In the foyer of Union High Schoolโs hall stands a piece that is more than just furniture – ๐ถ๐โ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฎ ๐๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ผ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐น๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐. While many of our learners and visitors may pass it daily, few may realise just how remarkable this unique installation truly is.
The ‘๐ง๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ’, a one-of-a-kind sculpture, was gifted to Union in 2020 by the Arnott family in celebration of the schoolโs Centenary.
๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ช๐ด ๐๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ด๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ – ๐ข 10-๐ต๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฏ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ข ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ.
At first glance, the bronze centrepiece of the ‘THINK Table’ appears to simply spell the word THINK. But, as any learner who pauses for a moment will discover, from another angle it reveals an entirely different image: human silhouettes in various reflective and intellectual poses. Some figures are seen teaching and learning, others are deep in discussion or thought, all contributing to an important message -๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ผ ๐๐ฟ๐๐น๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด, ๐๐ฒ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ.
This message, embedded in the very design of the sculpture, aligns perfectly with the values the Union Schools seek to instil in its learners. Inspired by the ethos of โ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฅโ, the table serves as a daily reminder of the power of thoughtful reflection and meaningful dialogue.
๐๐ป๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐ ๐พ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ฟ๐ป๐ผ๐๐:
โ๐๐ต ๐ช๐ด ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐บ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ข๐บ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ด๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ.โ
Far more than a static work of art, the ‘THINK Table’ was designed to be used – a space where learners, staff and visitors alike can sit, connect, collaborate and, most importantly, think.
๐๐ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ถ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ธ๐ป๐ผ๐๐น๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ด๐ฒ, ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ด๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐น๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐น๐. The ‘THINK Table’ is not just symbolic of this belief – it is a physical manifestation of it. It represents our commitment to nurturing minds that question, challenge, innovate and ultimately, change the world.
๐ช๐ฒ ๐ต๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐, ๐น๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐โ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ณ๐ ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐, ๐ฎ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ผ๐ณ ๐จ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐น๐๐บ๐ป๐ถ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐น ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ‘๐ง๐๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ’ – perhaps the moment an idea sparked, a perspective shifted, or a meaningful conversation planted the seed of something greater.
