A SCULPTURE commemorating a historic female figure born and bred in the region was unveiled on Tuesday morning as part of a ceremony which saw more than 100 people attended.<\/p>\n
The bronze statue of Linton-born Dr Vera Scantlebury is now located at the town\u2019s Avenue of Avenue and was commissioned through the State Government\u2019s Victorian Women\u2019s Public Art program.<\/p>\n
The work is one of six celebrating notable women throughout the state and Minister for Women, Natalie Hutchins, who unveiled the statue, said it\u2019s a step forward for gender equality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen have been underrepresented when it comes to public art and statues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, there are 11 female statues across our state. There are more than 500 statues of men, horses, and dogs.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s time to get the balance right. For young women, you can\u2019t be what you can\u2019t see.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving absolute trailblazers and legends like Dr Vera Scantlebury Brown being honoured here today and her story being put out about her achievements is a really important change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born in 1889, Dr Scantlebury served as a surgeon during World War One before becoming the first director of infant welfare for Victoria at the Department of Public Health in 1926, where she established the infant welfare scheme.<\/p>\n
Attendees of the unveiling included Dr Scantlebury\u2019s descendants as well as representatives from the University of Melbourne, where she studied.<\/p>\n
The statue is the result advocation to the State Government from Golden Plains Shire and the Linton and District Historical Society<\/p>\n
The latter\u2019s president Jill Wheeler said Dr Scantlebury\u2019s is an important legacy for Linton, with the statue surrounds to see continued community development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe little girls and women in this town, to look at that and read the QR code [at the statue] and know what she did is inspiring,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working with the Wadawurrung on an Indigenous garden with indigenous plants. The school kids are going to be involved in some sort of decoration on the plinth.<\/p>\n
\u201cCouncil\u2019s going to maintain the area around the gardens, and the Men\u2019s Shed is making a seat\u2026 so you\u2019ll be able to sit here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sculptor Lucy McEachern was commissioned to create the work and said it was a unique challenge for her.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a professional sculptor of birds, so when we applied for this grant I didn\u2019t really think about the follow-through of making a human,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was only given five photos of Vera because it was World War One and there was limited resources to work from.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made a maquette and enlarged her and went up to Brisbane to work on her face, her feet, and hands. We accessed her buttons from Melbourne Uni archives.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to represent her in her uniform accurately because obviously she wasn\u2019t acknowledged when she should\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A SCULPTURE commemorating a historic female figure born and bred in the region was unveiled on Tuesday morning as part of a ceremony which saw more than 100 people attended. The bronze statue of Linton-born Dr Vera Scantlebury is now located at the town\u2019s Avenue of Avenue and was commissioned through the State Government\u2019s Victorian […]<\/p>\n