Lead Dwd Arts Center

10/13/2026

10/12/2026

Don’t miss the Lead Deadwood Arts Center’s 2026 Empty Bowls fundraiser at the Deadwood Social Club on Wednesday, October 14th, from 5 to 7pm.

Empty Bowls is a soup kitchen-type project where artists, along with students from Lead Deadwood High School, Spearfish High School & Black Hills State University, have donated handmade pottery bowls. Participants buy a bowl for $15 (kids $10) and fill it with soup donated by the Deadwood Social Club. All funds raised will go to local food banks.

Black Hills State University photography club, "Shutterbuzz," will host a silent auction of student photography, with half the proceeds donated to local food banks. For more information, please call the Lead Deadwood Arts Center at 605-584-1461 or email [email protected].

10/12/2026

We’re excited to welcome Mitchell “Stitch” Stafford as one of our judges for the 34th Annual Cheesecake Sampler & Battle of the Hors d’oeuvres! 🍰

Mitch is a Rapid City radio personality, music promoter, and founder of Stitch Productions LLC. He helps bring live music and opportunities for local musicians to the Black Hills, and he’ll be joining Jay Williams and Sean Covel at our judge’s table!

Join us Saturday, November 7, from 5–7 p.m. at the Historic Homestake Opera House in Lead. We’ll have a live art auction and a musical performance by a surprise guest, we’ll be announcing them soon!

We’re looking for more contestants! Enter your cheesecake, hors d’oeuvres, or both. You must pre-register, and we’d love to have you participate!

Prefer to come enjoy the food? Tickets are $25! Visit https://www.leaddeadwoodartscenter.com⁠ for tickets and contest registration information.

This fundraiser supports the Lead-Deadwood Arts Center and our art scholarship program. Come enjoy an evening of food, art, and music while supporting the arts in our community!

10/06/2026

🎉 Introducing Judge #2, Sean Covel! 🎉

We are so excited to announce Sean Covel as our second judge for the 34th Annual Cheesecake Sampler & Battle of the Hors d’Oeuvres!

You may recognize Sean as a producer of the cult classic movie Napoleon Dynamite, but there’s a lot more to his story!

Sean grew up right here in the Black Hills in Edgemont, South Dakota. He’s a film producer, author, educator and speaker who has produced many feature films and written several children’s books. He’s also the founder of The 12 Days of Pizza, a program that helps provide food to families facing food insecurity.

We’re so excited to have Sean joining Jay Williams at the judges table this year!

📅 November 7
⏰ 5 to 7 p.m.
📍 Historic Homestake Opera House

The event is put on by the Lead Deadwood Arts Center and raises money to support our Arts Center and scholarship program.

Along with LOTS of cheesecake and hors d’oeuvres, we’ll also have a live art auction, artwork for sale and a special performance by a surprise guest! 🎨🎶

Want to compete? You can enter your cheesecake or hors d’oeuvre, but you’ll need to register ahead of time. Or just grab a ticket, come hungry and enjoy the evening!

We still have TWO more judges to introduce, plus some other surprise guests! 👀

Stay tuned!

Tickets and registration:

10/06/2026

Clue #1: Right place, right time
Clue #2: How do you choose, Lead or Deadwood?
Ckue #3: 1912-1915 LCC

09/30/2026

🎙️ MEET THE JUDGES!

We’re slowly introducing our four judges for the upcoming Cheesecake Sampler & Battle of the Hors d’Oeuvres, and first up is Jay Williams!

Jay is a familiar voice on the radio here in the Black Hills and is part of the team at Riverfront Broadcasting. Not only will he be joining us as one of our four judges, but he’ll also be taking the mic as our auctioneer for the live art auction! 🎨

📅 November 7
⏰ 5–8 PM
📍 Historic Homestake Opera House in Lead

Think your cheesecake has what it takes? Or maybe your hors d’oeuvres are the ones to beat? You can enter either category, but you must register ahead of time to compete.

Not entering food? Come hungry, sample the entries, enjoy the art auction, and join us for a fun night supporting the Lead Deadwood Arts Center and our scholarship program!

🎟️ Tickets & contestant registration: leaddeadwoodartscenter.com

Stay tuned as we introduce the rest of our judges!