City of Saskatoon paid $87,000 to house artists among animals

It’s not just lions and tigers being housed at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm Park and Zoo.

There’s also a habitat there for an artist-in-residence through the City of Saskatoon.

A bunkhouse at the zoo has been set aside for use by artists during their residencies with the city where they can work while being inspired by nature, the animals and people.

Gage Haubrich, the prairie director with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, decided to look into the program after he saw a news release from the City of Saskatoon seeking its next artist to use the bunkhouse. He discovered the project, which began in 2019, set the city back about $87,000.

The bulk of the money was spent renovating and repairing the bunkhouse for $74,244, the CTF reported. An additional $13,029 has been spent on the program, which is continuing this year.

Haubrich said he thinks programs like these should be brought to the attention of the public because of the high taxes facing residents living in the city.

“Taxpayers are struggling to pay their property tax bill and afford life necessities,” Haubrich said. “The city needs to look at its spending.”

Haubrich noted the city agreed to a six per cent property tax increase in its budget decisions for 2024.

“We’re raising the alarm on this simply because as much as everyone appreciates art, the city doesn’t need to be spending taxpayer money for a special building at the zoo for artists to do it in,” Haubrich said.

While artists don’t live at the bunkhouse, it is meant to provide an office-type workspace for an artist to do their creative work. Artists are required to spend a certain number of hours each week during their residency at the bunkhouse.

Haubrich said while a number of artists have used the space since 2019, he would “definitely” consider it to be a waste of money and an unnecessary expenditure.

“Nobody’s stopping artists from going to the zoo on their own dime to find that inspiration, so it’s a little bit puzzling why the city decided to spend almost $100,000 on this,” he said.

Haubrich said the city has more pressing priorities, like crime and snow removal, and until its budget is a bit less strained, the city should be focusing its spending on needs instead of “nice-to-have” projects.

The City of Saskatoon website lists six artists scheduled to take up residency in the bunkhouse over the next year, between Jan. 16 of this year and the end of March 2025.

In an email, the City of Saskatoon addressed the report by the CTF, calling the bunkhouse a city asset with heritage significance. In 1990, Saskatoon’s Forestry Farm Park and Zoo was designated a national historic site after the Sutherland Forest Nursery Station opened in 1913 as a tree nursery station.

The bunkhouse was built in 1916 as a residence for workers. In 1965, the nursery closed and a portion of the site was reopened as the Forestry Farm Park the following year.

According to the city, the bunkhouse renovations were not only to house the artist-in-residence program.