Major Public Sculptures
Des McKenna O.A.M – Woodcarver & Sculptor
Melbourne Museum - Red Gum Whale
The whale commissioned by prominent Melbourne businessman Mr Sam Dhingra in 1995 has been donated by him to the new Melbourne Museum in the Carlton Gardens, Carlton and was installed in the main East-West Gallery of the Museum in November 2000
The Museum runs guided tours for the public and guides always start their tour at the whale and tell visitors that this is the only item in the whole Museum they are allowed, even encouraged, to touch.
A polycarbonate screen in the form of a wave was added during 2001 as an added precaution against children climbing on and falling off the whale's flippers. It is anticipated that some marine symbols such as seaweed and small fish will be added to this screen
as decoration at some future date.
Melbourne City Square - Wombat
Carved from a large River Red Gum log on site in the City Square on Swanston
Street - Melbourne's main thoroughfare - the wombat created much interest from day
one of its creation.
The log measuring 1 1/2 metres in length and almost 1 metre in diameter originated in
New South Wales near the town of Wentworth and weighed 2 1/2 tonnes. Carving of the wombat took 2 weeks to complete behind safety barriers erected by the Melbourne City Council to enable the citizens of Melbourne to follow its creation. Many people visited the
site on an almost daily basis to follow the progress and it's completion in January 2002.
The wombat is sited at the Southern end of the City Square adjacent to Flinders Lane
and is overlooked by St Paul's Anglican Cathedral.
A recent 'three months' study conducted at professorial level by the Royal Melbourne University of Technology concluded that the factor which causes the most interest and
leads to the most people entering the City Square is Des McKenna's wombat.
The wombat is named " Warin " pronounced Wareeyn , a name derived from the local
dialect of the two most important Aboriginal tribes of the Melbourne area.
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