Kristi Noem Memorialized in $150,000 Bronze Statue Alongside Her Horse Iceman in South Dakota
PIERRE, S.D. — Former South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has been immortalized in bronze, with a new life size statue depicting the Republican politician standing alongside her horse, Iceman, now installed across from the South Dakota State Capitol.
The $150,000 sculpture was unveiled Friday, Aug. 7, as the newest addition to Pierre’s Trail of Governors, a privately funded public art project commemorating South Dakota’s former governors. Unlike most of the trail’s earlier monuments, Noem’s sculpture includes a second life-size figure: Iceman, the horse closely associated with her ranching background and carefully cultivated Western political image. Noem attended the ceremony, which also included the unveiling of her official gubernatorial portrait. South Dakota sculptor John Lopez created the bronze monument, while artist David Uhl painted Noem’s official portrait. The unusually elaborate monument and its $150,000 price tag quickly attracted attention beyond South Dakota, particularly because it cost substantially more than previous installations on the Trail of Governors.
Noem and Iceman Cast in Bronze
The sculpture portrays Noem dressed in Western attire and standing beside Iceman, an image designed to connect her governorship with South Dakota’s ranching and rodeo culture. The scene also reflects Noem’s appearances with Iceman during the annual Buffalo Roundup at Custer State Park while she was governor. Lopez has previously produced several pieces for the Trail of Governors and is known for large scale Western sculptures. The Noem monument is his fourth contribution to the project. Noem thanked the foundation responsible for the monument and described the ceremony as an opportunity to reconnect with South Dakotans.
“South Dakota is home, so it’s been so amazing to be here today and to see everybody we love, to talk about memories but also to talk about the future,” Noem said.
During her remarks, Noem said the Trail of Governors helps preserve South Dakota’s political history and gives younger generations an opportunity to learn about the people who previously led the state.
The Statue Cost $150,000, Nearly Twice as Much as Earlier Governors
The price of the monument is one of the details attracting the most attention. Leroy Foster of the Trail of Governors Foundation told South Dakota Searchlight that Noem’s statue cost approximately $150,000. Previous gubernatorial statues reportedly cost approximately $78,000, putting Noem’s installation at nearly twice that amount. There is, however, an important distinction amid criticism surrounding the price: the Trail of Governors is privately funded rather than a conventional taxpayer-funded state monument program.
The foundation raises private donations to commission, install and maintain the bronze statues placed throughout Pierre and near the Capitol. The increased cost of Noem’s monument also comes with an obvious physical difference from most of its predecessors: sculptors were not simply creating a bronze representation of the former governor but also an entire life size horse. With Noem’s addition, all of South Dakota’s former governors are now represented along the trail.
The Unveiling Had Been Delayed for Noem’s Federal Schedule
The statue ceremony was originally scheduled for June 12 before being postponed until August. The Trail of Governors Foundation said in May that the ceremony was being rescheduled to accommodate Noem’s federal responsibilities. Noem became South Dakota’s first female governor when she took office in January 2019 after previously serving in the state Legislature and representing South Dakota in the U.S. House of Representatives. She left the governor’s office in 2025 after President Donald Trump selected her to lead the Department of Homeland Security.
The timing made the ceremony more than a routine addition to South Dakota’s collection of gubernatorial monuments. It also represented a high profile return to the state capital for one of the most nationally recognizable political figures South Dakota has produced.
Noem Says She Isn’t Planning Another Campaign, But Won’t Rule One Out
The unveiling also generated questions about whether Noem is finished with electoral politics. She isn’t completely closing the door. Speaking with reporters surrounding the ceremony, Noem said she is not currently planning another campaign but stopped short of declaring her political career over. She specifically indicated that she is not presently planning a U.S. Senate campaign in 2028. That distinction is notable given Noem’s rapid rise from South Dakota politics to the national Republican stage. She spent years developing a national profile and was widely discussed as a potential presidential or vice presidential contender before becoming a prominent member of Trump’s second administration. Her return to South Dakota, accompanied by a permanent monument celebrating her governorship, therefore inevitably revived speculation about what could come next.
Gavin Newsom’s Team Quickly Brought Up Cricket
The statue had barely been unveiled before California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political operation seized on one of the most infamous controversies of Noem’s career. Newsom’s team circulated an AI generated parody of the monument referencing Cricket, the 14 month old wirehaired pointer Noem acknowledged killing years earlier. Noem revealed the episode herself in her 2024 memoir, describing how she shot Cricket after concluding that the dog was dangerous and untrainable. The disclosure became a major national controversy and followed Noem throughout the 2024 presidential election cycle.
Newsom’s operation responded to the new South Dakota monument with a digitally generated parody invoking the dead dog and the phrase “Justice for Cricket.” The attack was partisan political trolling, but it demonstrated how quickly an event intended to celebrate Noem’s South Dakota legacy became ammunition in the broader national political culture war.
Why Does South Dakota Have Statues of Its Governors?
Despite some of the national reaction, the monument was not commissioned simply because Noem decided she wanted a bronze statue of herself. The Trail of Governors is an established South Dakota historical project that commissions life size bronze sculptures of the state’s former governors and places them throughout downtown Pierre and around the Capitol complex.
The foundation says the project is intended to preserve South Dakota’s political history and tell the stories of the people who have occupied the governor’s office. That context is important because social media descriptions portraying the event simply as Noem unveiling a statue of herself omit the broader purpose of the project. Noem is the latest former governor to be incorporated into an existing collection. What distinguishes her monument is the addition of Iceman, the substantially higher price and the fact that Noem remains a nationally recognizable political figure whose career may be far from finished.
The Statue Captures Noem’s Carefully Crafted Western Image
The inclusion of Iceman tells a larger story about how Noem has presented herself throughout her political career. Noem cultivated a distinctly Western public image during her rise through Republican politics, frequently emphasizing her upbringing on a South Dakota ranch, her experience with horses and agriculture, and her connection to the state’s rural culture.
The monument permanently captures that version of Noem. It does not portray her sitting behind the governor’s desk, speaking from a congressional podium or overseeing a federal department. Instead, it depicts Kristi Noem as a South Dakota horsewoman standing beside Iceman. That is an artistic choice, but it is also a statement about the political legacy the monument is intended to preserve.
A Permanent Monument to a Political Career That May Not Be Over
There is an inherent unusualness whenever a living politician attends the unveiling of a permanent monument celebrating their own career. In Noem’s case, that dynamic is amplified because she remains politically active and has declined to completely rule out seeking elected office again. Her bronze likeness is already standing in Pierre while the real Kristi Noem continues navigating national Republican politics and an open ended political future.
For the Trail of Governors Foundation, the statue fills the remaining historical gap in its collection of former South Dakota governors. For Noem, the monument preserves something considerably more personal: the Western political identity she spent years cultivating, complete with cowboy attire and Iceman standing beside her. Whatever comes next in Noem’s political career, that version of the former South Dakota governor is now literally cast in bronze.
