Leslie Potter Sculpture “Visionaries” Damaged
After an incident, which appears to have happened overnight, Community Development staff filed a police report today outlining damage to the Leslie Potter sculpture entitled “Visionaries.”
“It’s sad to see a sculpture wrecked like this,” says Community Initiatives Manager, Kevin Kitchen. “Once we knew about it, we immediately took steps to speak to the police.”
“Visionaries” was installed in 1994 at the corner of 21st Street East and 2nd Avenue South and has since been a valued fixture there. One of three carved stone columns was somehow toppled, which left the column smashed in four separate pieces.
“On the one hand, it’s troubling if it is purely accidental and no one takes responsibility, but if this was done on purpose – it is one of the worst types of vandalism,” Kitchen says. “It attacks a work of art and an object that has been part of downtown Saskatoon for more than 20 years; people have been walking by, taken pictures and told us how upset they are to see this work smashed like this.”
Kitchen says staff will follow up with the City’s insurance company and the artist to see what the next steps may be.