Stewart Steinhauer Sculpture

St. Albert Place sculpture damaged beyond repair

One of St. Albert's prized but controversial aboriginal sculptures was decapitated by an act of vandalism over the weekend and is beyond repair, city officials say.

The Stewart Steinhauer statue entitled StarWoman was discovered tipped over on Saturday at its location behind St. Albert Place. The uppermost section of the work, which depicted a woman's head and a star in the sky, were missing from the granite work that lay broken next to a railing.

"I'm discouraged. I'm disappointed. I'm appalled. I was extremely saddened all weekend by it," said Mayor Nolan Crouse.

So far an investigation has turned up no leads. A review of security footage revealed nothing as the cameras at St. Albert Place don't point outside, Crouse said. That's something the city may have to reconsider, he said.

The statue was valued at $65,000. It depicts StarWoman, who according to aboriginal legend gave birth to the indigenous peoples of North America.

The statue is one of five works of acclaimed aboriginal artist Steinhauer that the city owns. All are located along the plaza by Red Willow Trail behind city hall.

Damaged beyond repair

City manager Bill Holtby considers the sculpture to be damaged beyond repair.

"My experience with artwork is once a piece of art has been vandalized it's really lost its value," Holtby said. "It would have to be replaced with something of equivalent value."

He expects the city will ask Steinhauer if he has another piece in his collection that would be a suitable fit with the remaining four sculptures. Based on communication that took place over the weekend, Steinhauer was scheduled to be in St. Albert Monday.

The damage will cost the city $25,000, as the sculptures are insured under a policy with a $25,000 deductible.

City officials are already anticipating the addition of security cameras to the outside of St. Albert Place to provide surveillance of the area occupied by the sculptures, Holtby said. They also want to find a way to secure the sculptures to the concrete pad they occupy.

Before this incident, these measures hadn't been viewed as necessary.

"We felt that the sculptures were immovable," Holtby said.

Constroversial purchase

City council consented to a special purchase of the sculptures last September. In total they cost $232,500, which is being paid over six years. As an individual piece, StarWoman was valued at $50,000 but Steinhauer provided all five sculptures for a 30 per cent discount.

The purchase, made outside the usual budget process, came after lobbying from citizens who'd fallen in love with the sculptures but also sparked outrage among some taxpayers.

Crouse doesn't think controversy was at the root of the vandalism.

"That was deplorable. That is just totally unacceptable in our community," he said. "I'd be shocked if it was targeted because of controversy."

"All these things are disappointing," Crouse said.

The sculpture was insured and is now in possession of the public works department. The city hopes to have Steinhauer view the damage to see if the piece can be reworked or repaired, Crouse said.

Police seek public help

The incident occurred between 5 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday, said Cpl. Laurel Kading of the St. Albert RCMP, which has opened an investigation. There are no suspects or known witnesses.

"Now we are putting it out to the public with an appeal to let us know what happened," Kading said.

Police urge anyone with information to call the St. Albert RCMP at 780-458-7700 or the Crime Stoppers line at 1-800-222-8477.