone is welcome to attend this free program.

The 2015 One Book South Dakota is William Kent Krueger’s “Ordinary Grace.” One Book South Dakota is a program of the South Dakota Humanities Council that encourages people throughout the state to read and discuss the same title. The As the Pages Turn Book Club and Lutheran Memorial Book Club applied for a grant from the South Dakota Humanities Council to have humanities scholar Kathy Antonen of Rapid City facilitate a discussion of “Ordinary Grace.” The program will begin at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 18, at the Cultural Heritage Center. The Cultural Heritage Center has copies of the book from the Humanities Council that can be loaned to readers. Kathy has been a discussion leader for the History and Heritage Book Club several times, and goes a terrific job.

In July, poet Sharon Chmielarz will be the guest speaker at the History and Heritage Book Club. Her program will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, July 7, at the Cultural Heritage Center. Chmielarz was born and raised in Mobridge and has published eight books of poetry whose subjects include women and the Dakotas. Her biography of Nannerl Mozart, the older sister of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, was made into an opera.