Image: Geoff Harvey Beware of the Dogs, installation view.
2013 to 2014
Local artist Geoff Harvey’s outdoor exhibition Beware of the Dogs was commissioned and exhibited at Hazelhurst in 2013-2014. Harvey has a long connection to Southern Sydney, lecturing in the area for over 20 years, and is well known for his dog sculptures. The dogs were designed to be displayed where the surrounding environment and shifts in light are integral to the way they are viewed, while encouraging exploration of the Hazelhurst grounds for children and families.
Lass the Alsatian was one of several dogs who lived on the Hazelhurst grounds with the original owners, Ben and Hazel Broadhurst. Dix Hawk was the Canadian cousin of the children adopted by the Broadhursts when orphaned during WWII. Dix came to live at Hazelhurst in the 1960s and kept the Alsatians during the property’s later years for the purpose of training them for police work. Lass was rumoured to have supernatural powers and was able to use psychic intuition to find lost items, sometimes miles from the location in which they were last seen. She is fondly remembered by many local residents.
Lass by Geoff Harvey was acquired by the Friends of Hazelhurst for the Hazelhurst Gardens in 2014 to recognise the importance of Lass and other dogs in Hazelhurst’s history and allow visitors to enjoy the sculpture for many years to come.