Calabria Cultural Centre directors celebrated their end of year Christmas dinner on Thursday with artist Gino Chiodo making an important gift for them to present the city.
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The painting is of the Migration Public Artwork the members were involved in initiating less than a decade ago.
Mr Chiodo said the sculpture marked and recognised the important contribution made to the city by migrants.
“My idea is maybe they can give it to Wollongong City Council so they can hang it in Wollongong City Gallery as part of their ongoing collection,” he said.
Mr Chiodo says it would also help people in the community to hear about the sculpture and what it represents.
Former Calabria Cultural Centre president Mary Zanotto said the sculpture came about as a result of the group wanting to do something to mark the contribution of the Wollongong’s entire migrant population and their families who have stayed in the region.
“We came up with the idea of doing some sort of sculpture to represent the migrants who have come to the Wollongong area,” Mrs Zanotto said.
“We first thought of doing our own Italian culture but then we thought there was a multitude of different cultures. Then we went out looking for people who were interested in the project. There was a lot of interest but no one who could just get it off the ground.”
The idea then went to council and that resulted in the community being consulted. Many people felt it was important to have something that recognised the important contribution people from many cultures have bought to the city. “It came from just this small idea and then it just grew and grew,” Mrs Zanotto said.
When many in the community saw the merit of a Migration Public Artwork a call was made for artists to tender their ideas for the sculpture. A winning tender was chosen and the sculpture built..
President president Rosa Cardamone accepted the painting from Mr Chiodo on Thursday and said she would contact the council.
“It means a lot to us that Gino has done this,” she said.
“The committee has worked really hard to get where we are and we would like to thank Gino from the bottom of our hearts for this beautiful painting. It means a lot to us. Many members of the centre have put a lot of hard work and their time to make the sculpture happen and we are very proud,”
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
