The South Dakota Art Museum's Dunn Collection is significant in that it consists of prairie paintings that have become the pride of South Dakota. The collection also contains illustrations featured in The Saturday Evening Post and World War I paintings inspired by his contribution to the American Expeditionary Forces. Dunn's works are nationally regarded not only for their contribution to American illustration, but more specifically, to its documentation of the emotion of early prairie life. The Museum was built specifically to house the Harvey Dunn Collection which was given to the South Dakota State College (now the South Dakota State University) by the artist in 1950. This collection was created when the Museum opened in 1970 and is one of the cornerstone illustration collections. The works were originally given to the South Dakota State College and finally transferred to the South Dakota Art Museum in 1970.
