Colourful … Flossie Peitsch assists St Paul’s Catholic School students (from left) Jessica, Michael, Alex and Nikolina with work on a collage focusing on the life and work of Caroline Chisholm.CAROLINE Chisholm, the immigrants’ friend, is the focus of an art project which involves schools from across the West.
Victoria University Fine Art PhD candidate Flossie Peitsch has engaged students from Caroline Chisholm Catholic College, Footscray City College, St Margaret’s Primary School, Ascot Vale West Primary School and St Paul’s Kealba Primary School to create a collage that highlights the work of the philanthropist.
The collages will be displayed at the Living Museum of the West at Pipemakers Park in October and the project will also include Caroline Chisholm Catholic College students building 10 replica hostels measuriung one metre by three metres.
Ms Peitsch said works would be one part of a major project titled Chisholm’s Homes: Shaking Down the Miracle.
“The purpose is to celebrate the 150th anniversary of her cajoling the government to build 10 hostels from Melbourne to the south of Bendigo for migrant families,” she said.
She said the hostels were built to reunite women, families and men who were making their way to the goldfields.
“The women were separated from their husbands who were working in the goldfields,” she said.
Caroline Chisholm herself was an immigrant, arriving in Australia in the early 1800s with her husband, an officer in the British Army.
Ms Peitsch said her research was mainly based on the work of Brenda StevensChambers book Friend and Foe.
“If they (women) traveled to the gold fields they would have to sleep by the side of the road, left to be killed or worse”.
She was also involved in setting up hostels and job placements for women who traveled alone by ship to Australia from England.
