For 150 years, the Loreto story has been one of courage, innovation, and faith. From the arrival of Mother Gonzaga Barry and her nine companions in 1875 to today’s thriving schools, this milestone honours a legacy of excellence and social justice—celebrating the people, places, and principles that continue to shape generations.
In this sesquicentenary year of the founding of the Loreto Province of Australia and South East Asia, we offer you a warm welcome and invite you to explore the creative expressions in this exhibition. They are the continuing legacy of the original vision of Mother Gonzaga Barry ibvm and her nine companions.
To a person, these women believed deeply that life was good, that God was their guide and that working with others could bring about exciting, imaginative works to keep the founding vision alive, inspiring future generations. They believed in leaving behind them something on which others could and would build. One hundred and fifty years later, this believing and building continues!
A line from the play written by Veronica Brady ibvm for the 1975 centenary year, gives us insight into an aspect of ‘build’ that is still at the heart of our spirituality today. Commenting on Gonzaga Barry’s capacity for imaginative works, the narrator says:
All great endeavour begins, not building with bricks and mortar, perishable things, but building the mystery of persons, always in the direction of love.
The creativity and collaboration expressed in this exhibition celebrate the building of persons as a core value, the gift and grace of being faithful to the vision, as well as the beauty of love and connection.
As you move through these spaces hear the affectionate old Mother say to you:
Your life given you by God is as a canvas on which are painted the portraits and the scenes of everyday life.
Enjoy these expressions of talent in colour, word, music and poetry; marvel at the creation of so much beauty; feel connected to the stories past and present, while celebrating the peace, joy and gratitude embedded in this living tradition of Loreto in Australia and South East Asia.
150 Artwork
Evie Davidson
A proud Dja Dja Wurung woman from the outskirts of Ballarat and currently a Year 10 student at Loreto College Ballarat. In 2023 her group was treated to an inspiring session with Miriam- Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann from the Northern Territory, and invited to make a small painting.
Evie chose a Eucalyptus branch with blossoms under a night sky. It is this that she then worked on with the guidance of Lua Pellegrini to design the logo for the 2025 celebrations.
Lua Pellegrini
A proud Wiradjuri woman who grew up on Darug Country and an Alumna of Loreto Normanhurst, Class of 2019.
Lua graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and Arts, majoring in Indigenous Studies at the University of NSW. She has also worked as the Artist in Residence at St Andrew’s College within The University of Sydney.
Lua says it was a pleasure to work with and mentor Evie, watching her self-efficacy and confidence surrounding her ideas and artistic practice through the process of designing the artwork for the 2025 celebrations.
Evie Davidson created the original artwork on a circular canvas known as a Tondo
The 150 years artwork design includes the blue waters of Lake Wendouree where the traditional owners of the land are the Wadawurrung people.
The clusters of stars (Pleiades Seven Sisters) represent the sisters who accompanied Mother Gonzaga Barry to Ballarat in 1875.
The flowers from the eucalyptus tree recall the name of the first Loreto Newsletter begun in 1886 called Eucalyptus Blossoms.
The symbolic songlines dotted with yarning circles depict the shared journey of all Loreto students and the Open Circle of Mary Ward and her companions.
The Tagline
Writing more than 25 years after arriving
in Australia (1875) Mother Gonzaga Barry wrote:
I suppose no one will ever know what it cost me to leave Ireland and my many Irish friends. It nearly broke my heart, though I was told by Superiors that I would not be sent against my will, I felt I had to do it, or be unfaithful to grace; and when Reverend Mother told me that if I had not consented to go, she would not have allowed any of the Sisters to go to Ballarat, I felt grateful to God who gave me strength.
Being faithful to grace is to remember everyday how relationships and encounters invite us to see goodness, to recognise graciousness, kindness and humility in ourselves, in others and in the way creation holds this grace as a gift for our health and wellbeing.
Grace looks out for the other – always encouraging us to look for the greater good and the best in ourselves and each other.
