Artist’s stolen works mysteriously returned
The year has brought on many struggles and hardships for just about everyone.
Late in the summer, local artist Susan Sakamoto had a couple pieces of art stolen from her that held a lot of sentimental value.
The other day, Sakamoto experienced a bit of a miracle and was able to get her art back.
“I think whoever took them in the first place started to feel guilty and wanted them returned,” she said. “Someone had these for months and just must have decided they couldn’t live with them, so they gave them back.
“It’s definitely strange, but it’s good news.”
Sakamoto had 10 of her paintings up at a downtown business when two went missing. The paintings are her original work and incorporated papers from when her son was a young boy, adding extra value to these two particular pieces.
“I was worried that they were thrown away or that this was some sort of prank — I thought I’d never see them again,” she said. “I thought they would just be destroyed and that I wouldn’t get them back. When they went missing, I just ended up hoping that they were hanging somewhere and were being enjoyed.
Sakamoto says the person who took the art was taking good care of it.
“One has a couple nicks on the back, but they’re in really good shape overall,” she said. “When they were returned they even had a tablecloth protecting them and they were in a plastic bag.”
Sakamoto says the art was left in a laundry room in an apartment building and eventually got into the hands of the Medicine Hat Police Service. Sakamoto added that the MHPS used the News article from the summer to confirm they had the correct art.
“I’m now going to see if the building wants these back to display,” she said. “I’m definitely going to look into getting some sort of locks before I do anything, though.”