City Statues Celebrate Tasmanian Diva

Two new sculptures in Hobart mark a major effort to restore Tasmania’s first international opera star to public memory.

The marble and bronze statues of Amy Sherwin are on display at Hadley’s Orient Hotel.

The life-size works were unveiled on Sunday, 15 February 2026, by Her Excellency the Honourable Barbara Baker AC, Governor of Tasmania.

“Less than 15 per cent of the statues in Australian cities are of women,” Governor Baker said.

“Happily, today we are here to see a truly talented Tasmanian woman permanently remembered in marble and bronze.”

“Amy Sherwin was a global celebrity. Her exceptional talent saw her grace stages in New York, London, and other cities around the world.

“May these statues remind us all of the remarkable story of the girl from the Huon Valley who became a worldwide opera star, who never forgot her Tasmanian origins.”

The sculptures, by artist Peter Schipperheyn, were commissioned by the Amy Sherwin Fund.

The organisation was founded in 2023 to restore Sherwin’s place in Tasmanian cultural history.

Fund president Bob Brown, who is best known for preserving Tasmania’s natural history, said Sherwin always remembered her island roots.

“She was a girl from the bush who never forgot her Tasmanian background,” Dr Brown said.

“I saw the bronze tablet about her […] opposite St David’s Park 30 years ago.

“The more I read about this remarkable human being, the more I fell in love with her. She is such a brilliant person in so many ways.”

Peter Schipperheyn had captured Sherwin’s beauty, “her spirituality, her personality and her determination”.

About Amy Sherwin

Amy Sherwin was born on 23 March 1855 near Huonville and showed a passion for music from an early age. She received piano and vocal lessons from her mother and later from composer Frederick Augustus Packer.

In 1866, she began performing and rose to prominence after joining an Italian opera company in 1878, earning acclaim for roles such as Norina in Don Pasquale and Violetta in La Traviata.

Her international career took her to the United States, England, Europe, Asia, South Africa, and Australia, earning her the nickname the ‘Tasmanian Nightingale’.

She retired from touring in 1907 and settled in England.

Despite her earlier fame, Sherwin’s later years were marked by poverty and illness, though she continued to sing privately. She died in London in 1935.

Sherwin remains Tasmania’s most internationally celebrated singer of her era, though no recordings of her voice survive.

Photo gallery

Footage

Callum J. Jones is passionate about telling stories. He studied English, History, and Journalism at the University of Tasmania and lived in Western Sydney from 2022 to 2024 while working as a journalist for Professional Planner, a leading online publication for financial planners. Callum has written for Tasmanian Times since 2018 and has also been published in a range of other outlets, including Quadrant and the BAD Western Sydney anthologies.