Dr. Mary Longman gave city council an update on a piece of art commissioned several years ago. It will be installed in the spring. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Public Art

City gets update on public art project from well-known Sask. artist

Sep 3, 2025 | 12:03 PM

A piece of fine art will grace Scarrow Plaza in downtown Prince Albert by spring, city council heard on Tuesday.

Dr. Mary Longman is an associate professor in art and art history at the University of Saskatchewan and has Saulteaux heritage from south Saskatchewan.

The art she has planned and created for the City of Prince Albert took years to come to fruition and was no simple task.

“This has taken a while because we started out with a modest amount ($121,000) but for a public bronze monument, we knew we had to raise some money,” Longman explained.

Starting with the city grant of $121,000, they were able to get $20,000 from the Northern Lights Community Development fund – Prince Albert Grand Council, $100,000 from the Canada Council – Creating, Knowing, Sharing grant, $15,000 from Saskatchewan Arts – Indigenous Peoples, Arts and Artists, and just under $70,000 from the Canada Council’s Explore Create fund.

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That would all provide $326,000 to work with, but waiting to know if they would be able to get the grant money took some time.

“We’re at the point where we can realize everything very modestly and frugally,” she said.

“We received our last grant at the beginning of June, so we’re able now to initiate the final phase.”

Her inspiration for the sculpture that will sit in the plaza next to the provincial courthouse was a photo of two Indigenous children being pulled in a travois by a horse. A travois is a historical drag sled-like device, typically made of two long poles and pulled by a horse or dog, that was used by Indigenous peoples and others for transporting goods or people.

Longman said she began designing the concept in 2021, which included not only the bronze sculpture, but physical changes to the park itself including a winding pathway and benches.

A new bronze sculpture will be installed in Scarrow Plaza in the spring. (Susan McNeil/paNOW)

The process involved making smaller scale depictions, having it 3D printed at a large scale and then ultimately having the final work cast in bronze.

Some of the preparation was done as far away as Austin, Texas and some in Alberta

The idea is to make Scarrow Plaza a healing park; the red path, the benches, where the path leads and the sculpture are all included in the concept.

It will take a crane to install the large-scale sculpture when it is ready in the spring.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com

On BlueSky: @susanmcneil.bsky.social