3 minute read
Jewel in our creative crown
THE FUTURE IS NOW, AS TASMANIA’S WORLD-CLASS CREATIVE HUB COMES ONLINE
After more than a decade in the making, the heart of Hobart’s creative precinct, The Hedberg, is beating.
Visionary donors played a fundamental role in delivering one of the State’s most ambitious cultural and arts infrastructure projects — the University of Tasmania’s new world-class learning and teaching space, which is designed to foster creativity and contribute to positive social change.
Music and creative arts students were welcomed onto campus in 2020 and preparations were underway for an official opening when COVID-19 changed the course of events for all of us.
Prior to the pandemic, a small group of donors were privy to a curtain raiser, enjoying a bespoke private event to thank them for their generosity and to unveil the facility’s named spaces — The Ian Potter Recital Hall, Claudio Alcorso Foyer, and Vanessa Goodwin City Room and Vanessa Goodwin Roof Garden.
While the main official opening is yet to come, the transformative effect on students and staff is already underway.
Professor Kate Darian-Smith, Executive Dean and ProVice Chancellor, College of Arts, Law and Education, said the University was thankful and incredibly proud of The Hedberg and all it has to offer students, staff, the Tasmanian creative industries and the community.
“The Hedberg has taken us boldly into the creative future, giving our music and creative arts students a world-class learning space that brings teaching and research together with industry and community,” Prof Darian-Smith said.
“Generous philanthropic support has been critical to this magnificent project becoming a reality for us.
“It has enabled us to evolve our curriculum and equip our students with the agility needed for contemporary creative careers and leadership. “We are seeing this reflected in our courses, for instance in music and video collaborations between the Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Media and the interdisciplinary Creative Curriculum student cohorts.
“In terms of industry engagement, we are able to invite cultural and creative professionals into our spaces, opening up more opportunities for work-integrated learning and for performing and recording with the creative industries.”
Commercial Music Creation student Kenny King composed and orchestrated a piece of music, which Classical Performance students performed in The Ian Potter Recital Hall in 2020.
“It was mesmerising to hear what the space sounds like, to sit in the room with the orchestra was a special experience that made the hair stand up on the back of my neck,” Kenny said.
In the future, Kenny is looking forward to tapping into the state-of-the-art music technology, particularly the complex speaker array, which he said could make a small, intimate space sound like a cathedral.
The Ian Potter Recital Hall is set to feature a variable acoustic system and is one of a handful in the world capable of reproducing a reverberation field between 0.6 and 15 seconds.
When it is installed, this technology will recreate the perfect sonic environment for the widest variety of performances, and opens possibilities for space to form part of cutting-edge compositions. The $110 million project was delivered through a collaborative partnership between the University, the Australian and Tasmanian Governments and the Theatre Royal. It is also supported by a $5 million gift from The Ian Potter Foundation and other cultural and arts leaders who have had their generosity acknowledged in the following named spaces:
The Ian Potter Recital Hall
The professional performance venue seating up to 289 patrons is named in honour of The Ian Potter Foundation. Sir Ian Potter was a philanthropist with a keen interest in supporting the development of Australian cultural life. In 1964, Sir Ian Potter set up The Ian Potter Foundation to enable him to distribute funds for philanthropic purposes.
Claudio Alcorso Foyer
Named in honour of Claudio and Lesley Alcorso, who have made a significant contribution to the state’s economic, artistic and cultural development. In Tasmania, Claudio is perhaps best known for founding the Moorilla vineyard in Berriedale. He also founded Silk and Textile Printers and was known through association with the Elizabethan Theatre Trust, and as founding Chairperson of the Australian Opera.
The Vanessa Goodwin City Room is one the key University of Tasmania teaching and meeting spaces inside The Hedberg. Dr Vanessa Goodwin was a much-admired criminologist, lawyer and former Attorney-General of Tasmania, Minister for Justice, Minister for Corrections, and Minister for the Arts. A portion of a bequest received in 2018 from the Estate of Dr Goodwin was allocated to the Hedberg project. The Dr Vanessa Goodwin Law Reform Scholarship was also established.
The Ian Potter Recital Hall, The Hedberg, Hobart CBD.
