Name/Title
Dallas RoadEntry/Object ID
2025.09.03Description
In process
This landscape provides a view of Dallas Road In Victoria, B.C. looking across the Strait of Juan de Fuca in the Salish Sea. Some taller trees and bright Scotch Broom shrubbery frame the view to the ocean and distant mountains probably from Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park. Officially opened in 1882, the 200-acre park is one of downtown Victoria’s crown jewels and provides scenic vistas of the ocean and the Olympic Mountains of Washington state in the U.S.Artwork Details
Subject Place
Region
Pacific NorthwestContinent
North AmericaContext
Dallas Road is the city's southern boundary stretching about four km along the ocean front looking south to the Salish Sea and on to Washington state's Olympic Peninsula in the U.S. The city’s founders established the land between the road and the ocean as public parkland in perpetuity. The area is rich in history from First Nations Lekwungen settlements and early defensive sites at the three main ocean points, followed by further European settlement, trade , development, social change and more.
Today, the Dallas Road waterfront trail pathways are popular destinations with locals and tourists for transportation (walking, running, etc. with designated bike paths), adventure (such as hang- or para-gliding), sheer relaxation on a park bench or wild storm watching. The trail from just past Fisherman's Wharf on the south side of the James Bay Neighbourhood features beautiful views from the Ogden Point breakwater and pier on through Holland Point Park and Beacon Hill Park, past Finlayson Point to Clover Point and finally, the Ross Bay seawall. Beaches along the shoreline can be accessed at various points such near Cook Street, where there is the main entrance to the pebbly Spiral Beach below the steep coastal bluffs, or further along at the rockier Ross Bay.
Of note, Mile 0 of the Trans Canada Highway is located on Douglas Street at Dallas Road adjacent to Beacon Hill Park marking the start of the over 8,000 km Trans-Canada Highway that spans the entire length of Canada. Mile 0 is also home to a statue of Terry Fox, CC, OD. In 1980, with one leg having been amputated due to cancer, the young man embarked on an east-to-west cross-Canada run to raise money and awareness for cancer research. Sadly, Fox's journey ended early when he fell ill and passed away, resulting however, in a lasting, worldwide legacy. Since then, hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised in his name for cancer research.
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The name 'Beacon Hill' is derived from a hill upon which once stood navigational beacons to aid to mariners approaching Victoria’s inner harbour. The hill is culturally significant, having been a burial site for the Coast Salish people, the original inhabitants of the region.
The Olympic Mountains were originally called "Sun-a-do" by the Duwamish Indians; however, when the English explorer John Meares saw them in 1788, he thought he would honor the Greek explorer Juan de Fuca by naming the mountains after the mythical home of Greek Gods which is "Mount Olympus" in Greece. Juan de Fuca was a Greek navigator who sailed for Spain under a Spanish name. He is best known for his claim to have explored the Strait of Anián, known as the Strait of Juan de Fuca, now included in the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the Olympic Peninsula in northwestern Washington state.
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"The Sisters of St. Ann arrived in Victoria from Quebec in 1858 to establish education and health service for new settlers and Indigenous people. While many of their contributions are celebrated, in 2014 the Sisters acknowledged that their involvement in Canada’s Indian Residential Schools contributed to a form of cultural oppression that has had a lasting effect not only on those who attended the schools but also on subsequent generations." From HeritageBC, see Web Links belowMade/Created
Artist Information
Artist
Sister Mary Osithe (Elisabeth La Boissière, 1867-1941)Role
ArtistDate made
n.d.Notes
Artist Biography
Baptized in Sorel, Québec, Sister Mary Osithe (née Elisabeth La Boissière, 1867-1941) was a gifted Canadian artist and architect and a beloved educator, a sister at The Academy of St. Ann in Victoria, B.C., a girls' Catholic boarding and day school from grade 3–12, and boys K–3. Sister Osithe studied under the artist, photographer and teacher William Raphael RCA (1833–1914) and the painter, photographer and educator Edmond Dyonnet RCA (1859-1954) in Montréal. Sister Osithe later came to Victoria in 1897 to continue the artistic instruction after the Academy's art department founder, Sister Marie Labell, passed away. Sister Osithe came to supervise the art studio programme until 1938. Of note, art education at The Sisters of St. Ann was included in the teaching curriculum from the school's founding in 1858.
The studio was staffed by professionally trained art teachers, and while not fully recognized in B.C.'s art history narrative, the studio clearly became an important part of the local artistic community and beyond. Sister Osithe taught art classes - painting, drawing, needlework, and porcelain decoration - to local amateur and professional artists, mostly women, generating income for the Academy and nurturing community interest in the arts and the Academy through various activities. Commissions were completed ranging from large religious paintings for churches and hospitals across the province to book illustrations, decorative watercolours and presentation porcelain pieces.
Osithe's own works, mainly religious in subject matter, hung in the Academy and included versions of "Crib" and "The Immaculate Conception" both based on works by Baroque artist Bartolomez Esteban Murillo (1617-1682). In 1903, Osithe returned to Montréal to continue her artistic training at the Mother House in Lachine, working on other copies of master works and also some original works, such as "Building the Card House." After her return to Victoria, she participated in the Academy's Annual Exhibitions attracting further publicity for her works and the arts in general. Her own architectural projects included a gymnasium of the Academy (1921) and a new wing for Little Flower Academy in Vancouver. She also contributed to designs for other schools and hospitals under the Sisters of St. Ann in B.C.
When the Academy closed in 1973, Osithe's paintings were moved to other locations; some can be found at the St. Ann's Residence. In 1989 St. Ann’s Academy was designated a national historic site of Canada because of its role in the cultural and educational life of Western Canada for over a century, and because of its landmark status - due to its scale and the surrounding open space (formerly the gardens) - in the community. The school buildings and grounds were renovated and restored in the late 1990s. The property/facilities now serve a variety of community purposes such as government offices, an interpretive centre, historic site spaces, and public multi-purpose spaces for weddings, concerts, graduations, etc.Dimensions
Dimension Description
ImageHeight
33 cmWidth
46.5 cmDimension Description
Overall in frameHeight
46 cmWidth
59.5 cmDepth
5.3 cmAcquisition
Acquisition Method
GiftDate
Sep 10, 2025Relationships
Related Entries
Notes
Four-Part Gift from The Sisters of Saint Ann, Sept. 10, 2025:
2025.09.03 Dallas Road
2025.09.04 White Calla Lilies
2025.09.05 Stone Church, Cowichan
2025.09.06 St. Ann's AcademyProvenance
Notes
From the Sisters of St. Ann's collection. Formerly located at Mount St. Angela, and most recently hung at Heritage House (Sisters' Residence), Victoria. Sister Mary Osithe was an accomplished artist and gifted architect. She remained head of the art department at St. Ann's Academy, Victoria until 1938 after replacing Sister Marie Rose de Lima in 1897.Copyright
Notes
Images are provided for research and reference use only. Permission to publish, copy, or otherwise use these images must be obtained from the copyright holder. It is the sole responsibility of the applicant to determine the copyright holder and to obtain permission(s) as needed.
