The City of North Battleford Permanent Art Collection was established by the Battlefords' Allied Arts Council (BAAC) in 1967 with the purchase of three pictures by artists George Dekker, Arthur Baalam and Father R. Jourdain.

Establishing the Collection was initiated by Dorothy Boyd, Connie Tubb and Laura Logie who proposed that $250 per year be set aside for art purchases to recognize local artists and develop a multi-media collection. In 1968 BAAC members attended a show of Allen Sapp paintings at the home of Winona Mulcaster, artist and professor of art at the University of Saskatchewan, and purchased Mr. Sapp's "Cattle and Barn."

For the first few years the collection hung in the Carnegie Library but space was limited and purchases were discontinued. When the addition to City Hall was completed, more paintings were acquired and hung in various offices.

A permanent home was found in the first Arts Centre on 100th Street where the Collection was shown at the official opening in the fall of 1973. The Centre was moved to 13th Avenue and 104th Street in 1976.

Battleford began hosting the Saskatchewn Handcraft Festival in 1973 and when it became a juried exhibition, BAAC was asked to make an annual purchase award. These awards have added over 50 pieces ranging from work in wood, clay, ivory, porcelain, embroidery and weaving.

The City Collection has also benefited from the generosity of donors including: "Dance Hall at Stoney Reserve", a gift from Allen Sapp and Dr. Allan Gonor; Gus Kenderdine's "Windswept Prairie", Richard Lindemere's "Pile O' Bones" and "Andrew Swimmer", presented by Eileen Bell; Robert Cunningham's watercolour of an old house, a gift from Marcia Picketts; a Ukrainian embroidery tray cloth from Mrs. S. Drul; several works from the Saskatchewan Talent Program~Visual Arts, co-sponsored by the Department of Culture and Youth in 1977; two Allen Sapp paintings contributed by the Eskimo Museum in Churchill, Manitoba and a large landscape of the Battle River Valley by Father Jourdain, a gift from the late Judge Jack Maher who had the work comissioned for his office. Further generous donations by Ruth Gonor and Edith Cram have increased the Collection to more than 180 pieces.

The City of North Battleford Permanent Art Collection is under the supervision of te Chapel Gallery. At various times during the year, works from the Collection are exhibited in the Gallery and City Hall. Housed in the Chapel Gallery it is testimony to the diversity and creativity of Saskatchewan artists.