The Revd Glenn Loughrey was installed as a Cathedral Canon and the next Artist in Residence, on Sunday 14th November 2021 during the 10am Sung Eucharist. Canon Glenn is a Wiradjuri man and will be the first Aboriginal Canon in the history of the Cathedral.
The appointment was made at the August meeting of the Cathedral Chapter and the ongoing lockdown in Melbourne has meant his installation has not been able to take place until now.
Canon Glenn combines his passions for the arts and justice for First Nations people with his ministry as a priest. Before coming to Melbourne in 2015 to lead the parish of St Oswald’s, Glen Iris, he served Anglican churches in Queensland and New South Wales. He has been a finalist in the Moran Portrait Prize (2018) and the Mandorla, Blake and Paddington Art prizes (2020). His works have been exhibited at St Paul’s Cathedral, St John’s Cathedral Brisbane and in churches and galleries in Victoria and New South Wales, including the Koorie Heritage Trust on Federation Square. His most recent exhibition, Love Letters to Country, was on display at Hearth Art Healesville.
Over the past two years, Canon Glenn has worked with Chapter on the creation of a large-scale First Nations Glass Artwork to pay tribute to the traditional owners of the lands on which St Paul’s Cathedral stands.
At the announcement of Canon Glenn’s appointment the Dean, the Very Revd Dr Andreas Loewe said:
‘I am delighted that Chapter has made the historic appointment of the Cathedral’s first Aboriginal Canon. Canon Glenn’s appointment honours the strong contribution he has already made—through the arts and cultural education—to the Cathedral’s journey with First Nations People’. The Dean added: ‘Canon Glenn is both an artist and a parish priest, and we recognise that his fulltime ministry as a priest will very much continue to be at St Oswald’s Church. I very much look forward to his commissioning as a Cathedral Canon and Artist in Residence, and the installation of two of his art works, at St Paul’s later this month’.
Canon Loughrey said:
‘I am both excited and humbled to be appointed as the Cathedral Canon – Artist in Residence and to be the first to represent First Nations People in the Mother Church of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne in this way. Creativity is central to both my traditions (Anglican and Wiradjuri) and I look forward to watching what comes into being within the Cathedral and the Diocese as a result of this appointment’.
The Cathedral’s inaugural First Nations Artist in Residence was Maori artist and priest, the Reverend Regan O’Callaghan. Regan joined the Cathedral during its 125th anniversary year in 2016 and continues to work with Chapter’s Culture and Heritage Committee on the development of a new triptych for the Cathedral’s Chapel of Unity.