Artist Patricia Leguen seen outside the Allen Sapp Gallery on Tuesday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

By Angela Brown

Art in the city

Artist creating snow sculpture as part of Wintertainment activities

Feb 16, 2021 | 3:58 PM

The rumbling sounds of a front-end loader moving piles of snow onto something resembling a lofty wedding cake filled the air outside the Allen Sapp Gallery Tuesday.

The activity was all part of artist Patricia Leguen’s snow sculpture project that is now underway. The initiative is expected to be completed by Sunday.

Leguen will reveal the sculpture design as the project emerges at the end of the week.

The event is part of this week’s Wintertainment activities in North Battleford.

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Leguen said she enjoys the craft of sculpting snow, and is glad to take part in this week’s activities.

“It’s a beautiful way to create something very big in the wintertime,” she said. “Since there is snow here for six months, it’s the best.”

This is the fifth snow sculpture she has created this winter in the region.

Artist Patricia Leguen. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW staff)

Originally from Brittany, France, Leguen has been living in Saskatoon since 1983 and has been sculpting ever since. Leguen also has been competing at national and international competitions, carving ice, snow, and sand for 30 years. She won first place in a national competition in 1993.

She was planning to pack snow last week to start the project in North Battleford but had to postpone it due to the extreme cold temperatures.

The snow is now in place, filling four tiers, so Leguen can step onto each one to make it easier to carve the various parts of her design in the days ahead.

The city’s manager of galleries, Leah Garven, is thrilled to have Leguen here to contribute her talents.

“It’s in theme with a lot of our other programs this year,” Garven said. “That is an animal theme. She [created] a bear recently in Saskatoon – a polar bear and some cubs, which were adorable.”

Garven said she would like to keep the design of the North Battleford project a surprise until it is completed, to add a little fun for the community, guessing the outcome.

“It’s really exciting to be able to animate a public space with some action in our cold long winter,” she added. “I’m looking forward to having something transform and change daily in this white landscape that we are in.”

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angela.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @OCoureurDesBois