Esquimalt Gorge Park has new banners lining the roadway that were chosen to showcase the community’s cultural heritage and history.
This initiative was done by Esquimalt to enhance art in public spaces.
In early 2025, Esquimalt conducted a public call to invite artists to submit designs for a series of street banners in the park.
Artist Marlene Janice Howell was selected from this call as the artist for the 2025 banner installation.
Howell has a deep personal connection to Japanese Canadian heritage as well as West Coast landscapes.
She has done exhibitions around the world, including in Sudan, Cambodia and across Canada.
Howell’s approach to her art blends photographic inspiration with mixed media, including graphite, charcoal, pastels, acrylics and watercolour.
“The Township of Esquimalt has provided an opportunity to acknowledge the Japanese Canadian culture and history through the street banners for Gorge Park where the original Japanese Teahouse first stood,” said Howell.
“Our collaboration on this project has been an unforgettable experience.”
Howell’s design was chosen because it best encapsulated the chosen theme for the new banner installation, “Reflecting Our Heritage and Landscape.”
The criteria for the banner design was that it showed the natural beauty and biodiversity of the Gorge Waterway, and the cultural diversity of Esquimalt’s community.
Additionally, the design was meant to enhance awareness surrounding inclusion, diversity, and equity and showcase the traditions and contributions of the Lək̓ʷəŋən People, including the Kosapsum Nation and Songhees Nation.
“Marlene’s banner designs reflect themes and inspiration from Japanese communities who have shaped the Gorge Park area,” said Mayor Barbara Desjardins.
“The art is a nod to the natural beauty of the waterway and celebrates it as a space where family and friends can gather.”
Each of the four banners Howell designed were inspired by a Japanese idiom and thoughtfully composed to reflect the meanings behind the expressions.
Esquimalt Gorge Park’s history is rooted in spiritual significance for the lək̓ʷəŋən-speaking peoples, and later in Japanese culture.
In 1907, the Japanese Tea Gardens were established along the shore near the Gorge Bridge, and were complemented by an amusement park and a floating sampan tearoom.
These gardens were a cherished local attraction until 1941, when they were destroyed amid anti-Japanese discrimination during the Second World War.
Since then, new Japanese gardens have been re-introduced to the site and in 2022, the Township of Esquimalt opened the Esquimalt Gorge Pavilion with the goal of sharing the history of the Japanese Canadian culture tied to the park.
In addition to the new banners being hung along the roadway, Japanese traditions will be further celebrated at Esquimalt Gorge Park during the upcoming Japanese Cultural Fair on August 23rd.
