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Did new SD license plates get Rushmore wrong?

South Dakota’s new license plates are turning heads.

The new state license plate (top) depicts Mount Rushmore differently than the old plates.

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — South Dakota’s new license plates are turning heads.

The new beige-on-blue design is causing a stir because of how it depicts the faces of four U.S. presidents sculpted into Mount Rushmore.

Drivers are expressing their frustration: They’re too dark. They look dirty. George Washington is facing the wrong way.

Pam Nelson, Minnehaha County treasurer, was stopped at Walmart by a man who wanted to complain about the new design.

“So far I’ve heard nothing positive,” Nelson said.

Mount Rushmore was designed by American sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who began his work in 1927 and completed it 14 years later.

State law demands license plates include a replica of the signature memorial, “provided, that such replica can be reproduced on a motor vehicle license plate so as to be easily discernible,” according to statute.

Misrepresentation or not, the faces are different this time around. They are beige, not white, and positioned at a different angle. Perhaps most notably, George Washington’s face appears to be looking off to the side.

That’s what upset Kay Nelson. The 64-year-old Sioux Falls resident lived in Keystone for years and worked at a hotel with a clear view of the memorial.

Washington is facing the wrong direction, Nelson said.

“Oh, I hate them,” Nelson said of the new license plates. “They’re disgusting.”

Tony Ascrizzi is more concerned with the shading. He develops film for famed Mount Rushmore photographer Bill Groethe.

Not only do the plates not represent anything he’s seen in real life, they make the identifying numbers and letters hard to read.

“I’ve never seen a picture that dark,” Ascrizzi said.

The new plates are the result of a collaborative effort between the governor’s office, the Department of Tourism, the Department of Revenue and South Dakota law enforcement, said Jonathan Harms, a spokesman for the Revenue Department.

So who designed Rushmore’s image?

“That’s not something I’m willing to talk about,” Harms said.

The state entered into a $16.7 million contract with California-based manufacturer Intellectual Technology Inc. to produce the plates for the next five years. The firm has an in-house graphic design team, according to the 249-page contract, and was willing to work with state representatives on the final product.

The company did not respond to a request for comment.

The faces are different, but it’s not a misrepresentation, said Blaine Kortemeyer, assistant chief of interpretation for the national memorial.

Kortemeyer has seen the memorial from every angle, including from the top. Kortemeyer is part of a team of staffers that descends the monument, right in front of the faces, to adjust monitors on the sculpture.

He also likes the new plates more than the old plates.

Washington isn’t facing the wrong way, he said.

“The new plate just has a different view point,” Kortemeyer said.

Old plates showed the faces straight-on, which most visitors see from the Grand View Terrace. New plates show the angle from the Sculptor’s Studio, which is about 100 yards northeast of the terrace, Kortemeyer said.

Workers believe it’s the view Borglum prized most, because there is no gap between Roosevelt and Lincoln.

As for the darker color, it has the yellows and browns of the monument at first light, Kortemeyer said.

“It gives better contrast,” Kortemeyer said. “The sculpture pops more.”

As for the numbers and letters on the new plates, that'll remain up for debate.

Follow Patrick Anderson on Twitter: @ArgusPAnderson

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