The Official Opening of Our Cultural Centre – Jennifer Oaten
Throughout the evening, I had the opportunity to sit back and enjoy our students perform. More than 300 students took to the stage, and watching them, I was completely overwhelmed with emotion. I was so proud of them. They had worked so hard to perfect these performances, and every one of them was a star.
One of the pieces was a play about Catherine McAuley and the founding of the Sisters of Mercy. To see our students tell that story, in a building that did not exist two years ago, on ground the Sisters cleared in 1938, is something I will remember for a long time.
If those opening performances are any indication of what lies ahead, the future of this building is incredibly bright!
So Why a Cultural Centre?
While buildings begin as physical structures, their true value lies in the opportunities they create for our students. The Arts give our students a way to express joy and sorrow, and to work through questions of identity and belonging. They help young people make meaning of the world and connect more deeply with one another. In a world increasingly shaped by speed, technology and constant noise, places like this become even more important for the wellbeing of our young people.
Catherine McAuley understood the importance of nurturing both the mind and the heart. The Sisters who founded this College carried that into the way they ran it. They offered music lessons to local families to help raise funds, and music was important to them then, just as it is today.
Where the Arts Have Lived at Santa Maria
The Sisters of Mercy established Santa Maria at Attadale in 1938. What vision they had.
The first hall was called the Temporary Hall and was built in the 1940s behind the original McAuley Building. Music tuition and practice rooms ran along one side of it. Mass was celebrated there, and so were productions and musical performances.
In 1972 an amphitheatre was developed among the bush near Bertrand Boarding House. When that space opened, only staff were there to see it, because the students had already gone home for Easter. One of the early performances was Lord of the Dance, danced by Year 7 students.
In 1974, bush was cleared along Stoneham Road to build the McDonald Cultural Centre. That was the Wandoo side of the hall we have used ever since, with a drop-off point at the front for balls and socials. Music, Drama and Sport all shared it.
In 1986, the Sisters moved out of the Convent in the main building, Music moved into that space, and a purpose-built Theatre Arts Centre was added. The College Annual of the day described it as state-of-the-art and unrivalled in any WA school. That space has been home to the Arts for the past forty years, and many families will have fond memories of the Theatre and the adjoining Green Room.
What It Took to Build
This project took more than five years. The build itself took 22 months.
It began with a Masterplan, then a Local Development Plan, then a carpark development, and then a first design. COVID arrived while we were in that phase, and when the costings came back, they were well beyond our budget. That was a genuinely difficult moment. We had a design we believed in and no way to afford it.
Walking away was never really an option. A redesign followed, then a re-costing, and finally the turning of the sod in September 2024.
Our Board held the decision steady across years of changing costs and shifting timelines. Many of the families who supported it have daughters who will never perform in the building, and our staff taught through noise, dust and disruption for the better part of two years. I am grateful to all of them.
Projects of this size also depend on good partners. We worked with our Project Director, Tome Nunes from TPM, our Architect, Ed Hicks from Architectus, and our builder, PS Structures.
Choosing the Names
We chose the name Cultural Centre because it speaks to the diversity and spirit of our community. For the spaces inside, we worked with Whadjuk Noongar Elder, Emeritus Professor Dr Len Collard.
The theatre is named Djinda Theatre, from the Noongar word for star. It is a place for imagination, storytelling and performance, and a place where our students can shine. That idea sits closely with Catherine McAuley, who wrote that we should be shining lamps, giving light to all around us.
Kaarlak Studio takes its name from the Noongar word for home fire, and it is our dance studio. It is intended as a place of belonging, where movement builds expression and confidence.
Our smaller black box theatre is Trócaire Studio. Trócaire is the Irish word for mercy, and it asks us to act with empathy and to respond to injustice. It is also the title of a play written by our long serving Head of Drama, Hal Davies, to celebrate the founding Sisters of Mercy.
Outside, Catherine Courtyard honours our Foundress. It is a place of welcome, where anyone can pause and connect. Catherine loved to dance, and in one of her letters she told the Sisters to dance every evening. I think she would have liked this building.
The feature I love most is the public art in the entry areas, called Knowledge Walk. Alumna and artist Ellen Norrish created 87 sketches tracing the history of this place, beginning with the First Nations people who were here long before the College, then the Sisters of Mercy, and then each decade since. The drawings are etched onto tiles, and they beautifully capture our story. Future generations will walk past them and understand where they are.
This Space Now Belongs to Our Students
I want our students to fill our Cultural Centre with music, movement and imagination, to take creative risks, and to grow in confidence through the risks that work as well as the ones that do not. My hope is that they find friendship and belonging here, and that they use their gifts in ways that build understanding between people.
Standing on that stage on opening night, with a full house in front of me, more than 300 performers and an incredible Performing Arts team, I felt an enormous sense of gratitude and pride. Together we persevered through every obstacle to create something that will serve our community for generations to come.
- arts and wellbeing, Catholic Girls School Perth, Djinda Theatre, Featured, Girls' Education Perth, Mercy Education, performing arts at Santa Maria, Santa Maria College community, Santa Maria College Cultural Centre, student performance opportunities, Whadjuk Noongar language
Author: Santa Maria College
Santa Maria College is a vibrant girls school with a growing local presence and reputation. Our Mission is to educate young Mercy women who act with courage and compassion to enrich our world. Santa Maria College is located in Attadale in Western Australia, 16 km from the Perth CBD. We offer a Catholic education for girls in Years 5 – 12 and have 1300 students, including 152 boarders.
Coming Home – Alumni Celebrate the Cultural Centre
Santa Maria College alumni gathered to celebrate the opening of the College’s new Cultural Centre, reconnecting with classmates and celebrating the role of the arts in the community. The evening featured performances by current students and a 42-member Alumni Choir, highlighting the lifelong connections and shared experiences that continue to bring Old Girls back to the College.
From the President – August 2026
The August 2026 Old Girls’ Association President’s Report provides an update on upcoming meetings and alumni activities at Santa Maria College. President Mary Heavens outlines plans for the Pleiades Gathering, the inaugural Santa Maria College and Aquinas social event, and the Golden Girls’ lunch welcoming the Class of 1976.
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