Gail O’Brien of the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse says support from the Hunters Hill parish and Catholic schools was “very special” after parishioners replaced a stolen artwork featuring red poppies just in time for Remembrance Day. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The original large tapestry was taken from the cancer treatment centre and hospital in Camperdown following an ANZAC Day service there in April.
Cancer patients and their loved ones had hand-crafted hundreds of red poppies for the tapestry as part of an art therapy project, and for more than five years the tapestry was displayed on the grand piano in the foyer during ANZAC Day and Remembrance Day services there.
The theft made news headlines and Ms O’Brien, wife of the late surgeon Chris O’Brien, appealed for the deeply symbolic artwork to be returned.
Ms O’Brien, a parishioner at Holy Name of Mary, Hunters Hill, and its parish knitting group joined forces with primary school students at Villa Maria Catholic Primary School and the “Poppy Club” team at St Joseph’s College to recreate the missing item.
The task took about four months, with a group of mothers of former Trinity Grammar School students also getting involved in the final weeks, helping to sew hundreds of crocheted or knitted poppies onto the large tapestry in time to make an official presentation to the hospital on Remembrance Day.
Ms O’Brien said that given the deep community bonds already in place, a new tapestry for the centre foyer came together quite quickly.
“The whole thing was really special, it grew out of nothing really but people know about the hospital and the good work being done here and so it brought so many people together with a common purpose,” she said.
The gift warmed hearts at the hospital and the wider community. New South Wales Governor Margaret Beazley joined the group at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse for the presentation on Monday.
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Parish knitters praised for replacing stolen ANZAC artwork (By Marilyn Rodrigues, The Catholic Weekly)
