WHAT’S YOUR FAVOURITE?
What’s Your Favourite...?
Artist and CAA Member Todd Gronsdahl shares the best skateboarding spot and where to grab a bite in Saskatoon.
By Nicole Keen
ARTIST TODD GRONSDAHL’S version of Saskatchewan isn’t one you’ll find in a history book. His whimsical The Saskatchewan Maritime Museum started with one handmade sculpture of a ski jump and evolved into a whole other world. Before life as a full-time artist, Gronsdahl ran two Saskatoon restaurants with his wife, Megan Macdonald. With his current venture, La Ligue Gourmand, he gets back to his culinary roots, serving up a unique art-infused supper club experience designed to satisfy appetites and imaginations.
Saskatoon’s Primal features Italian fare with a Saskatchewan twist, such as bison carpaccio with crispy artichoke, pickled walnut, parmesan, greens and garlic aioli. | PHOTOS: CAREY SHAW
Who are some artists you’re inspired by?
Definitely Wes Anderson. Also R. Buckminster Fuller, who invented the geodesic dome.
What else influences your work?
The Cold War aesthetic of Soviet Russia and the Eastern Bloc. Saskatchewan also has a rich history of Modernist architecture. Being surrounded by that has influenced me for sure.
I understand you’re an avid skateboarder. Is there a good skatepark in Saskatoon?
Lions Skatepark in Victoria Park is great. It’s one of the best skateparks I’ve ever found.
“Saskatchewan also has a rich history of Modernist architecture. Being surrounded by that has influenced me for sure.”
A detail of Gronsdahl’s G.A.S.P.R. Helmet, from 2017; Wanuskewin Heritage Park. | PHOTOS: COURTESY OF TODD GRONSDAHL; TOURISM SASKATCHEWAN
As someone who was in the restaurant business for 17 years, where do you like to eat locally?
Dylan and Cam’s, [located] inside the Shelter Brewing Company. And Christie Peters has an amazing Italian restaurant called Primal.
You clearly have a passion for art and food. Tell me more about your ongoing project, La Ligue Gourmand.
[My wife, Megan, and I] serve a five-course meal, which she prepares. I fill the space with works from my Maritime Museum exhibit, so you feel like you’re in a private club. It always has a theme. My wife also does ceramics, including housewares, and we’re opening a design showroom. Then we can have these events and sell our work from a [consistent] place instead of always popping up.
Is there anything else you’d like to mention or shout out?
Wanuskewin [Heritage Park], which is just outside [of] Saskatoon. There’s something super-magical about the environment there. It’s just a real, like...okay, [I] live in Saskatoon, I know this area. And then you go there and just feel like you’re in a completely different world. CAA
ARTIST TODD GRONSDAHL’S version of Saskatchewan isn’t one you’ll find in a history book. His whimsical The Saskatchewan Maritime Museum started with one handmade sculpture of a ski jump and evolved into a whole other world. Before life as a full-time artist, Gronsdahl ran two Saskatoon restaurants with his wife, Megan Macdonald. With his current venture, La Ligue Gourmand, he gets back to his culinary roots, serving up a unique art-infused supper club experience designed to satisfy appetites and imaginations.
A detail of Gronsdahl’s G.A.S.P.R. Helmet, from 2017. | PHOTO: COURTESY OF TODD GRONSDAHL
Wanuskewin Heritage Park. | PHOTO: TOURISM SASKATCHEWAN
“Saskatchewan also has a rich history of Modernist architecture. Being surrounded by that has influenced me for sure.”