mural 32

3.66M x 1.05M (12’ x 10’), WILLOW STREET

the telephone company circa 1915

Painted in 1992 by Cim MacDonald, A.F.C.A., N.W.W.S.,
Chemainus, B.C.

The Artist

Born in Scotland, Cim MacDonald came with her family to Victoria when she was seven. She completed her schooling with a major in art. After working for the Provincial Government in Victoria, she took a job in Crofton, where she spent the better part of the past twenty years.

MacDonald remembers painting greenware in post-war Scotland, sitting around the kitchen table with her mother, aunts and grandmother. When her father joined a seniors art class, he inspired Cim to try her hand at painting again. A number of courses later, she began to exhibit her art and to teach others to paint. Recently, she hosted a beginner course in watercolour for television.

Because of her long affiliation with the lumber industry, MacDonald is known for her commissions of industrial and marine themes. Her paintings can be found in corporate collections including Rivtow and Fletcher Challenge Canada. IBM and Domtar have also included her work in their Canada-wide exhibitions. MacDonald also exhibits her work in Duncan and in Toronto.

The Art

The telephone appeared in Chemainus in 1908. The first telephone company offices were located in a private house on Maple Street but moved seven years later to larger premises. The Victorian residence pictured here served as the telephone exchange for thirty telephones in the community, and was home to Daisy Bonde, pictured on the left. Daisy ran the exchange as a supervisor. Standing at her side is Sophia Horton (Syme), the first paid operator to work at the exchange.

From across Willow Street, the viewers feel they have stepped back in time. Two serious young women in laced boots and long skirts wait to greet them on the Victorian porch. A client’s bicycle leans against the weathered clapboard veranda. The picket fence, with its gate wide and welcoming, surrounds flower boxes. A real, old-fashioned boardwalk and stairs beckon the visitor to step up for a chat.

The whole effect is a personal, scaled-down, life-like depiction of a typical Chemainus street scene back in simpler times, when demand required that telephone service be offered during daylight hours only. Next Mural >