Portrait of a Nation

Deborah Vernon Hackett

These individual and group projects build on your research of Deborah Vernon Hackett and encourage a range of creative responses.

The National Portrait Gallery invites you to share your projects online by uploading images, video, audio and text to the Portrait of a Nation: Australian Schools Portrait Project website.

Visit the projects page for more information on how your school can contribute.

EXPLORE

Explore the biography and links to find more information about Deborah Vernon Hackett.

Use a combination of text and images to create a timeline of Hackett’s life.

CREATE

The National Portrait Gallery collection includes paintings photographs, drawings, sculptures, prints, textiles and multimedia portraits.

Experiment with a range of materials to create your own portrait of Deborah Vernon Hackett.

PERFORM

Create a short performance about Deborah Vernon Hackett.

This could be a play, a song, an interview or a dramatisation of an event. Make a video of your performance or document your activity in a series of photographs.

COMPOSE

Look closely at the portrait of Deborah Vernon Hackett.

Write a list of words in response to the portrait.

Use these words to compose a poem, story or song about Deborah Vernon Hackett.

DISCOVER

The Canberra suburb of Hackett is named after Deborah’s first husband, Sir John Winthrop Hackett.

In Western Australia, the city of Busselton is named after her grandfather, Alfred Bussel, who settled the area with his brothers in 1832.

What do you know about the place names in your area? Select a town, suburb or street name and write a news article about what you discovered.

IMAGINE

Suburbs in Canberra are named after Australia's local and national high achievers, its geography, heritage and history. Each suburb also has a theme by which its streets are named.

Imagine your group has the opportunity to plan a new suburb. Create a map of your suburb with street names based on your chosen theme.

Portrait of Deborah Vernon Hackett c.1908
by Florence Fuller
oil on canvas