SIXIssue Six July 2014 Remembering Sylvia Centenary Day Growing up in a Griffin House AEON Issue Six July 2014 p10 Scenes from our MidWinter Ball 2014: ‘The Musician’s Club’ p20 Winter 2014 CONTENTS elcome to AEON 6, providing a glimpse 04 Centenary day AEON gives a glimpse into the of the Glenaeon school community in the rich learning community that is Wmidwinter season of 2014. It's been a mild 06 Marion Mahony Griffin Glenaeon, established as one so far, but the lessons winter brings us remain a world of possibility Australia’s first school for Rudolf as eternal as ever and our MidWinter festivals Steiner education. The magazine celebrate this enduring meaning. We have enjoyed 08 Growing Up In is a record of school life, featuring a busy and engaging first half of the year, and a Griffin House: people and events that are AEON chronicles some of the many aspects of » Memories of Castlecrag important in our community. our school during this time: Year 10’s production Marie Nicholls Glenaeon pioneered the vision of a creative and collaborative of their musical The White Rose, our Outdoor 10 “Australia's Education program in the Wolgan Valley (Year 9) education in Sydney, and we and the Whitsundays, our MidWinter festivals. Young Shelley” celebrate the unique community In this edition of AEON we have also published » Remembering Sylvia that has grown around the school. a full statement of the talks presented at our Linda St Clair AEON is a voice and forum for the rich learning that remains the Centenary Day in October last year marking the 12 MidWinter Festival 100 years since the arrival of the Burley Griffins in school’s core impulse. Whether Australia. This was a special and memorable day 14 The White Rose currently involved with the school, or one of our many alumni families telling the story of Glenaeon's origins, and the talks » Year 10 performance were of such an excellent quality and value we and friends, we invite you to enjoy present them here complete and as delivered for 16 Glenaeon 2014 in the following pages the unique vision of a Glenaeon education. the archives. We are grateful to our presenters for » Year 10 and 11 Whitsundays their contribution to Glenaeon's historical record. Sea-Kayaking Expedition » Year 9 Wolgan Valley With warm greetings, » The Musicians Club Andrew Hill 22 GlenX Collegiate Chair » GlenX: The Class of ‘93 » From Glenaeon to Archbishop » Brenna Hobson » Glenaeon Foundation p14 p10 Glenaeon Alumni and Friends is the new body bringing together Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School Ltd Sylvia Brose with her our diverse community of present and former students, parents ABN 94 000 385 768 first class (circa 1957) and friends of the school. We look forward to many events 5a Glenroy Avenue, Middle Cove including Linda St Clair celebrating the Glenaeon community and our 57 year history. NSW 2068, Australia front row on the far left. Phone: 9417 3193, Fax: 9417 5346 Zoe Green is our Alumni Coordinator and she welcomes www.glenaeon.nsw.edu.au enquiries about alumni activities and feedback about AEON. For all details of alumni events, contacts and general information, or to receive AEON electronically, you can contact Zoe on: [email protected] Design: Campbell Van Venrooy (cvvdesign.com.au) PAGE 2 p8 p4 p16 p18 FOUNDERS DAY: Saturday 18 October 2014, 3pm The Marion Mahony Griffin Memorial Lecture Marion Mahony Griffin Hall, Castlecrag FOUNDERS entenary Day 2013 was a celebration of the Burley CGriffin’s heritage in Australia, and their connection with the founding of Glenaeon. The day was DAY so successful we will be instituting an annual event to tell the story and maintain our connection to the school’s heritage. Founders Day will bring together our community, past and present, and the local community, in celebrating the vision and values Lecture will be given by Hugh that guided the work of the Burley MacKay, well-known and respected Griffin’s, and the work of Sylvia social commentator and novelist, Brose and Eric Nicholls in the who also grew up in Castlecrag. founding of Glenaeon. There will Hugh has published 16 books of We are happy to announce that be local heritage walks, displays of which his most recent book is the inaugural MMG Memorial Lecture Burley Griffin memorabilia, school The Good Life, and he is about to will be given by Hugh MacKay. historical displays, and a sumptuous publish The Art of Belonging. Hugh’s afternoon tea. Centrepiece themes resonate closely with the of Founders Day will be the vision and values of Glenaeon, Marion Mahony Griffin Memorial and we are delighted that he has Lecture, given by a prominent accepted our invitation to deliver this commentator that links the Burley first Marion Mahony Griffin Lecture. Griffin and Glenaeon heritage with We invite all alumni and current contemporary issues. members of our community to join We are