Corntrary to popular belief, the Corn Palace isn't entirely made of corn (actually it's constructed of reinforced concrete), but it's only the exterior that's decorated with thousands of bushels of corn every year. Jokingly referred to as corn-septual art and ear-chitecture, wall murals using corn and other grains depict an assortment of folk art themes every year. Themes range from American destinations to modes of transportation. Each year the decorations are stripped off and new ideas are designed and applied. Looking more like an Eastern European cathedral, with its minarets and onion-shaped domes, the corn palace uses every variety of South Dakota's corn imaginable. Sometimes called the world's largest bird feeder, the palace is covered with 13 colors of corn kernels, varying from blacks and browns, to calicos and whites.
   Entertaining a half million visitors every year, the Mitchell community center also serves as a venue for concerts, sporting events, graduations and hometown basketball games. The original Palace, known as the Corn Belt Exposition, first opened in 1892. One of a dozen countrywide autumn festivals, South Dakota farmers are proud of their crops and eager to show off their harvests. Today's Palace is the third rendition, dating back to 1921. Billboards all across South Dakota point toward Mitchell, home of the Corn Palace and the Corn Capital of the World.

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