EMPRESS, Alta. – There’s nothing new about antique collecting, but two artists from western Saskatchewan have taken the hobby to new dimensions: they collect old churches.
Dean Francis and Fran Hartsook never set out to fill their yard with three symbols of their province’s religious past. It was a combination of opportunity and need: the churches were available and Francis and Hartsook desperately required gallery and studio space.
But there was also a deeper motivation.
“Churches were built with special care right from the start and when you see them falling into ruin, it’s really a sad thing,” Hartsook said.
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Added Francis: “We’re going to revive them instead of watching them crumble away.”
Francis, who has been a full-time wildlife painter for 27 years, grew up on a farm near Mantario, Sask. When he bought a piece of land east of Empress and north of the South Saskatchewan River in 1996, he moved his old studio onto the yard.
“I’ve had the same studio since 1981,” he said. “I just take it with me.”
As a wildlife painter, the new location was perfect: wide open prairie and close to Saskatchewan’s Great Sand Hills and Cypress Hills and Alberta’s Red Deer River badlands. However, it was missing an art gallery where his work could be shown to customers in a finished and welcoming fashion conducive to making sales.
“I don’t like showing paintings in a studio space,” Francis said. “There are half finished paintings. You’re working on things. You want them to see the finished product.”
The solution presented itself in 1999 when it was announced that the United Church in Mantario was either going to be sold or destroyed. Francis’s grandfather had built the church in 1947 and he had attended services there as a child. Its 26 by 44 foot dimensions and 1,200 sq. feet of wide open space would make a perfect gallery and Francis had it moved to his yard 60 kilometres to the south. It took 11/2 years to renovate and hosted its first art show in June 2001.
For Francis, it’s more than just a gallery.
“I still feel the history because I went to the church and you can still feel it, like it was yesterday,” he said.
“The windows are frosted and you can’t see out so if you go inside and close your eyes and then open them, it’ll take you back to the way it was.”
The church collection would have ended with that one building if it hadn’t been for the St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Mendham, Sask., southwest of Leader, Sask., which became available in 2002.
“We went and looked at it,” Francis said. “That was our big mistake.”
At 30 by 80 feet and 2,400 sq. feet, they knew it would be an overwhelming project, but one they couldn’t pass up. It had been built as a country church in 1916 and was moved to Mendham in 1931. Like the Mantario church, it had run out of time and would be destroyed if no one took it.
Francis and Hartsook were hooked. The walls could accommodate large paintings and a vast domed ceiling would be perfect for a panoramic mural.
“It had a completely different feeling to it,” Francis said. “We couldn’t let go.”
To complicate matters, within days of visiting Mendham they heard that the United Church in Pinkham southwest of Kindersley, Sask., was also available. At 1,000 sq. feet and dimensions of 20 by 44 feet, it would solve a new problem. Hartsook, who is a potter and painter, had just moved in with Francis and the studio was becoming crowded. They needed a new one and the Pinkham church would fit the bill.
Besides, its history was special. Built in 1942 during the Second World War, it was a labour of love. It was built from lumber salvaged from an old barn and during their moving preparations, Francis and Hartsook found cattle manure still clinging to the wood and red barn paint under the stucco.
The two churches were moved within days of each other late last winter and placed on their new foundations. Francis and Hartsook expect it will take two to three years to get them ready for use.
While it’s a big and expensive job, they’re saving money by doing as much of the work themselves as possible. They paid approximately $1,000 for each church, which mainly helped clean up the original sites.
Landscaping at the churches’ new home is a priority for the couple. They plan to use existing rocks and plants to keep the natural prairie feel and connect the churches with boardwalks.
History is never far from their minds and they plan to install plaques at each building outlining their past. They are also aware of the responsibilities that come with agreeing to preserve other communities’ history.
“We had one lady walk into the Mantario church and started to cry,” Hartsook said. “She was just so moved to see it all fixed up. I hope that happens with Mendham.”
Added Francis: “Even if the building moves, the history doesn’t leave. It’s all the memories in it.”
