As the first of its kind, the Place of Courage will reflect Adelaide’s leading role in the arts and its recognised status as a global Creative City, as well as providing leadership to councils across South Australia.
Ms Oxenham, the founder, 88, was the driving force behind one of Adelaide’s first women’s shelters in Christies Beach in the 1970s, says Place of Courage will be a peaceful and contemplative space to commemorate the Australian women killed every year by their loved ones, and to educate the community about the “silent war” of domestic violence.
“Every time I hear a story of a woman being killed it brings me back to my own story.”
“It never leaves you.”
“We are all in this together” a unified community can change attitudes, together we can advocate for gender equality and a future free from family and domestic violence. The project aims to commemorate the traumatic impact on individuals, families and communities, raise awareness and further the dialogue for understanding and change.
The dream is to create a ‘Place of Courage’ – a place of comfort and healing, promoting courage to speak up and out and providing a powerful symbol of a peaceful and unified community.
It will shape a place with multiple uses, accommodating public and private aspects, while providing for specific acknowledgment of the disparate impact of family and domestic violence on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island communities in Australia.
Providing a symbol for current and following generations, the presence of the public artwork will facilitate a place of quiet reflection for those affected, their family and the general public. Conveying hope, optimism and lightness, for our future.
Giving a powerful public profile to the vision of a future free from family and domestic violence.
If you share our vision, our social purpose, and believe in putting our community first. Then lets work together, to create a world free from domestic violence. It is too big to be solved by any one sector. When we come together in courage, our real collective impact will be realised in the creation of this amazing new initiative.
Since the inception of our project we have worked closely with the Adelaide City Council’s Administration and we look forward to continue working together to see its completion. In order to best achieve this, Spirit of Woman proposes that funding and commissioning of the artwork be undertaken through a community partnership approach.
Our goal is to contribute significantly to the costs for the public artwork $250,000. Because when we do this in partnership with government, business and corporations we can make a measurable social impact for our community around this issue. Most importantly, we want to see more children who never witness violence in the home.
