Newcastle boxer Dave Sands has been further immortalised in a new mosaic to be unveiled in Beaumont Street in Hamilton on Friday.
The mosaic is part of a project run by the Hamilton Business Improvement Association to celebrate the suburb's diversity.
Sands started boxing in 1941 at age 15 at Tom Maguire's boxing gym on Beaumont Street.
He fought 110 professional fights, winning 97. He was a contender for the world middleweight title when he died tragically in 1952 at age 26 in a truck accident at Dungog.
Sands is recognised as one of the greatest boxers never to have won a world title, according to Sport Australia's Hall of Fame.
"He was one of three Australians to have held three national titles simultaneously (the others were Billy Grim and Paul Ferreri). Although a natural middleweight, he held the middle, light-heavy and heavyweight championships at the same time from 1950 until his death."
He was inducted into the World Boxing Hall of Fame in 1998 at a ceremony in Los Angeles.
Newcastle artist Jasmine Craciun created the mosaic of Sands.
"I work at Newcastle Museum and Dave Sands plays a big part in our gallery there. He's a big part of our local history," said Jasmine, who has an Indigenous background.
"I knew he began his career in boxing in Beaumont Street, so it felt like a nice way to acknowledge his roots in Newcastle.
"Beaumont Street in general has a really interesting boxing history, so it felt cool to bring that into our modern context through a mosaic."
Cubby Confidence
If you're going to learn how to build things, you may as well start with a cubby house.
A University of Newcastle elective run during January seems to have this exact ethos.
A team of students worked in a TAFE NSW carpentry workshop to construct cubby houses.
They are part of the university's School of Architecture and Built Environment and worked with TAFE at Ourimbah on the Central Coast.
The students donated the cubbies to the Warlga Ngurra Women and Children's Refuge in Newcastle through a university program called Outfit, which aims to "improve equity, diversity and inclusion for women in the built environment".
Dr Kim Maund said the elective provided a "unique and valuable learning experience", adding that students were involved in a range of practical, industry-based activities.
Professor SueAnne Ware, head of the architecture school, said the university fostered "hands-on educational experiences".
Mark our words, one day at least one of these students will build a skyscraper. Probably an eco-friendly one.
Even a house would be good, though.
