It was the “heart of winter” when Linsey Levendall arrived in Melfort from South Africa in 2012, accompanied by his then-wife, a new doctor for the small Saskatchewan city
“Pure madness, to be honest,” Levendall said of his chilling introduction to the Prairies
“You’re coming from beautiful beaches and lovely weather, and then all of a sudden you’re slap-bang into like minus-45.”
But, as the acclaimed artist soon realized, that was the only kind of warmth rural Saskatchewan lacked
“We had lots of people that were very generous, like lots of farmers, people that knew of the prospects of a doctor coming . . . and then, obviously, small-town Saskatchewan, everyone’s eager to host
“They made everything as nice as possible for us to be able to feel comfortable … in a small-town environment where things don’t function at a pace that I’m used to.”
“We had a very good kind of integration,” he added, which was unsayable in the South Africa of his youth
Yes, it had beautiful beaches and lovely weather, but also a system of segregation from which residual trauma thrives in Levendall’s art
But it’s no match for Melfort
Apartheid in South Africa
Levendall was born in Cape Town in 1983 to a mixed-race family classified as “Coloured,” one of four main racial categories delineated during apartheid
Meaning “apartness,” apartheid began in South Africa in 1948 and resulted in the oppression of dark-skinned citizens. Levendall’s grandparents were evicted from their home and land, as were his dad and his siblings
“It’s very fresh — all the trauma that was handed down from that,” he said
Apartheid lasted until 1994, with Levendall experiencing the horrors — and hopes — of its final years
“I was telling my kids recently about the (anti-apartheid) uprisings that were happening in schools,” Levendall said. “I happened to be adjacent to a high school that was very active back in the day
“It was very alarming getting teargassed really young and having to deal with, sort of, anarchy.”
It was worth the fight, he concluded, and to show his children strength in the face of hardship, which he channelled into art
“If you get into my work and you start to see how I interpret things, you can very clearly see that there’s a level of trauma . . . the dark stuff that people see but don’t want to confront.”
Following self-teaching and formal studying of graphic design, Levendall did creative work for South Africa’s post-apartheid government. When Nelson Mandela died, Cape Town’s mayor asked Levendall to paint a mural honouring the fallen first president
Mandela’s visage, along with that of human rights activist Desmond Tutu, still adorn the Cape Town Civic Centre
After some years in Melfort — and finding that the city’s sluggishness alle do with Saskatchewan’s icons what he did with South Africa’s
Unity in Melfort
Northern lights, the prairie lily and thistle were among the elements incorporated in Levendall’s Melfort mural, painted between the historic post office and Mel-City Floral in 2019
“I suggested the space. The owners of the building agreed,” he recalled. “The group that asked me to do this, they also facilitated the community to be able to (participate), but I ended up wanting to make it a little bit more engaging, so everybody — the schools, old age homes, just like your everyday person — (could) come by and immerse themselves in artistic experience
“A lot of the grannies love the thistle,” he said with a laugh
Beyond communal art initiatives, Levendall made plenty of friends and coached youth soccer
“We’ve found a really good community within Melfort . . . a really uplifting community, very grounded. I think (it’s) definitely something that I needed for myself, and for breaking a bunch of generational curses that were kind of trailing us around in South Africa, so it was really nice to have a break from all of that to be able to process things in a particular way.”
Expression in Saskatoon
In many ways, Levendall’s “particular way” has outgrown Melfort. Its slow pace and warm vibes may have broken Old Country curses and soothed an aggrieved artist, but there’s a limit to creative expression in rural Saskatchewan
“It’s like if it’s not a landscape (painting), then it’s not acceptable,” he chuckled
As such, he now winds his provocative, inimitable style — a mixture of materials and mediums undefinable but spanning the spectrum from Dutch baroque to spray painting— between Melfort and Saskatoon. In the latter city he has a studio and a gallery, Dervilia Art + Design, where, among other artists, his work is showcased for a wider variety of people
Two murals are planned, both in Saskatoon — one at a winery and one near a Vietnamese restaurant
Still, Levendall keeps residence in Melfort for the reasons he came to love it
“What I enjoy most about going back to Melfort is actually just the quiet . . . the pace is so much slower, I feel like I can hear my thoughts,” he said
“(In Saskatoon), I’m doing that rat race thing, whereas Melfort slows me down quite a bit, and that’s something I do appreciate quite profusely
“It’s grounding, it’s very community orientated. It’s just very wholesome.”
