1920 Christensen Drive · Spearfish, South Dakota
Termesphere Gallery
Open daily, 9 AM to 5 PM · Free admission
“One of the nation’s more unusual art spaces can be found off a well maintained gravel road outside Spearfish, in a geodesic dome festooned with fantastical globes.”
The New York Times
“Standing in the Termesphere Gallery, celestial artwork slowly circulating above my head, I find standard vocabulary woefully inadequate and flat.”
Helene Sorcic, Splash Magazine
The property on Christensen Drive, Spearfish, South Dakota. Four domes, built one at a time over fifty years.
The First Dome
After meeting Buckminster Fuller at Black Hills State University, Dick built his first geodesic dome on family land outside Spearfish. He intended it as a place to store work. Instead, he moved in. Markie moved in too, and they have been here since.
The $100 Dome
A neighbor named Tom Monahan had built a dome in Sturgis but never finished it. Dick bought it for $100, disassembled it piece by piece, hauled it over, and rebuilt it next to the first. He built a small path connecting the two.
The Studio
A commission for a seven-and-a-half foot sphere gave Dick and Markie enough money to build a proper studio dome. Dick still works in the upper half today. The lower half was Markie's puppet studio for years, and is now the Turtle House, one of two Airbnb stays on the property.
The Gallery
The gallery dome was built in 1992. Lang and Kabe, Dick's two sons, pressed their handprints into the wet cement that year. The dome holds the world's only permanent collection of Termespheres, all hanging from motors, all slowly turning.
Hours
Daily, 9 AM to 5 PM
June through September
October through May: call ahead
Admission
Free
Address
1920 Christensen Drive
Spearfish, South Dakota
Contact
"Honestly it's amazing! The art is so cool! Termes is an amazing artist and very friendly and nice to talk to. As a side note, ask if you can see the art in a VR headset, you'll be happy you did! There is so much to see, you'll want to spend more time here than you th
"Amazing experience! Lynn was so knowledgeable, and what a sweet gal. This gallery is definitely worth the trip! He's the only person in the world who does this type of art."
"On a Dakota road trip, we decided to stop here to break up the drive. This was one of the best stops I've ever made on a road trip."
Stay at the Gallery
Two geodesic dome stays, right on the property.
The Turtle House
A fully renovated geodesic dome at the base of Dick’s studio. The lower level has been transformed into a comfortable stay with its own entrance, kitchen, and living space, all surrounded by the Black Hills. This is where the work happens above you and the pines are right outside the door.
Book on Airbnb
The iCasa
A small geodesic dome on the hill above the property, set among the ponderosa pines with views across the Black Hills. A loft bed, a deck, and the kind of quiet that doesn’t exist in most places. More glamping than lodging, and that’s exactly the point.
Book on Airbnb