Growing up in Pierre, artist Angela Marie Poches remembers scouring the mosaics of the South Dakota Capitol building to find the 66 blue stones that legend says were placed there by each of its original Italian artisans.

“I’ve grown up walking those halls and admiring the architecture,” Poches said.

Poches never located all 66 of the robin’s egg blue tiles in the terrazzo floors. Even state archivists have only found 55. But her childhood searches of the state capitol helped prepare Poches, now a Rapid City watercolorist, to be one of 32 South Dakota artists who are using their artwork to pay tribute to the capitol on its 100th birthday.

“Artisans are what built the capitol. What better way to celebrate it than with art?” asked Poches, whose 9-by-12-inch watercolor of the interior of the capitol rotunda is the first piece in the series. Her painting was unveiled Monday during the Capitol Centennial Reception, the first of two special events planned to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the completion of the capitol.

The South Dakota Heritage Fund -- the non-profit fundraising arm of the state Historical Society -- recruited 31 other artists, including Poches’ teacher and mentor, Hill City watercolorist Jon Crane. Each agreed to create a piece based on historical archived photographs.

“We’re recreating the past and bringing it into the future,” Poches said.

The artwork will be auctioned at a gala event at the Cultural Heritage Center in Pierre on June 19 to benefit the South Dakota State Historical Society. A Web site will allow for online bidding for people unable to attend the live auction.

Poches, who goes by the name Angela Marie as an artist, has called Rapid City home for 12 years. She chose to paint the interior of the rotunda after seeing “a great old archived photo of it that had lots of light and shadow in it.”

Most of the paintings of the state capitol are of its exterior, its grounds or the capitol lake, she said.

“No one has really shown the beauty of the inside of the capitol. So to paint the interior is really fun for me,” she said. “I think people will find it warm and welcoming, which is what I wanted to portray about our capitol. That it’s a warm, welcoming place to South Dakotans. It’s one of those places where you wish you could hear the walls talk.”

If they could, she’d ask about those missing blue tiles.

Contact Mary Garrigan at 394-8424 or mary.garrigan@rapidcityjournal.com