This year, Suzie Cappa Art Center, part of Black Hills Works, celebrates its 25th anniversary. But before there was a center, there were parents who saw potential in their daughter, Suzie.
Growing up, Suzanne Cappa led a full life, always encouraged and celebrated by her loving family.
In 1975, at age 30, Suzanne โ known by everyone as Suzie โ began receiving services and support from Black Hills Works. Her potential as an artist was realized when she came home with a watercolor she had painted in a Black Hills Works art class. It astonished her parents, Juanita and Peter, who had no inkling of her aptitude.
That was the just beginning.
Seeing her talent, Juanita pursued formal art lessons for Suzie with several local teachers. With instruction, Suzie’s talent quickly blossomed. She began selecting her own brushes, colors, and subjects.
โWe were amazed as to her strong sense of color which is quite positive and deep,โ Juanita was quoted as saying in a Black Hills Works publication from that era: “It is so exciting that this talent is all coming from within herself.”
In 1985, Suzieโs talent took her work to Park City, Utah, where her paintings were displayed at the Special Olympics Winter Games, earning several gold medals.
So much of Suzieโs growth was due to the potential Juanita saw in her, which went well beyond brushwork and color. Suzie’s growing confidence as an artist ran parallel to her growing independence, physical mobility, and social connections. Art gave her purpose. It gave her pride. It gave her a genuine connection with the people around her.
Juanita had a deep spiritual conviction that her daughter, and every person supported by Black Hills Works, had something unique and meaningful to contribute to the world. She advocated fiercely, not just for Suzie, but for all people with disabilities. Juanita believed Suzie and her peers should be out in the community, fully present and fully participating: bowling, going to restaurants, watching high school football games, and more.
When accepting an award from Black Hills Works, Juanita remarks reflected on what Black Hills Works means to those it supports: โBlack Hills Works is not just a place for adults with disabilities to spend their time โ it is a shining light toward which these individuals look with hope and anticipation of a future. It is a promise to help life limitations and to light a practical path into the community.โ
After Suzie passed away in 1997, former Black Hills Works’ employee, Vince Braun, traveled to Germany, where he visited a program with a well-established art center. He connected what he saw there with Suzie and the pleasure and sense of accomplishment that painting gave her.
That memory led to the founding of the Suzie Cappa Art Center. Led by its first director, Brad Winter, the first location was in a small space at Black Hills Worksโ Learning Institute on Range Road. With Bradโs vision and continued support from many individuals, the art center grew into a thriving downtown Rapid City destination at 722 Saint Joseph Street.
The Suzie Cappa Art Center now employs 30 artists who create, exhibit, and sell their painting, drawing, sculpture, and fabric art in a gallery that is open to the whole community.
This year, thanks to the incredible generosity of a supportive community, Black Hills Works celebrated the expansion of the Suzie Cappa Art Center, the next milestone in the quarter century history of this Rapid City treasure. The Center will soon welcome even more working artists with disabilities who will create art and change perceptions one brush stroke at a time, just like Suzie did a generation before.
After twenty-five years, the center that Suzie inspired is woven into the fabric of this city. What started as one motherโs vision to help adults like Suzie unlock confidence has grown into a thriving art gallery. Supported by a grateful community, the Center showcases artistic talent, hosts community events, while breaking down barriers and perceptions.
Juanita and Peter never saw the art center that would carry their daughter’s name. But the vision they spent a life building โ that people with disabilities belong in the community, not apart from it โ has been carried on and amplified.
It does exactly what Juanita always believed was possible.
The Suzie Cappa Art Center is a program of Black Hills Works, an organization serving adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Rapid City area since 1958.
