A Colourful Diversion

While I organize photos for the third part of my series on public / private, I'm diverting with some colour - some of the art that I have found wandering Victoria the last while. Victoria has been cloudy a lot of the last few weeks, and the photos in my last post seemed drab because of it. It's time for some colour!

As a city known for its flowers, there's no shortage of colourful flower images to be found of Victoria. But in this post I'm showing some of my recent discoveries of art, and artistic scenes.

Mural of Emily Carr on the exterior of Island Blue printorium

Mural outside Wildfire Bakery

An amazing Little Library on Parry Street in James Bay. The Little Library is an almost complete replica of the house before which it stands. The handle to open the library is on the far right, with the words "Pull" on it.  The Little Library was built by Ray Young, of www.iusedtobeapallet.com. Yes - it was built from the wood from a pallet! It is an exact replica of the house, except for the steps which had to be shrunk in order for the door to open. It took Ray 6 months to build!

Barricade at a restaurant on Belleville Street

Eyecatching bicycle outside Bastion Books

Detail from a large mural by Jesse Campbell on a building site downtown, Blanshard Street

More detail from the same mural

And one more detail from the same mural by Jesse Campbell

Mural outside Floyd's Diner in James Bay

Shooting stars and camas, near Commercial Alley and Bastion Square. I have not been able to find the name of the artist. 

Installation in a back alley near Bastion Square. See the next photo for more detail,

Detail from the above installation.

Discovered on the back of a building downtown, on Gordon Street. Artist Steve Milroy "Wonderworks"

Mosaic tile installation titled "Diversity Pillar" by Sandra Millottt, in a park by Oaklands Community Centre. 

More detail from the same piece

One final image

Another hidden mural downtown, Fisgard Street

This is a massive piece of jade (several feet tall) outside a business that specializes in headstones and monuments, near the Ross Bay cemetery. This photo doesn't do the rock justice - its colours and texture were stunning.

The iconic colours of Fishermen's Wharf

Mural at Fishermen's Wharf

Complementary colours between the glass of this building and the shrubs outside. The building is in Dockside Green, across the Johnson Street Bridge.

Heron in the Oceans of Consciousness mural on Dallas Road. This mural is a new installation, hidden down the steps on the ocean side of Dallas Road, roughly near Oswego Street. Artist: Fua Collective

Detail from totem pole at back side of the Royal BC Museum, off Douglas Street.

Design by Butch Dick on a vent stack at the Clover Point pump station installation. Butch Dick also did some of the art work at the Unity Wall at Ogden Point. This design depicts a Sea Wolf, part of the origin story of the Wolf peoples - Lekwungen speakers - now known as the Songees and Esquimalt. In the explanatory plaque at Clover Point, special care is taken for the reader to understand that the stories, such as the origin story, are only to be told orally by those in the community to pass on the knowledge.

There seems to be more public art constantly being offered to the people of Victoria, so I will have no shortage of images for future posts.

Blurring Public and Private - Part 2

Back in March, I posted about public use of "private" space, and used the Capital Park development as an example of how the lines between public and private seem to be blurring a little.

Private property has traditionally been considered "private" in North America, but perhaps we are becoming more relaxed about sharing at least some parts of our private spaces.

Victoria has many examples of public walkways close to private property. Here are just a few:

Landscaped shrubbery is used as a buffer for this apartment building on the left.

Public walkway through private residences in Chinatown. I was intrigued at how close to residences people walk.

One of the attractive residences immediately beside the public walkway above

The David Foster walkway along the south shore of the Inner Harbour is another example of public access through private properties.

Access point to the David Foster pathway along the Inner Harbour

Some of the apartments that front onto the water - and the pathway, shown at low tide.

It shouldn't surprise owners of property beside water that the public has a right of access to the water, and to the publicly owned shoreline, but from my work a decade ago with shoreline questions, this has been an issue along many water bodies. The David Foster walkway allows both public access to the waterfront, and shoreline properties to maintain their close views. 

Water features provide separation between the apartments and the public walkway.

An attractive bridge along the walkway

Looking towards some of the private development adjacent to the walkway

Now to look at another example of public use blurring into private property: the Cedar Hill Golf Course. I have enjoyed walking the trail around the golf course a few times, and have been intrigued at how the walkway has allowed public use of what in many places would only be available to users of the golf course.

Here the trail separates private property on the left, and the golf course on the right. Not all houses have chosen to erect fences.

This photo gives a better feel of the layout of the path. In this section, most homes have installed fences.

A public bench overlooking the golf course.

I suspect golf courses have been concerned about liability, should a member of the public be hit by an errant golf ball. Cedar Hills has managed this with Caution signs placed in numerous locations along the trail.

The Derby connector is a pedestrian and cycle path which cuts through the golf course, connecting two parts of Derby Road. It's a great short cut for walkers. I'd like to see more golf courses consider this.

Some of the natural area along the trail.

Another set of walkways I always enjoy is through the grounds of St. Ann's Academy. Originally a Roman Catholic boarding school for girls, it is now a National Historic site, owned by the province of BC. While technically "public" lands, the Academy grounds have a private feel to them, perhaps because of their history.

View of St. Ann's Academcy and some of the grounds

An entrance to St. Ann's Academy grounds

And, one final example of public access on private land, a short walkway through the Parkside Hotel grounds.

A landscaped ramp enabling pedestrians to cut through the grounds of the Parkside Hotel

In my next post on this topic I will look at the other side of the blurring of public and private: allowing private interests to use public space.