Visual Arts in Focus 

The College of Old and New Art 

If you have visited Fermoy Cottage, just across from the SMC Junior School, you will know the quiet joy of stepping back in time. Within its walls is a rich collection of stories, artefacts, and artworks tracing the history of St Mary’s College back to 1866.

In preparation for our Presentation Sisters Legacy Art Exhibition in Term 3, students have been exploring this history, engaging with treasured objects and uncovering the legacy of the Sisters who helped shape our College. Their enthusiasm has been heart-warming, with each discovery revealing new insight into the creativity and spirit of SMC.

Among the works is an original oil portrait of Mother Mary Francis Xavier Murphy, Foundress of the Presentation Sisters in Tasmania. One of the founding Sisters who travelled from Fermoy, Ireland, she established St Mary’s College with eight other Sisters and served as Principal from 1868–1879. While the artist is unknown, the portrait remains a powerful reminder of SMC’s beginnings and its foundations of courage and leadership.

Also featured are two carved Tasmanian oak frames by Sister Dominic Mills. The elegant Art Nouveau style suggests the frames were created in the early 20th Century. The lilies symbolise purity through Marian imagery. Sister Dominic was a gifted artist and educator who taught at several Presentation schools and studied under Australian artist Gladstone Eyre.

Continuing this legacy is a contemporary work by Sister Ona Kaukenas, displayed in the Senior School corridors. Created for her 2006 exhibition Design Emergence: Beyond Modernist Orthodoxies in Colour-Form Painting, it reflects her exploration of colour and form. Sister Ona began teaching at St Mary’s in 1976 as a craft teacher and later served as Principal from 1994–1998.

Together, these works tell a story of faith, creativity, and enduring influence. They remind us that artistic expression has long been part of SMC’s identity, inspiring generations to create, reflect and imagine.

Presentation Sisters Legacy Art Exhibition | Term 3

This Term, students at SMC have been busy creating artwork for a very special event: the Presentation Sisters Legacy Art Exhibition, marking 250 years of the Presentation Sisters.

Across the College, students have been researching stories, exploring historical objects, and responding creatively to the rich history of the Presentation Sisters and their connection to SMC. This has sparked some fantastic ideas, and the art rooms have been full of energy, experimentation and creative thinking.

The exhibition will showcase a wide range of student artworks, from traditional approaches to more contemporary and experimental pieces. Each work reflects how students have interpreted the legacy of the Sisters in their own unique way, through memory, storytelling, symbolism, and personal connection.

It’s been wonderful to see students so engaged in the process of making, reflecting and refining their work, and we look forward to sharing their creativity with the wider College community in Term 3.

Flowing Together | Reconciliation Week Artwork 

This year's National Reconciliation Week artwork, Gaagal, is by Gumbaynggirr Bundjalung artist Otis Hope Carey. Otis uses painting to share culture and encourage conversation about connection and reconciliation. His work is inspired by water, which he describes as central to identity and healing.

Gaagal (meaning 'ocean') uses the sea as a metaphor for reconciliation; people from all walks of life coming together. Flowing patterns and concentric circles represent waves and ripples, showing how actions and voices spread outward to create change. The movement in the work reflects tides and currents, symbolising that reconciliation is ongoing and shared by all. 

This year's theme is All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.