Main website (
visit link)
Info on This Painting From (
visit link)
6.10M x 2.59M (20’ x 8’6”), CROFT STREET
The Lone Scout
Painted in 1991
by Stanley Hiromichi Taniwa,
Clanwilliam, Manitoba
The Artist
Stan Taniwa left Chemainus as a baby, evacuated with his parents and six siblings to an internment camp in the interior of BC during WWII. What followed was an extremely difficult time for Japanese Canadians. Taniwa’s father died, leaving a large family for his mother to raise single-handedly. The Taniwas settled in Thunder Bay, Ontario, where Stan originally studied architectural drafting.
When he undertook fine art studies at the University of Manitoba, it was to pursue an interest in ceramics. He began exhibiting his work in 1970, and has since shown his ceramic creations from Ontario to Alberta. Taniwa teaches and is a juror for the Canada Council and the Manitoba Festival of the Arts. He has restored an old brick church in Eden, Manitoba, where he has established his home and studio. Since The Lone Scout was painted in 1991, Taniwa has completed other paintings as well as continuing his work in clay.
The Art
Edward Shige Yoshida was born in Victoria, B.C. in 1908, and was raised in the quiet mill town of Chemainus. In 1929, he realized his dream in starting the 2nd Chemainus Boy Scouts, an all-Japanese Canadian troop and the first of its kind in the country. The delicate, porcelain plate quality of his portrait in the mural, The Lone Scout, belies the wit, energy and determination of this slightly built but significant character in the life of Chemainus.
Chemainus town was home to a community of 300 Japanese Canadians who had settled in the area between 1900 and the 1940s. Mill workers, fishers, business people and their families, all were interned after the attack on Pearl Harbour.
By a series of coincidences, Stan Taniwa came to paint The Lone Scout, and included in the background of the mural members of his family, then and now.
The Little Town That Did!
“Obviously, Chemainus, B.C., no matter how small it is, has things like imagination and foresight
and a willingness on the part of its residents and community leaders to get behind daring
and adventurous initiatives.”
Author and historian, Pierre Berton
From just five murals and lots of spirit in the summer of 1982, Chemainus has struggled, grown and succeeded in literally putting itself on the map. In 1983, it won the prestigious New York Downtown Revitalization Award for its redevelopment of the town core. It has since gained world-wide acclaim for the integrity and superb artistry of its huge depictions of the town’s history.
Forty larger-than-life historic paintings in this open air gallery now greet the gaze of thousands of visitors each year. Chemainus thrives as a result, but it remains a small town, with just over 4,500 residents. These welcoming people still dish out island hospitality, along with ice cream and afternoon tea and scones just as they always have. Chemainus really is “The Little Town That Did”©.
The coastal community of Chemainus has a rich and varied history. Beginning thousands of years ago with the Coast Salish Native people, that history has flourished through a century and a half of industry and labour. With a mild climate and a great abundance of natural resources, the surrounding area became home to many hardworking settlers. Side by side, these people hewed a town of substance from the majestic forests.
These same forests have provided the lifeblood of the entire valley for more than a century, but to Chemainus, this has sometimes been a painful reality.
In 1981 the town of Chemainus benefited from a province wide redevelopment fund, and initiated a downtown revitalization project to give a face lift to a tired-looking main street. Planters overflowing with fresh flowers, new benches, improved public spaces and better parking facilities, all resulted from this initial project. Suddenly though, the town faced much graver problems than a lack of fresh paint along its thoroughfares. After more than 120 years the mill shut down in 1983.
Without waiting to hear if the mill would reopen, residents rallied to hold on to the roots they had established here. They continued the beautification of the central core. But more was to come. With the remarkable energy and creative vision of resident and businessman Karl Schutz, and the committed support of the then mayor Graham Bruce and the municipal council, the Festival of Murals Society was born. The painting of murals on some of the outside walls of local buildings was the Municipality of North Cowichan’s colourful investment in a livelier looking village.
Those early years of redevelopment now seem a part of history, too. More than a quarter of a million dollars has been invested in the mural project by private, corporate, federal, provincial and municipal investors. As a direct result, Chemainus has attracted in excess of one hundred new businesses, 350-450,000 visitors a year and a $3.5 million dinner theatre. From a dependence on a single industry, it has broadened its economic base to offer a range of service and tourist related activities. To everyone’s relief, the mill was rebuilt and modernized, and reopened in 1985. By that time, residents and visitors alike felt that they had proven they could survive the worst of times through their spirit and determination.
The town now has a new look. It is one that is reminiscent of past glories, and the result is a pleasing mixture of Victorian and frontier design, with a real down home feel. Chemainus welcomes you to a feast for all the senses. Come and taste the magic! You’ll never experience history quite like this again.