South Dakota Court to Hear Appeal of Kevin Costner Art Ruling

March 20, 2012

A court in the U.S. will hear an appeal of a ruling that actor Kevin Costner did not breach a contract with an artist whom he commissioned to produce a bronze sculpture of bison and American Indians.

Oral arguments at the South Dakota Supreme Court are set for Monday.

The Hollywood superstar paid Peggy Detmers $300,000 to make the sculpture in the 1990s for a resort he planned in South Dakota’s Black Hills. The resort was never built, but he instead placed the sculpture at his Tatanka attraction near Deadwood.

A judge ruled last summer that this alternative placement did not constitute a breach of contract.

Detmers said she gave Costner a price break because she anticipated selling more artwork at the resort.

Costner filmed much of his Academy-Award-winning movie “Dances with Wolves” in South Dakota.