happy to announce us for the lecture, afternoon tea, that the inaugural MMG Memorial and community gathering. PAGE 3 AEON Issue Six July 2014 his compelling story was told through the presentations of Tsome distinguished speakers, each bringing an aspect of this narrative to a large audience. » Professor James Weirick, Program Director, Urban Development and Centenary Design, UNSW, and President of the Walter Burley Griffin Society » Alasdair McGregor, (author of “Grand Obsessions”, a biography of the Griffins): The Griffins and Day their Legacy The Marion Mahony Griffin Hall at Castlecrag » Marie Nicholls, daughter of Griffin partner Eric Nicholls and co-founder was officially dedicated at our Centenary Day on of Glenaeon, on growing up in October 19th, 2013. The day celebrated the role of Castlecrag and the community the Burley Griffins, particularly Marion, in designing around the Griffins Canberra, establishing Castlecrag and inspiring » Linda St Clair, niece of Glenaeon the founding of Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School. co-founder Sylvia Brose and founding Glenaeon student, on Sylvia Brose and her Verse Drama Mirrabooka written for performance in The Haven Amphitheatre, Castlecrag » Mark Baxter, from Baxter and Jacobson Architects who designed the Marion Mahony Griffin Hall » Councillor Judith Rutherford, Willoughby City Council, who performed the official dedication. The Glenaeon Alumni Choir, nine recent graduates of the school, interspersed the talks with beautiful singing that gave the afternoon a festive and very happy mood. The talks each present a particular aspect of the narrative that links Canberra, Castlecrag and Glenaeon, and we publish some of them here to celebrate this story so central to the history of Glenaeon. » Marion Mahony Griffin a world of possibility Alasdair McGregor (p8/9) » Growing Up In a Griffin House: Memories of Castlecrag Marie Nicholls (p10/11) » “Australia's Young Shelley” Remembering Sylvia Linda St Clair (p12/13) Marion Mahony: Casurina (She Oak) & Ficus ca mid-1920s Source: Marion Mahony Griffin Drawing the Form of Nature PAGE 4 The Marion Mahony Griffin Hall Dedication “Good Afternoon, I am very pleased to be here today representing Gladys Berkijilian, Member for Willoughby and Minister for Transport, who sends her apologies but the press of business precludes her attending. It is however a very sincere pleasure for me, in my capacity as a Willoughby City Councillor, to unveil and present to you these sandstone plaques which officially name this beautiful hall the Marion Mahony Griffin Hall. It is a particular pleasure as I have followed the progress and growth of Glenaeon over many years, and today is a special one for the school. We have heard this afternoon something of the rich and extensive story that is the Griffins in Australia, and how this remarkable couple helped to shape the identity of both our country, and also our local suburb here in Castlecrag. Today is dedicated to one half of this couple, Marion Mahony Griffin, and we are celebrating her unique artistic vision. Her broader vision for the human being, the community and the environment is embodied in so many of her drawings and her writings which we see around us here today. Her legacy though is also a community of people: from her inspiring work in Castlecrag, the seeds of Glenaeon Rudolf Steiner School were laid. Her working relationship with Eric Nicholls as the successor of Walter’s architectural practice, and the inspiration she provided to the young Sylvia Brose, Glenaeon’s founding teacher, were the two key foundation stones in the establishment of the school. Today we acknowledge Marion’s contribution and how fitting it is there is now a building named after her in the Judith Rutherford AM, heart of the suburb she helped to found. This Hall was funded by the Commonwealth Government’s BER program in 2010 and opened in October of that year as part of the BER program. That year marked the 80th anniversary of Marion’s joining of the Anthroposophical Society (in 1930), a decisive step in her growing involvement with Dr Steiner’s work. Through the 1930’s she cultivated study groups, artistic performances and festivals here in Castlecrag, all of which contributed to the unique quality of community for which the suburb is so renowned. She was also deeply interested in children and was involved in a Kindergarten in Sunnyside Avenue run by Mrs Trinick. How appropriate then that her name will now grace this hall which is used daily by the children of Glenaeon school. It gives me great pleasure to officially name this hall the Marion Mahony Griffin Hall, and to formally present to you the plaques bearing her name. They have been designed as simple adornments to the building, to blend with the local streetscape and to be as integrated as possible into the visual aesthetic of Edinburgh Road.