The World’s Only Corn Palace
Mitchell rebuilds a civic arena’s murals with naturally colored corn, grain, and grasses, making annual design, agricultural material, and installation labor part of the architecture.
Artwork inspired by Oscar Howe
The Corn Palace tradition began in 1892; the present building dates to 1921. Each mural cycle begins as a theme and drawing, then becomes bands, fields, and images assembled from ears of corn, kernels, milo, rye, oat heads, sour dock, and other plant material. Drought or installation timing can leave parts of a previous cycle visible, making change itself legible.
Walk the exterior once for the complete composition and again close enough to separate plant materials and fastening methods. Inside, use the free history displays, explanatory video, or a summer guided tour to connect design with cultivation and labor. Remember that this is also an active arena: sporting events, concerts, festivals, and mural work can alter access.
- Tradition
- Begun in 1892; current building opened in 1921
- Surface
- Naturally colored corn, grain, and grasses
- Visit
- Free general admission and seasonal guided tours
Quick guide
- Read at two distances
- See the full façade, then inspect material and fasteners
- Go inside
- Use the history video and displays when arena access permits
Read the Corn Palace as image, crop, and working arena
- Begin across Main Street
- Look at the entire façade before identifying details.
- Move close to the material
- Compare intact ears, kernels, milo, rye, oat heads, and native grasses.
- Follow design into labor
- Use the interior video, displays, or a summer guided tour to trace the annual theme from drawing and crop selection through installation.
- Respect the arena schedule
- Check the public calendar before arrival because concerts, sports, Corn Palace Festival, or mural work can restrict interior access.
Good to know
The façade is not frozen at a ceremonial “completion.” Installation happens over time, and drought has occasionally delayed or preserved murals, so overlapping annual cycles are part of the building’s agricultural record.
Notice these
- 1892 civic tradition
- Naturally colored crop mosaics
- Annual mural theme and installation
- Active arena behind the decorated façade