The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre
The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre is closed.
To celebrate the 2026 NAIDOC Week’s theme of ’50 Years of Deadly’ and also acknowledge local Elder Uncle Danny Eastwood’s profound impact on the arts, culture and community of Blacktown, the iconic Rainbow Serpent makes it journey across the Max Webber Library Windows.
Rainbow Serpent (1988) by Uncle Danny Eastwood has travelled across continents and communities, from not-for-profit events in Germany and Japan, to years of service upon the wall in a government organisation supporting children and families in crisis.
For 5 years, the artwork was displayed behind telephone operators receiving difficult and often distressing calls, offering a moment of visual grounding and emotional respite. Since then, the work has largely remained out of public view, until it’s significant place in the exhibition ‘I Talk Through My Art, And My Art Talks Through Me’, artworks by Uncle Danny Eastwood and curated by Jamie Eastwood, in 2023 at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre.
Now displayed across the Max Webber Library windows, Rainbow Serpent returns to the public. Its scale and symbolism invite reflection on resilience, cultural storytelling, and the role of art in collective wellbeing.
Bio
Uncle Danny Eastwood is descended from the Ngemba group of Western New South Wales. His mother came from Brewarrina and he was born and grew up in the Eora area of the Gadigal Nation. For the past 43 years, he has been a proud member of the Dharug area of western Sydney.
As a painter and cartoonist, he has produced numerous works which tell the story of his people and Country, including his contributions to Koori Mail, over the last 30 years and his public art which can be found all over Sydney.
In 1992, Uncle Danny won the NSW NAIDOC Award. He shared the National NAIDOC Aboriginal Artist of the Year Award, receiving 1st prize in the NSW Parliament Award and the NAIDOC Poster Award in 1993. Uncle Danny is responsible for building and making the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander War Memorial, to honour Aboriginal service people at the Anzac Memorial, Hyde Park, Sydney.
This is presented by Blacktown Arts and supported by Blacktown City Council
