Take a walk through downtown Saskatoon, River Landing, Riversdale or the University of Saskatchewan campus and you will see public works of art. These pieces reflect our community’s history, they tell important stories and some even become landmarks. Alejandro Romero is passionate about the many positive impacts public art brings to Saskatoon and he shares his convictions in this episode of YXE Underground.

This past summer, my wife and I spent a few weeks in Tennessee visiting places like Nashville, Knoxville and the Great Smoky Mountains. Everywhere we went, we saw really stunning displays of public art. Whether it was a statue or a vibrant mural, there were pieces of art that told stories of their communities and certainly made for an interesting photograph.

These pieces also made me think of Alejandro Romero. I first met Alejandro in February of 2020, just before the pandemic arrived in Saskatoon, at a podcasting workshop for newcomers. He was one of the organizers and we instantly hit it off because Alejandro is just such a warm and inviting person.

Alejandro has called Saskatoon home for the past 20 years. He was born in Puerto Rico and became a professionally trained artist. Since 2012, Alejandro has been the public art consultant with the City of Saskatoon and works closely with artists, businesses, community leaders and city officials to help create and install public pieces of art in Saskatoon. Overall, Saskatoon has 80 pieces of public art.

When I reached out to Alejandro to see if he would be on the podcast, I asked if we could do the interview at one of his favourite pieces of public art in the city. He expanded on that idea and chose four pieces that hold a special place in his heart.

Alejandro takes you on a public art tour in this episode and I know you’re going to love it.

I want to say a special thank you to Saskatoon photographer Ali Mehdi for his amazing photographs and for being such a wonderful collaborator. Please follow Ali on Instagram because the man can really do some incredible work behind the lens.

Don’t forget to leave a 5-star review if you like what you hear.

I also want to let you know that new YXE Underground shirts have arrived and they are selling quickly! They sell for 30 dollars and all of the money goes to the Saskatoon Friendship Inn which is doing important work helping our city’s most vulnerable when it comes to food security. Please reach out to me on social media or my email address…[email protected]…if you would like a shirt.

Cheers…Eric

• Host, Producer, Editor: Eric Anderson
• Theme Music: Andrew Dickson
• Website: https://www.yxeunderground.com
• Recorded: On Treaty 6 Territory and the traditional homeland of the Metis