Canberra’s beloved Soup Lady Stasia Dabrowski. Artists are invited to pay tribute to her by creating a public artwork. Photo: National Australia Day Council.
Female or gender-diverse artists are invited to tender for a public artwork to honour Canberra’s Stasia Dabrowski OAM, Canberra’s beloved Soup Kitchen Lady.
The commission is part of the ACT Government’s recognition of significant Canberra women through the public art collection. It will be completed and installed in Garema Place, close to the original location of the Soup Kitchen, in early 2026.
Stasia Dabrowski was beloved by the Canberra community – and the many people she cared for. Every Friday, from 1982 to 2018, she served homemade soup, bread, drinks and equal doses of compassion to the thousands of needy Canberrans from a corner of Garema Place.
Although she won many awards and accolades for her charity work – including being named 1996 ACT Senior Australian of the Year, 2017 ACT Local Hero of the Year and carrying the Olympic Torch – Stasia remained humble and continued to serve the community until the age of 92. She died in 2020 at the age of 94.
ACT Minister for Business, Arts and Creative Industries Michael Pettersson said the Stasia artwork would be the second in the series of artworks recognising significant Canberra women through the public art collection.
In August, a statue of the late ACT Senator and Hawke Government Minister Susan Ryan AO by artist Lis Johnson was unveiled at the Senate Rose Gardens outside Old Parliament House.
Mr Pettersson said Canberra had a rich collection of 116 public artworks in the ACT Government Public Art Collection. He noted a gender imbalance in both the artwork and the artists who created the works.
“I’m pleased to continue the ACT Government’s Recognising Women Through Public Art Program,” he said.
“With only 19 per cent of works by female artists in the collection and only three commissioned sculptures of significant women [there are seven of men], this program aims to address the imbalance of gender in the collection by commissioning public artworks of significant women by artists who are women or gender diverse/non-binary,” Mr Pettersson said.
“The tender process for the Stasia Dabrowski artwork states that the artist will be a woman or gender diverse/non-binary. If artists are working in partnership, more than 50 per cent of the artist group must be women or gender diverse/non-binary.
“I look forward to seeing the depiction of Stasia, an iconic Canberran who selflessly served the community for so many years, so deserving of this recognition.”
The tender process opened on Tuesday, 10 December, and closes at 2 pm on 6 February 2025. All tenders must be lodged electronically through Tenders ACT. More information on the public art commissioning process is available from the artsACT website.
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