Artist Virginia Reid’s concept drawing for Our Lady of Mercy College will now go into design development.
PublicArt Works have been engaged to prepare the Public Art Plan and subsequently commissioning and project management of an artwork for the school’s new multipurpose hall. The Ailsa McKinnon building designed by Stanton Dahl Architects will feature the artwork of NSW artist Virginia Reid.
The school’s Mercy Tree is depicted as a Parramatta mangrove – symbolizing the growth of young minds, the nurturing of ideas, and the symbiotic interconnectedness of mother nature’s nursery further embodying the Mercy Values of the school.
“Expanding beyond what we know we can be” is inspired by American pop artist Sister Corita Kent. Virginia collaborated with former art teacher and school mentor Sister Rosemary Crumlin, both inspired by this significant female artist, with the text coming from an original Corita artwork gifted to Rosemary and now to the school.
Located on the corner of Victoria Road and O’Connell Street, the building sits symbolically between a cathedral (St Patrick’s) and a football stadium (home of Parramatta Eels), the text a call to young students and the public to aspire to greatness.