A Legacy in Stone: Unveiling the 50th grotesque in the Great Court
Source: https://about.uq.edu.au/leadership-governance/vice-chancellor-and-president/speeches-and-articles-vice-chancellor-and-president/legacy-stone-unveiling-50th-grotesque-great-court Parent: https://about.uq.edu.au/faculties-institutes/bel/about/contact
Speech delivered by Professor Deborah Terry AC, Vice-Chancellor and President, The University of Queensland at St Lucia.
Date: 24 October 2025
Thank you, Liam.
I, too, acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we meet today, pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
And I would particularly like to thank Deline for that stunning musical performance – acknowledging Country. I would also like to acknowledge:
- Councillor Penny Wolff, Walter Taylor Ward, Brisbane City Council
- Mr Peter Varghese AO, Chancellor
- Rhyl Hinwood AM, University Sculptor
- Jasmine Valadian and Scekar Valadian, family members of the late Margaret Valadian AO MBE
- UQ colleagues, friends, donors and distinguished guests.
Good morning and welcome to UQ for the unveiling of the 50th “grotesque” to be installed in UQ’s Great Court.
While this type of sculpture is traditionally described in architectural terms as a “grotesque”, I’m sure you’ll agree with me when we unveil Rhyl’s latest artwork, in a moment, that it is anything but grotesque. Indeed, it is a sculpture of immense beauty.
A very fitting tribute to the late, great Margaret Valadian – a woman of soaring intellect and integrity, who left her mark both here at UQ, as well as across our nation.
This event is an opportunity to celebrate the contributions of both women the University Sculptor, Rhyl Hinwood, as well as her subject for this so-called ‘grotesque’, Margaret Valadian.
And it’s also a chance to reflect on the tradition of beautifying the sandstone of this Great Court through carving and sculpture.
It’s a tradition that stretches back 86 years now – to the year 1939 – when the University employed a stonemason, John Theodore Muller, to work on the façade of the Forgan Smith Building, while it was still under construction.
At that time, the Forgan Smith Building was the sole structure located here on the campus – a monumental structure surrounded by treeless paddocks.
And Muller worked here, as the University sculptor, for 11 out of the next 14 years.
He only stopped carving for a few short years, between 1942 and 1944 – when the Forgan Smith Building was requisitioned by the Allied Defence Forces for use as its Advanced Land Headquarters, during World War II.
Muller was a prolific sculptor – and his creative legacy is evident all throughout this Great Court. Of the 49 existing grotesques here, Muller carved 32 of them.
Indeed, he worked here almost continuously, right up until his death in 1953, at the age of 80.[1]
Following Muller’s death, there were a couple of decades in which the carving of the Great Court’s distinctive sandstone was halted.
But, in 1975, when the final section of the colonnade was constructed – enclosing the Great Court for the first time – there was a renewed focus by UQ’s then leadership team on completing Muller’s work.
The following year, in 1976, Rhyl won a competition to become the University Sculptor – and the rest, as they say, is history.
In the 49 years since, the Great Court has become Rhyl’s extraordinary canvas. She has carved cloister arches, half-shields, coats of arms, friezes, and monumental statues.
Indeed, so much of her life’s work is on display here, that there are entire books dedicated to recording Rhyl’s creative output here in the Great Court.[2]
But I get the distinct impression that Rhyl’s favourite pieces are the 17 grotesques that she carved between 1976 and 1993.
And, as an interesting side note, I should say that among those 17, there are 2 grotesques that are particularly personal.
Because Rhyl was asked to carve a sculpture of her predecessor, John Theodore Muller, in 1981[3] – and then carve a portrait of herself, which she completed in 1993.
And, in fact, Rhyl’s self-portrait was the most recent grotesque to be unveiled here in the Great Court. And that was back in 1993.[4]
So, the unveiling of the 50th and final Great Court grotesque, here today, is an event that has been 32 years in the making.
And, when it is revealed – very shortly – I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s been well-and-truly worth the wait.
Because this latest grotesque is a stunning depiction of an inspirational figure – Margaret Valadian.
Margaret, of course, is an important figure here at UQ, as the first Indigenous Australian to graduate from our university. That was back in 1966, when she graduated with a Bachelor of Social Studies.
Margaret also holds a significant position in our nation’s story, as the first Aboriginal woman to graduate with a university degree in Australia.
Following her graduation from UQ, she went on to be the first Aboriginal Australian to earn a degree from an overseas university, graduating from the University of Hawaii with a Master of Education in 1969, before completing a Master of Social Welfare at the State University of New York in 1973.
She dedicated her life to improving opportunities for Indigenous peoples and advocating for Indigenous education; telling a National Press Club audience in 1965 that: “talent was being wasted because Aborigines were forced to leave school early and take poorly paid jobs."
She went on to astutely point out that: “The first thing to do is to educate white Australians. We are easy to educate”.[5]
In 1978, Margaret co-founded the Aboriginal Training and Cultural Institute in Sydney, an institute that provided training to hundreds of Indigenous people, who would go on to work in healthcare and education – as counsellors, youth workers and teaching assistants.
In short, Margaret Valadian was a true pioneer with a passionate belief in the power of education to improve the lives of individuals, and whole communities.
And she was someone who pushed open the door of opportunity for others – both as a powerful role model and as someone who dedicated her life to Indigenous empowerment through education.
I can’t think of a more worthy person to honour with the final grotesque in the series of 50 grotesques that encircles the Great Court.
In doing so, we celebrate the impact of an extraordinary woman at the same time as honouring, in perpetuity, the Indigenous owners of the land on which the main campus of our university now proudly sits.
There is a quote that I know has resonated deeply with Rhyl, and inspired her work, ever since she first heard it uttered at an event held at the Queensland Art Gallery more than half a century ago.
On that occasion, Rhyl heard the Australian sculptor, Tom Bass, give a talk on art in which he said – and I quote: “When an artist looks at an object, it stays looked at.” [6]
And it is so true.
Thank you, Rhyl, for your contribution to our university – and particularly this campus – over the past 5 decades.
And thank you, especially, for creating this magnificent sculpture of Margaret Valadian so that she “stays looked at”, helping to preserve our collective memory of her impact here, at UQ, and across Australia.
[1] Clive Moore, The Forgan Smith Building and the Great Court at The University of Queensland, Cross Roads, Volume 5, Issue 2: UQ Centenary, 2011
[2] Dr Rhyl Hinwood, A Sculptor’s Vision: Creating a Legacy in Stone, 2023
[3] Dr Rhyl Hinwood, A Sculptor’s Vision: Creating a Legacy in Stone, 2023
[4] Dr Rhyl Hinwood, A Sculptor’s Vision: Creating a Legacy in Stone, 2023
[5] Patti Warn, First Indigenous woman to qualify with a university degree, The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 January 2024
[6] Dr Rhyl Hinwood, A Sculptor’s Vision: Creating a Legacy in Stone, 2023