Marr Grounds

Marr Grounds (21 October 1930 – 25 March 2021) was an American/Australian artist, known for his sculpture and environmental art, as an educational innovator in his career as lecturer in architecture, and as the co-founder of the Tin Sheds art workshop in Sydney.

Early life and education Grounds was born in Los Angeles, California on 21 October 1930, the son of architect Sir Roy Grounds and American divorcee Regina Lammers ( Virginia Marr). He came to Australia in 1933 with his mother and they lived near the outer-Melbourne suburb of Frankston, until 1939.

He studied at the College of Environmental Design at the University of California, Berkeley, graduating with a degree in architecture in 1965, before undertaking a master of arts in sculpture the following year. The campus was at the centre of the 1960s counterculture, and Grounds became part of a friendship group that included some of the key figures of that time, such as Ken Kesey, Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac, hanging out at the City Lights Bookstore. He moved to the commune as students were encouraged to dream and create all manner of artworks, focusing on conceptual art

Marr initiated the creation of the Avago gallery at Tin Sheds. This was a cube built into the wall facing onto City Road. Many artists held their first exhibitions at Avago. It gained notoriety after a copy of a Picasso painting that had been stolen from the National Gallery of Victoria was installed there, and it was later stolen from there again.

He met renowned Australian artist Bonita Ely, the mother of his daughter, in 1981 in Toronto. Their daughter was born in Berlin, but was able to acquire American citizenship.

He renounced his American citizenship around 2005.

Death and legacy He died on 25 March 2021, aged 90, after living for some years on a property near Tanja, New South Wales, in a house with an environmental design reflecting his principles.