History set in stone

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Tags: Dr James O'Neil Mayne, philanthropy, rhyl hinwood, sculpture, winter-2011

The Dr James O'Neil Mayne bronze medallion created by University sculptor Dr Rhyl Hinwood

UQ has unveiled a new artwork to commemorate one of its first and most significant donors, Dr James O’Neil Mayne.

Dr Mayne and his younger sister, Mary Emelia Mayne, made the University’s move to its current St Lucia site possible with an £80,000 donation in 1926.

The money paved the way for the Brisbane City Council to resume 110 hectares of sugar cane, arrowroot and pineapple farming land.

Situated above the University’s Foundation Stone on a Helidon freestone panel in the foyer of the Forgan Smith Building Tower, the artwork consists of a life-sized bronze portrait medallion relief of Dr Mayne, accompanied by
a bronze dedication plaque.

The medallion is the latest creation of alumnus and University sculptor Dr Rhyl Hinwood AM, whose grotesques, coats of arms and flora and fauna carvings adorn the Great Court at the St Lucia campus.

The medallion came about after an approach to Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Greenfield by UQ benefactor Dr Ros Siemon – an expert on the Mayne family and author of the popular book The Mayne Inheritance – and Jean Tremayne from the Mayne Medical School at Herston.

Dr Hinwood said the new backdrop to the artwork was made from a selected panel of Helidon freestone – a high-quality sandstone from the foot of the Toowoomba range; the same stone used in the construction of the Great Court.

The portrait was based on a photograph taken when Dr Mayne was 38-years-old in 1899 and served as Superintendent of the Brisbane General Hospital.

By Shirley Glaister

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