A mosaic created to raise awareness of the Bowker Creek watershed was unveiled Saturday, in the Monteith Indigenous Plant Area.
The handmade stone markers were developed by Victoria-based artist Carolyn Knight as part of the Bowker Creek Initiative, which provides education and community involvement in restoring the creek. Knight began the mosaic project, called Returning Home, in 2007 after receiving a $5,000 grant from the City of Victoria, part of a Cultural Capital of Canada funding allocation in 2005.
Knight put together three mosaics one for each community the creek flows through, Saanich, Victoria and Oak Bay. The Saanich mosaic, which depicts a salmon swimming and jumping in the water, was placed at the foot bridge at Cedar Hill Community Centre. The City of Victoria’s will be placed on Trent Street next year. The mosaic in Oak Bay marks the buried portion of Bowker Creek.
“It’s an important waterway but it has been buried for a number of years,” said Jill Croft, administrator of the Community Association of Oak Bay. “It runs underneath the police station, fire hall, baseball diamonds and opens up at Oak Bay High school.”
It is hoped that the former coho salmon-rich creek will eventually be restored.