The statue of soup lady Stasia Dabrowski will be installed in Garema Place in 2026. Photo: National Australia Day Council
Canberra’s celebrated soup kitchen lady Stasia Dabrowski OAM will be immortalised in bronze or a robust material capable of a realistic depiction and withstanding the elements.
A tender has been released seeking a women or gender diverse/non-binary artist to undertake the work, which will be positioned in Garema Place where Stasia ran her soup kitchen from from 1979 until 2018 feeding Canberra’s needy.
The ACT Government has committed $300,000 for the artwork, the second in its public art program to celebrate the achievements of significant women.
The first was the statue of the late Labor politician Susan Ryan AO by Lis Johnson, which was unveiled in the Senate Rose Garden last year.
The tender document says the sculpture of Stasia will be installed in Garema Place close to the original location of the soup kitchen.
It says the exact location will depend on detailed site investigations taking into account underground services, pedestrian flows, and vehicle sightlines.
Installation is planned for early 2026 and will be coordinated with the City Renewal Authority’s (CRA) upgrades to infrastructure and landscaping in Garema Place.
Arts Minister Tara Cheyne said last year when announcing the project that honouring Stasia was an obvious choice, acknowledging her enormous contribution to many of Canberra’s most vulnerable.
“Stasia Dabrowski’s own life was far from easy,” she said. “Her own early experiences without running water, wood or gas for heat or food in a Polish village before World War II left her with a real desire to help others. Thousands of Canberrans were recipients of that compassion.”
She came to Canberra in 1964 with her husband and young family, although her struggles continued after the marriage broke down and her family faced multiple personal challenges.
She began helping others after a conversation with her teenage son about homeless people here in Canberra, which reminded her of the experiences she’d endured during the war years. Helping others gave her a purpose in life and a way to give back to Canberra.
She won numerous awards and accolades for her charity work, including 1996 Canberra Citizen of the Year, 1999 ACT Senior Australian of the Year and 2017 ACT Local Hero of the Year.
When demand grew, grandson Josh Kenworthy joined her and remembers her as a humble soul who shied away from publicity and just wanted to lend a hand.
Stasia’s generosity was eventually supported by a number of Canberra-based organisations, including the Snow Foundation.
Mr Kenworthy said a statue would be a great way to honour her work and remember her.
“The statue is something that will be there forever in Garema Place and this way, Nan’s work will definitely be remembered,” he said.
The tender closes on 6 February.
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