Oliver Outdoor Art Gallery
The predominant feature in the mural is McIntyre Bluff north of Oliver, renamed N?aylintn (Ny-lin-tn) which means ‘Storyteller’ in the Okanagan language. The dessert scene below shows native grasses and orchards in the background. There are many species of flora and fauna in Oliver and the surrounding Okanagan Valley found nowhere else in Canada.
The mural seems to be completed some time ago and the artist in unknown.
The town of Oliver was named for John Oliver, British Columbia premier also known as Honest John for his outspoken manner, straight talking and his vision for making this area a mecca for farming, fruit and vegetables and now for prize winning vineyards in the Okanagan.
"Following the First World War, BC’s premier, known as “Honest” John Oliver (1918-1927), envisioned an irrigation canal, which would bring this dry Sonora Desert region to life. The South Okanagan Lands Project was born, creating jobs and long term opportunities for veterans returning from World War I. The original townsite of Oliver was surveyed in 1921. Completed in 1923, the concrete irrigation canal (locally known as “the ditch”) soon transformed this desert region into lush orchards and farms."
Source: Oliver