Michelangelo's David

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, United States

Public art

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Listed, not yet checked · Oct 2026

This Big Thing is recorded as still being here.

A full-size bronze cast of Michelangelo's David stands in Fawick Park, downtown Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Inventor Thomas Fawick gave it to the city in 1971. It was installed in 1973, removed in the late 1990s for site clean-up, and later returned to the park.

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Michelangelo's David

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Approximate location · 43.545° N, 96.731° W

FIELD GUIDE

The story

Sioux Falls has argued about public art for more than 50 years, according to columnist Patrick Lalley, and the argument started with a naked bronze. A full-size cast of Michelangelo's David stands in Fawick Park in downtown Sioux Falls, near 10th Street and South 2nd Avenue, west of the Big Sioux River.

Thomas Fawick, a Sioux Falls native who made a fortune as an inventor, gave the statue to the city in 1971, along with a companion Moses for Augustana College. A historical marker in the park says he held more than 200 patents. KXRB credits the sculptor Felix de Weldon, and a 2002 magazine article reprinted on the South DaCola blog says David was installed in October 1973, nearly two years after it arrived.

The statue was controversial from the start. A local Baptist minister wrote to the newspaper calling it "not art but sin", and the 2002 article says David first faced the river and railyards with his back to traffic; the city said this was for sunlight, while some residents thought it was to appease critics. Lalley adds that trees were later planted to screen it.

In 1997, according to KXRB, the statue came down for environmental clean-up of the park and sat in storage for more than two years. It was returned to the park in 2000, according to the 2002 magazine article.

Even the claims about it are contested. Experience Sioux Falls calls it one of only two castings ever made, but a 2002 magazine article (reprinted on South DaCola) reports that ARTnews questioned in 1976 whether the Italian authorities had allowed casts from the original. Height is given as 18 feet by one local radio station and 17 by another.

Moses stands on the Augustana University campus, at 29th Street and Summit Avenue.

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PRACTICAL

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WHAT TO EXPECT

A bronze statue in Fawick Park, a city park near 10th Street and South 2nd Avenue in downtown Sioux Falls. Experience Sioux Falls lists it as a free attraction. The companion Moses is on the Augustana University campus, 29th Street and Summit Avenue.

ACCESS

Outdoor city park near 10th Street and South 2nd Avenue, west of the Big Sioux River in downtown Sioux Falls. The statue can be viewed from the park on foot.

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