World Art Utopia

Crazy Horse Memorial

The carved face of Crazy Horse high on a granite mountain, with the outline of the horse’s head painted on the rock below and to the side.
Artwork FileSouth Dakota, USA

Crazy Horse Memorial

SeenSep 2026

Korczak Ziolkowski and the Crazy Horse Memorial · Thunderhead Mountain, Black Hills, South Dakota

Sculpture begun by Korczak Ziolkowski. Photo: Ahzoov / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0), taken 23 August 2017, cropped, as published on Street Art Utopia (Still Getting Visitors (10 Photos), 31 October 2026).

Lakota chief Henry Standing Bear asked sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski to carve a memorial for Native Americans, and the work was dedicated with a first blast on Thunderhead Mountain on 3 June 1948. Nearly 80 years later it is still unfinished. The Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota, and many see the carving as a desecration. Source Source Source Checked

Seen Sep 2026 — Cowboy State Daily reported on 26 September 2026, after a visit that month, that the face is finished, the left hand was completed in 2024, and the horse’s mane and ear are emerging. There is no fixed completion date. Source Source Reported

💡 4 things to know

  1. An invitation from Standing BearHenry Standing Bear wrote to Ziolkowski in 1939 after his success at the New York World’s Fair; the elders insisted the memorial be carved in the Black Hills. Source Source Checked
  2. First blast in 1948The memorial was dedicated on 3 June 1948 with the first blast on the mountain. Source Checked
  3. Built without federal moneyStanding Bear and Ziolkowski refused federal funding; the project says more than $250 million in private money has gone into it. Source Source Reported
  4. A contested monumentSmithsonian notes that the Black Hills are sacred to the Lakota, that many see the memorial as a desecration, and that Crazy Horse refused ever to be photographed or drawn. Source Reported

📍 Where it is

Thunderhead Mountain in the Black Hills of South Dakota, south of Hill City. The map link searches for the Crazy Horse Memorial visitor site. Source Source Checked

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🗓️ Sightings

  1. 19483 Jun

    Dedicated with the first blast

  2. 201723 Aug

    Face and horse outline photographed

  3. 202626 Sep

    Carving still under way

Green stamps mark dated photographs; amber stamps mark records or reports; red stamps mark loss. Publication dates are not camera dates.

🗞️ In the sources

Cowboy State Daily26 September 2026

“Crazy Horse's face took a decade to carve, from 1988 to 1998. His left hand was completed in 2024 after roughly a year of concentrated carving work.”

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✅ The facts

Sculptor
Korczak Ziolkowski Source Source Checked
Invited by
Lakota chief Henry Standing Bear Source Source Checked
Dedicated
3 June 1948, with the first blast Source Checked
Face
Carved from 1988 to 1998; 87 feet tall Source Reported
Left hand
Completed in 2024 Source Reported
Funding
No federal funding Source Source Source Checked
Private funds
More than $250 million, according to the memorial Source Reported
Completion
No fixed date Source Source Checked
Criticism
Seen by many as a desecration of the Black Hills, which are sacred to the Lakota Source Reported

🔗 Related

All sources & image credits

Last checked: 1 November 2026. How we verify art