Brett Prang didn’t set out to do anything unusual. He and his wife Tammy were just trying to find a way to get rid of some old iron scraps that were left over from three generations of their family who had lived on their property in Kodoka, South Dakota. Located in the Badlands, miles away from anywhere, their Frying Pan Ranch has been largely unknown by anyone, until now.

What started out as a simple request by his wife has turned into something more personal for Brett. “Tammy asked me what we were going to do with all the junk that was laying around the ranch,” says Brett. Feeling a flash of inspiration, he went to work welding bits and pieces of all the old farm equipment his family had used over the decades into a gigantic 37-foot cross. “I wanted to mark the spot of our family’s cemetery,” he said. So he placed it on a hill overlooking his ancestors’ final resting place where it could be seen for some distance. “All these equipment parts represent our family’s history,” says Brett nostalgically. Since then, hundreds of people have made their way to this deserted corner of South Dakota to see it.

Located 21 miles east of Rapid City, the “Frying Pan” isn’t the easiest place to find. Nevertheless, people have come from all over the world, drawn by its symbolic art. Brett estimates that over 1,000 travelers have visited his ranch from places like Australia, Hawaii, Japan, and Great Britain.

“I don’t know how people find out about it,” says Brett. But come they do and awestruck they are. While going about their daily routine, it isn’t uncommon for the Prangs to gaze out their window to the cross in the distance and notice somebody standing there looking up. “It’s as if they are transfixed,” says Tammy. “We love meeting new people even though we are out in the boonies, so we go out and try to be friendly.”

The reactions the Prangs get to their creation are as individual as the tourists to their ranch. Sometimes visitors just stare, other times they will just utter a single word like “awesome” or “unbelievable.”

Brett has named his sculpture simply Hope and even created a smaller, 27-foot version of the original that he has taken on the road. Its most recent appearance was at the Loveland Sculpture Show in Loveland, Colorado—one of the biggest events of its kind in the United States. As with the larger version, crowds of art lovers get a glimpse of the enormous cross and slowly make their way to its base. Staring upward, many are simply silent as they marvel at its design and the simple elements that make up its structure.

Looking more like a Maltese cross, the massive beams get wider towards the ends. Hundreds of small pieces of iron give it a unique look that many find captivating. “Every time I look at it I think of three generations of our family,” says Tammy. “All those little pieces of junk make it look like lace to me and it brings tears to my eyes.”

Brett says he isn’t any good with words but believes that his creation inspires people. “Maybe its hope for mankind,” he muses. Perhaps. But whatever the reason, many will find themselves driving along a dusty, dirt road in the Badlands of South Dakota to a spot where hope still lives.