Mrs Pitt was a visionary teacher and principal who used her position to stand up against the social injustices of the day. She thought on her feet and made a plan that was the best for the learner at that point in time, despite what current societal norms expected of her, or of the school. This brave and dynamic approach to decision making is exactly what we need to tackle the most complex problem of our time, climate change.

Dorothea Pitt called herself Dodo because she could not pronounce her own name, Dorothea. The name stuck and became a theme throughout her life.

The dodo is known as the first creature that went extinct because of human interference. We arrived in Mauritius in the 1600’s with our rats and dogs and obliterated these flightless birds within a couple of decades. It was depicted as a slow, simple bird that stood no chance.
More recently scientist have reframed it as far from simple and slow, but indeed fast running, super sharp and with no natural predators on the island. Until we arrived. With this artwork, I imagine this dynamic dodo, trying its hardest to ‘fly away’ from these dangerous predators – the humans.

We have the resources to imagine and build the futures that we want. Let’s be brave and dynamic as Dorothea ‘Dodo’ Pitt.