This week, entries for the Community Art Show are coming into the Matthews Opera House, and once they're hung the room will be full of kids' drawings, oil paintings and everything in between. For nearly two decades the Community Art Show hung in the historic opera house. Then it moved to the Matthews Gallery. This November it moves back to the room where it started, under the theme "From Fridge Art to Fine Art."
The art show sets the tone for the month. Spearfish has almost no touring headliners on its November calendar. Local hands fill the stages and walls: a sitting state poet laureate, the BHSU music department, a husband-and-wife duo raising money for the veterans monument, and the Zonta Club decorating trees. Admission to most of it is free. And on Saturday, December 5, several of those stages are booked on the same day.
The art show still has room on the walls
Entries for the Community Art Show drop off November 3 through 7. If you're reading this on Thursday, that leaves today, Friday and Saturday to bring something in. The show is open to artists of all ages, styles and experience levels. Awards cover eight categories, from Best of Show to Kindergarten & Under.
The opening reception and awards run Saturday, November 14, 5 to 7 p.m. at the Matthews, 614 Main St. It's free. The exhibit closes November 21, and the Matthews lists hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. that day. People's Choice goes up on the Matthews' social media when the exhibit closes.
The rest of the Matthews' November follows the same pattern. Here's what's on the calendar:
- November 6: Play Some Petty, the Biscuit Lifters' Tom Petty tribute. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts at 7. Seats run $25 to $40 depending on section.
- November 8: Self-Care Sunday: Sound Bath Meditation, 6 to 7 p.m., $15. Hosted with CAT Scratch Studios and Creative Explorations Nonprofit.
- November 11: A noon Bellman Presentation with Mai Richards, titled "Love and Sacrifice: The Journey of Running with Purpose."
Across town, the Heritage Center spends November on words
The High Plains Western Heritage Center usually means saddles and ranch history. This November, its calendar is mostly music, poetry and storytelling, and nearly all of it is free.
It starts Sunday, November 8, at 1:30 p.m. with the Honoring Our Veterans Concert, featuring Orion & Stacey Potter. Donations at the door go to the Spearfish Veterans Monument. First Interstate Bank, Perkins Restaurant of Spearfish and Auto Doctor are sponsoring.
Saturday, November 14, 2 to 4 p.m., South Dakota Poet Laureate Bruce Roseland and Dakota State University Professor Emeritus John Nelson lead a free Historical Poetry Writing Workshop. The Heritage Center asks people to RSVP to Roseland at [email protected] with "HISTORICAL POETRY WORKSHOP" in the subject line. RSVPs get a reminder email the week of the workshop.
The next week, two more programs follow:
- He Sapa: Poetry, History, and Storytelling, Thursday, November 19, at 6 p.m. Free, with books from Henry's Books.
- "South Dakota Yesterday & Today," an author talk and book signing with Paul Horsted, Sunday, November 22, at 2 p.m. Also free.
If you'd rather make something with your hands, Debra Blair teaches a Native American Drum Making Class on November 7, 10 a.m. to noon. You tie-dye a 13-inch hand drum in black walnut and make a drumstick to go with it. It's $160 with all materials, and reservations go through Blair at (612) 554-1144.
Saturday, November 14 shows how the month fits together
On one Saturday, three different local groups have back-to-back time slots, and none of them overlap.
| Time | Event | Venue | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2–4 p.m. | Historical Poetry Writing Workshop | High Plains Western Heritage Center | Free, RSVP requested |
| 5–7 p.m. | Community Art Show reception and awards | Matthews Opera House, 614 Main St. | Free |
| 7 p.m. | Dakota Chamber Orchestra Concert | Meier Hall, BHSU | Free |
The orchestra concert is one stop in a long run on the BHSU campus. The music department's fall 2026 schedule puts performances in Meier Hall unless noted otherwise. Every event is free except the Madrigal Dinner in December.
The first weekend has senior recitals Friday the 6th and Saturday the 7th at 7 p.m., and Sunday the 8th at 2 p.m. On the 8th, that recital starts half an hour after the Potters' veterans concert. From there the BHSU schedule speeds up:
- November 13, 7 p.m.: Northern Hills Chamber Chorale
- November 15, 2 p.m.: Senior recital
- November 20, 7 p.m.: Jazz Ensemble
- November 21, 7 p.m.: Choral Concert
- November 22, 2 p.m.: Band Concert
- November 24, 6:30 p.m.: Northern Hills Honor Bands Festival at the Spearfish High School Auditorium
Expect two scheduling conflicts. On Sunday, November 22, the Band Concert and Paul Horsted's talk at the Heritage Center both start at 2 p.m. And on November 21, the art show's final day ends at 3 p.m., four hours before the Choral Concert.
The Festival of Trees fills the week before Thanksgiving
The Zonta Club of Spearfish's 35th annual Festival of Trees runs November 18 through 21 at the Tretheway Pavilion. Public viewing hours are still listed as "tbd." The two set times are the auction night and Santa morning. Thirty-five years is the emerald anniversary, so the club has picked "Christmas in Emerald City" as this year's theme.
- Friday, November 20: Auction night. Tickets are $30. Doors and social hour start at 5:30 p.m., and the auction begins at 7.
- Saturday, November 21: Free photos with Santa, 9 a.m. to noon.
On Saturday the 21st, you could see Santa in the morning, get to the Matthews before the art show closes at 3, and be at Meier Hall for the 7 p.m. Choral Concert.
December 5 puts everyone on the same Saturday
Several of the venues and groups that took turns through November end up on the same day's schedule. On Saturday, December 5:
- 9 a.m. The Heritage Center opens Christmas Shopper's Village, with gifts from local artists and makers. It runs through December 20, Tuesday through Saturday 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 1 to 4 p.m.
- 2 p.m. The Green Dolphin Jazz Quartet plays "A Jazzy Christmas" at the Heritage Center. Admission is free.
- 5:30 p.m. Social hour starts at BHSU's Madrigal Dinner in Meier Hall, with dinner at 6:30. A 20-member ensemble in costume plays a sixteenth-century royal court, with a recorder ensemble, herald trumpets and a court jester. Tickets are $65. BHSU's dinner page lists December 3 to 5, and its September release listed December 4 to 6. December 5 is a dinner night under both.
- 6 p.m. The Holidazzle Parade leaves the Spearfish High School parking lot. It turns right onto Hillsview Road, right onto North Avenue, continues straight to Main Street and ends off Grant Street. The community tree lighting happens as Santa passes by. Groups that want to be in the parade can request a sign-up form at [email protected].
- All weekend. The Matthews opens "Nuncrackers: A 'Nunsense' Christmas Musical," running December 4 through 6 and 11 through 13. Tickets start at $25.
If you're downtown before the parade, Wonder & Wild Children's Boutique opened this fall at 648 N. Main St., a short walk from the Matthews. The Spearfish Chamber held its ribbon cutting in September.
On Sunday, December 6, Orion & Stacey Potter, who opened the Heritage Center's November with the veterans concert, return there at 2 p.m. for "A Very Potter Christmas" with special guests Tanner & Bailey Johns. Reserved seats are $20 and general admission is $15. At 4 p.m. that afternoon, BHSU's "A Merry Tuba Christmas" begins.
Following the people behind Spearfish's calendar, from the poets at the Heritage Center to the artists in the Community Art Show, is part of how I keep up with this town, and it gives me better answers when clients ask what a Spearfish winter weekend actually looks like. If you'd like to talk about Spearfish over coffee once the parade is over, Jenni Sneesby would be glad to hear from you. Let's Connect.
