Crazy Horse Memorial in the Black Hills is a non-profit, non-governmental undertaking honoring the North American Indian through a mountain carving of Crazy Horse that will be the world’s largest sculpture, measuring 563 feet high by 641 feet long and carved in the round. The nine-story-high face of Crazy Horse was completed on June 3, 1998, and work on the 22-story-high horse’s head began soon after. The project began in 1947 when sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski arrived in the Black Hills and accepted the invitation of Lakota chiefs to carve Crazy Horse. Orphaned at age one and raised in a series of foster homes, Korczak was completely self-taught and never took a lesson in art, sculpture, architecture, or engineering. After his death, the work was continued by his wife, Ruth, and their family. Open year-round, the visitor center complex includes the Indian Museum of North America, the sculptor’s studio-home, and his workshop.

Photo: Cosmos Mariner

Photo: Cosmos Mariner

Custer, South Dakota · USA