Friday October 4, 2024 | SOOKE, BC [Updated October 7, 2024]
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
The unveiling of a revitalized mural that celebrates cultural heritage and renewal in Sooke took place on this rainy Friday morning in the center of town.
But the skies cleared and there was bright sunshine during the event.
The mural denotes a special time and place in history on the traditional territory of the T’Sou-ke Nation.
A piece of local history has been reborn on the north wall of Heritage Row, a building on Otter Point Road adjacent to Cafe VOSINO (formerly known as The Stick in the Mud Coffee House) on Eustace Road across from the Sooke Legion Branch 54.
Celebrating forestry and looking forward:
Originally installed in the 1990s by Bill Dixon, the mural there once depicted the Sooke community’s logging heritage. Starting around 2007 the town’s economy shifted fairly rapidly to a dependence on tourism along with rapid housing growth of a more urbanized style.
The District of Sooke news release says the new mural pays tribute to the local logging industry heritage “while looking ahead to the future”. A perspective on reforestation is presented, but the mural doesn’t depict anything about the future of Sooke as we see it today, other than the modern clothing of three school-age children playing in the forest.
Today at 11 am project partners including members of the T’Sou-ke First Nation, Mosaic Forest Management and the District of Sooke met to unveil the revitalized mural.
Design by committee:
District of Sooke Mayor Maja Tait has been on Sooke council since 2008 (re-elected in 2011); she has led the town as Mayor since 2014 (re-elected in 2018 and 2022). She described the unveiling as a moment of reflection and celebration, marking the culmination of months of collaborative effort. She noted how art has impact for a community.
“Art has a unique way of touching your heart and connecting us with something deeper,” said Tait in her remarks to the crowd this morning. She said that the revitalized mural is a creation with an impact that “will live in the hearts of this community for generations to come”. Tait thanked the two artists Shelley Davies and Diego Narvaez for the “love, care and compassion that they poured into this mural”.
Tait contributed to the committee, with a lot of detail also handled by District of Sooke councillor Jeff Bateman who spoke with media after the event today. She later mentioned, in remembrance, the late District of Sooke Councillor Brenda Parkinson who devoted many years to the beautification of the Sooke town through public art.
Remarks were also delivered by T’Sou-ke First Nation elder Jackie Planes, and special guests including artists Diego Narvaez and Shelley Davies, and representatives from the T’Sou-ke Nation and Mosaic Forest Management.
Narvaez signed the mural afterward. Davies said she appreciated working with professional input from Narvaez.
“A mural can be a portal to the identify of a place. It can be a reminder of what used to be,” said Narvaez. He said the mural paint is regular exterior house paint but afterward coated with a protective laminate finish.
“This mural demonstrates our connection to the land and the delicate lifecycle of the ecosystem,” said Davies. “Nurturing a harmonious balanced ecosystem is vital to the longevity of resources that Mother Nature provides us,” she said.
It seems fitting that a young child was playing in front of the mural as the artists delivered their speeches.
Technical details:
The mural is comprised of six panels that could only be assembled in full in the final outdoor site; only four panels at a time could be observed side by side during development. The final mural is 8 ft tall x 24 ft wide.
Highlights of the moment:
- Unveiling of the mural, symbolizing the collaboration and community — honouring Sooke’s past and celebrating the town’s future.
- A blanketing ceremony to honour a T’Sou-ke Elder and the mural artists.
- The vibrant mural itself, capturing a blend of Sooke’s historical and forward-looking identity.
Who was there:
About 80 people attended the outdoor event.
This is a provincial election season and there were people there to capture this moment of historical change in Sooke including BC Green candidate David Evans, former Green candidate David Merner, Annemieke Holthuis of the Sooke Region Community Health Network.
District of Sooke Councillors Jeff Bateman and Tony St Pierre attended as well as environmental supporter Sinclair Phillip. Rose Dumont of T’Sou-ke First Nation attended.
There was applause from the crowd and a strong sense of appreciation and forward-looking thoughts about more murals for Sooke in the years ahead.
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- Sooke Harvest Festival 2024 draws a crowd (September 30, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: POLITICS | BC ELECTION 2024 | SOOKE REGION