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| Stasia Dabrowski (1926–2020). Photo: National Australia Day Council. |
By Helen Musa
The ACT government is looking for an artist to create a public artwork honouring the late Stasia Dabrowski, Canberra’s Soup Kitchen Lady.
The commission is part of the ACT government’s recognition of significant Canberra women through the public art collection.
Every Friday from 1982 to 2018, Dabrowski served homemade soup, bread, drinks and understanding to thousands of Canberrans from a corner of Garema Place.
Over her years of service, she was named 1996 ACT Senior Australian of the Year and 2017 ACT Local Hero of the Year and carried the Olympic Torch. She died in 2020 at the age of 94.
According to ACT Arts Minister Michael Pettersson the artwork will be a figurative work, most likely in bronze, that realistically depicts Dabrowski.
The sculpture will be installed in Garema Place, close to the original location of the soup kitchen, and will be the second in the series of artworks recognising significant Canberra women, which began in August when Lis Johnson’s sculpture of the late Susan Ryan was unveiled at the Senate Rose Gardens outside Old Parliament House.
The tender process closes on February 6.
First published at Canberra City News, December 10, 2024
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