A box of tissues has been thoughtfully placed on the second floor of the Redlin Art Center in Watertown, S.D. I didn't think I'd need it when arriving at the brick and columned building perched on a hillside off Interstate 29. The museum beckons travelers with free admission and an expansive collection of wildlife painter Terry Redlin's work, which has graced Boy Scout popcorn tins, calendars, puzzles, wine bottles and the walls of wildlife art stores. His familiar style — homey subjects, warm tones and glowing light — has been dubbed "romantic realism," but even if you arrive slightly jaded, Redlin's personal story and the stories that his artworks tell tug at the heartstrings.
Hence the tissues. A streaming video shows Redlin talking about his "An American Portrait: A Collection of Heartfelt Firsts." It depicts milestones such as a boy's first friend (a puppy), his first day of school, his first date and moving to college, all rich in detail. In the final scene, "His Last Goodbye," military officers stand on the front steps of a house decorated for the holidays, delivering the news that the son will not be coming home again.
Visitors also cluster in front of a video on Redlin's "America the Beautiful" series, which depicts scenes from the settling of America set against coast-to-coast landscapes inspired by the song.
Watertown native Redlin, 77, donated the museum and his collection of 160 original paintings to South Dakota, which gave him an art-school scholarship when a motorcycle accident at age 15 derailed his plans to work in forestry. He spent much of his career as an illustrator and graphic artist in the Twin Cities. There, he would spend lunch breaks studying artists such as Norman Rockwell, and photographed the outdoors before and after work. He was painting full-time by the late 1970s, and by the 1990s was named one of America's most popular artists by U.S. Art magazine.
The museum includes Redlin's early sketches, an exhibit of Langenfeld ice cream (the dairy owned by his wife's family), a gallery for guest-artist exhibits and a 30-acre park with trails. You can also see Redlin's art supplies and studio chair, which were donated when he retired due to Alzheimer's Disease.
Visitors can ask museum staffers for a handout highlighting Watertown settings depicted in Redlin's paintings. For the full effect, visit the sites at sunrise or sunset, when Redlin could often be found shooting photos and seeking inspiration in the golden light.
Other attractions
Bramble Park Zoo: Lean in to take a photo of a lemur at this small zoo, and you might find another reaching out to toy with your hair before the group launches into raucous howling. This intimate zoo also lets you get beak-to-beak with scarlet ibises and roseate spoonbills, while a free-ranging white peacock and guinea hens shadow you along paths that lead to monkeys, penguins, snow leopards, buffalo and black bears, among the zoo's 130 species.
The zoo is named for Frank Bramble, who started it in 1912 with pheasants and waterfowl and was instrumental in releasing 250 pairs of Chinese ringneck pheasants into the wild in 1911. They thrived and become a key part of South Dakota's hunting traditions ($6-$8 ages 3 and older; 1-605-882-6269; www.brambleparkzoo.com).
