Sculpture honours scary story
MC Snow (left) was asked to create a sculpture honouring the story of Mary Gallagher by Donovan King (right), a model-sized version of which was unveiled last Saturday. Courtesy Donovan King
Nearly 150 years ago, a woman named Mary Gallagher was the victim of a gruesome murder in Montreal, beheaded by her friend after a night on the town.
Every seven years since, it’s said that Gallagher’s headless ghost comes back to the site of the crime in Griffintown, her soul restless for justice - the most recent seven-year cycle was marked last Saturday, with crowds gathering to remember her story.
Donovan King, a Montreal-based tour guide renowned for his Haunted Tours of the city, was on hand to share the history with guests, and to unveil a model of an upcoming work by Kahnawake’s own MC Snow that pays tribute to Gallagher’s story.
“I think MC Snow is amazing at triggering historical memory and cultural revival,” said King. “I want people to remember what happened in Griffintown.”
King has worked with Snow in the past and said he was particularly impacted by his sculptures on Montreal’s Peel Street. Those sculptures, produced in collaboration with Kyra Revenko, form part of a walking trail, and depict themes of the Ohén:ton Karihwatéhkwen on large bronze orbs.
For last Saturday’s event honouring Gallagher’s death and the return of her ghost, Snow unveiled a model of what he hopes will one day be a bigger work depicting a group of young children, one with their arm outstretched and pointing, as if they’ve seen Gallagher’s headless ghost.
“It’s kind of saving other communities’ history, because everybody has pride in their histories and stories, and to be asked to help in retelling the story feels like an honour,” Snow said.
The model figurine stands at around 12 inches tall and is painted in lifelike colour, but Snow hopes to make a life-sized version in the near future, cast entirely in bronze.
“I’m hoping that it’s going to be something really beautiful that’s going to stand the test of time,” he said.
King hopes to have the large-scale sculpture installed at the site of Gallagher’s murder, and is already in talks with officials to make it happen.
He said that as a historian and tour guide, it’s essential to ensure Indigenous-made art is part of the city’s fabric going forward.
“I’m very committed to truth and reconciliation, and part of that is buying and commissioning Indigenous art,” King said. “I think his work is so powerful, and I know very well that MC Snow’s art immediately causes people to pause. They start investigating it, they start studying it.”
King said that Gallagher’s story has been somewhat of a legend for Griffintown families for many years, with misbehaving children leaving candies at the site of the murder as a peace offering after parents warned that her ghost would come to get them.
Attendees at last Saturday’s event, which saw King and Snow retell the story and all the legends that come with it, heard that story and started leaving candies for her on the corner near the model statue - King hopes that it could be a site for people to continue the tradition once the life-sized sculpture is installed.
“It’s amazing to think that an artwork can actually trigger a cultural revival of sorts,” King said. “His artwork really has the ability to cause people to be curious, to investigate, and to reflect, and I just love that.”
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Updates about the installation of a bigger sculpture will happen in the coming months.
