About the book
The book is a beautiful commemorative volume, illustrated in full colour, that reveals how and why SMSA was established and tells many fascinating stories about our past. It also cements our place in Sydney’s history, showing the major contribution we have made to Sydney’s culture, industry, society and politics since colonial times.
About the author
Garry Wotherspoon is a former academic and former NSW History Fellow, whose books include Sydney’s Transport: Studies in Urban History and ‘City of the Plain’: a history of a gay subculture. He was awarded Australia’s Centenary of Federation medal for his work as an academic, researcher, and human rights activist.
“I am thrilled to be shortlisted,” said Garry, “And I hope that this will encourage many newcomers to have a look at the SMSA and its history, an institution that has played such an important role in the cultural and political history of the colony, most of it now unknown to the general public.”
Judges’ comments
“This book is a surprisingly engaging microcosm of Sydney’s history from 1833 through the lens of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Art, mainly drawn from its archives. Garry Wotherspoon provides a thorough overview of an institution that was influential at various stages, and a history that is timely and needed. In piecing together this history, Wotherspoon delves into a broad range of primary material archives and the result is a well-illustrated book demonstrating a deft use of original records.
It is an unusual lens through which the changing social and political history of Sydney may be viewed, but Wotherspoon makes a topic with relatively limited appeal highly illuminating for a broad readership. The author captures the social and intellectual ideas of the time that formed the basis for the establishment of the School of Arts, the transformative power of education and its ‘civilising power’ in the former penal colony.”
Acknowledgments
This publication has been generously supported by the City of Sydney’s History Publication Sponsorship Program.
SMSA (Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts)