A piece of Winnipeg magic history has disappeared, and a local escape artist is looking for answers. Dean Gunnarson, a magician and escape artist, says a plaque on the outside of the old Union Bank building highlighting Winnipeg as the birthplace of the International Brotherhood of Magicians was recently stolen. “We looked at the security cam, and they found that on September 24th at about 5:30 in the morning, somebody on a bicycle and a pry bar came up to the side of the building and pried the plaque off and took it away,” Gunnarson said during a recent interview. The plaque was first mounted in 1986 at an unveiling ceremony and was attended by Len Vintus, a Winnipeg-born magician who created the International Brotherhood of Magicians in 1922 at the age of 19. In 2022, local magicians performed at the site to honour the organization’s centennial. “It was extremely disappointing to see the plaque disappear after 40 years,” Gunnarson said, adding Ventus was a friend and mentor to him. Gunnarson said he is currently offering a $500 reward for anyone who has information about the plaque’s location, and they can reach him online. He has also made police report and has reached out to scrap metal dealers to see if the plaque has shown up. “If we can make the magic reappear, that would be great,” he said.
