The Statue of David by Michelangelo is widely regarded as one of the greatest works of art in history, particularly among sculptures. It stands 17 feet tall and was created by the renowned sculptor in the early 1500s, remarkably, out of a single block of marble.
In 1971, the statue was donated to the city of Sioux Falls (alongside a replica of the statue of Moses at Augustana) by former resident and inventor, Thomas Fawick, whom the park in downtown Sioux Falls is named. Fawick is a Sioux Falls legend, who held patents on everything from golf clubs, to his fabled ‘Fawick Flyer’, which you can see at the Old Courthouse Museum in town.
While many in town were proud to have such a historic replica within their city’s borders, others were not so pleased.
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The Controversy Surrounding Sioux Falls Statue of David
The statue was designed by Felix de Weldon, the same man who made the iconic Iwo Jima Memorial in Washington D.C. Yet, even before it was placed within the city, many were trying to stop it from going up in the first place…