Inside the Corn Palace

There are more murals, and exhibits covering the history of the building. The combination auditorium/basketball court that takes up much of the building also serves as the gift shop.

The Sydney Opera House, in corn

This closeup of one of the mosaics shows how they do it. Twelve different colors of corn, grown locally, are used and the designs are created by local artists. The corn cobs are split lengthwise and then nailed to the walls.

The Corn Palace

The Corn Palace, in tiny Mitchell, South Dakota (well, tiny by my standards—its 15,000 inhabitants make it the seventh largest city in South Dakota) is the last of what was once a series of “crop palaces” across the Midwest, built to promote their cities and the local agriculture.

All of the art on the facade, depicting the wonders of the world, is made out of corn. The theme changes every year, and new corn mosaics are created.

Carretas

Oxcarts—called carretas in Costa Rica—have been used in rural communities around the world to transport goods, but these distinctive bright orange and red designs are unique to Costa Rica.

The tradition began when a farmer wanted to decorate his carreta so he could use it to take his family on Sunday outings, and he painted it orange because that was the only color paint he had. And then of course everybody wanted one. A highly decorated oxcart became a status symbol because it meant the family was wealthy enough to hire an artist, and different regions developed their own styles of decoration.

This carreta was at the Doka Estate Coffee Plantation in Alajuela.