NAIDOC Week art competition

At Life of Colour we decided to take part in NAIDOC week celebrations through an art competition aimed at indigenous artists as well as those who love creating indigenous artworks, this is the gallery with all the entries.

The NAIDOC 2021 theme – Heal Country! – calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protections for our lands, our waters, our sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration, and destruction.

Our art competition invited anyone who wanted to join to create and share their own art inspired by NAIDOC week. There were three age categories (kids, teens and adults), each with a winner of three packs of paint pens to keep creating art.

We have been overwhelmed with the entries we have received across all categories for our #naidoc2021 Week competition. It was amazing for the Life of Colour team to see the heartfelt entries from everyone, specially those who are part of the Indigenous communities and were able to share their culture with us.

Our outstanding judge

We wanted to honour both NAIDOC Week as well as the amazing efforts of all our Life of Colour community by finding an outstanding judge.

We are thrilled to announce Aunty Jenny as our judge.

In the photo, you see Jenny in front of a mural painted for Baabayn by her daughter Marsha.

Jennifer Ebsworth from Brewarrina lived and worked in Bourke in the early 1970s. Her husband Manuel Ebsworth was one of the key civil rights leaders in Bourke and became known for his leadership of the Kinchela Boys' Home Aboriginal Corporation, a group of survivors of the notorious Kinchela Boys' Home, the stolen generations. Jenny lives in Mount Druitt with her children and great grandchildren and remains an activist.

Jennifer also co-founded the Baabayn Aboriginal Corporation, an award winning community support centre for Aboriginal people in Western Sydney that provides a range of community services as well as a place of healing, where Aboriginal people connect with culture and have a strong sense of belonging.

We thank Jennifer and Baabayn for taking part in our competition and getting to know the Life of Colour Art Group community.

Life of Colour has made a donation to Baabayn to show our respect and gratitude.

Please read more about Baabayn here.

NAIDOC week art competition entries

Scroll down to see all the amazing entries from the community. For those of you who submitted more than one piece, we tried to include as many as possible.

Enjoy the NAIDOC week art gallery, and find the winners and Aunty Jenny comments below.

Ruthie Purnell

Kerrie Nadine Finlay

Karlee Hewitt

Zach (Caroline Rutherford)

Bev Tyers

Michelle Ashton Steele

Stacey Montford

Rebekka MzBek Ladner

Charlotte (Krista Bel)

Brigitte (Jessica Gravell)

Alexis McGregor

Melissa Janelle Baugh

Melissa Janelle Baugh (kindy class)

Nara Hannaford

Kelly N Anthony Williams

Amy Huxley

Natasha Fernance

Isabella Fernance

Chelsea (Ranee Cutmore)

Ranee Cutmore

Tyrese Clark

Kat Turner

Norah (Clare Alice Marshall)

Kirti Singla

Jodie Munday

Michelle Harris

Samantha Dorahy

Samantha Dorahy (6 yo daughter)

Ava (Samantha Dorahy)

Bronwyn Ebsworth

Melanie Beers-Quinn

Dani Barenyi

Nichole Alicia

Koa Bastian

Ciara Bastian

Mahalia Bastian

Nidhi Pathak

Cheniqua Huxley

Tahlia Roberts

Matthew (Maria Pagonis)

Stefani (Maria Pagonis)

Dhyuthi Neeli

Melinda Teni

Joss Anderson

Roslyn Towers

Jenny C

Veronica Monger

Sarah Monger

Jodie Herden

Saanvi Nanda

Brianna (Allysia Duncan)

Hayley (Allysia Duncan)

Melissa Janelle Baugh

Jacqie Van Damme

Kate Franklin

Sandra Elliman

NAIDOC week winners

We are thrilled to share with all of you the winners of each category, and we are specially grateful to Aunty Jenny and the Baabayn family for taking part in this competition.

Read Jenny's comments below:

"Thank you for allowing me to be apart of this great opportunity during NAIDOC week I was very honoured when asked to be a judge of such amazing Art. I am no professional critic when it comes to Artwork. It was a hard decision to make with all the talent I have choose Art that stood out to me most.
- Aunty Jenny"

Age 5 – 10 Years old

Winner: Norah (posted by Clare Alice Marshall). Norah’s puff paint and dot painting Kangaroo

"A very eye-catching piece of the Kangaroo which is an iconic symbol of Australian lands by healing country their survival will be secure".

Age 11-18 Years old

Winner: Cheniqua Huxley

"This artwork shows very beautiful traditional touches to the scene of Aboriginal families gathering and using land, sharing knowledge of country and our traditional ways. How far people have travelled to heal."

Age 18+

Winner: Jodie Herden. Dhiiyaan / Family Songlines. 

"Beautiful piece of Artwork shows a story of family lines and their journeys across country, places of significance showing we gather to heal on the Land."

Congratulations to the winners, please reach out to hello@lifeofcolourproducts.com to coordinate the delivery of your prizes!

To the Life of Colour community, thank you for sharing so much colour, love and appreciation during NAIDOC week.