A crowd of members, friends and family gathered at the back of the Civic Theatre on Wednesday 29 August to honour long-serving member June Dunn, in the planting of a tree and placement of a plaque, the inscription on which read: “In memory of June Dunn, a true lady of the theatre”.
With the assistance of Wagga City Council, a lemon scented gum was chosen – an apt choice as similar trees are in the vicinity of the adjacent Art Gallery and the tree was known to be one of June’s favourites.
The Mayor, Cr Kerry Pascoe, assisted in the planting and paid tribute to June Dunn’s contribution to the arts in Wagga.
Also speaking were SoACT President, Nancy Blacklow, and June’s niece, Pat McDonald.
| June Dunn, who died in May 2009, was a leading figure in Wagga’s cultural life for more than 50 years and for all that time was a dedicated and vital member of our organisation. Her association with the School of Arts covered all aspects of our activities.She appeared in the School of Arts Players’ first full-length play, Home and Beauty, in 1945, served as president for a number of years in the 1970s, directed several successful shows and was a respected and effective representative on local and regional arts organisation.
She is best remembered as convenor and organiser of the annual School of Arts Drama Festival for more than 20 years, guiding it to be one of the most prestigious short play festivals in regional NSW and a valuable forerunner to today’s Ten x 10 PlayFest. It is fitting that a memorial to her should be noted in August – traditionally Drama Festival time in the School of Arts of previous years. June’s contributions to the performing arts were recognised when she was awarded an Order of the Member of Australia (MBE) in 1976. |
