Central to the significance of Garage Graphix is the Aboriginal Arts Program. Led by Aboriginal arts workers, this pioneering program was one of the first of its kind in Australia. The Program trained and mentored Aboriginal arts workers to produce issue-based posters with local Aboriginal organisations and communities. The artworks produced through this program are key examples of the development of suburban Aboriginal art.
After the Garage closed its doors in 1998, an archive of objects, records, and posters amounting to almost 400, were placed in storage under the passive management of Blacktown City Council. With the assistance of a Community Heritage Grant, funded by the Australian Government through the National Library of Australia, a process has commenced increase public access to this important collection.
This evolving microsite contains exhibition documentation, artwork images, scholarly essays and resources related to Garage Graphix.
The Significance Assessment prepared by Dr Lee-Anne Hall for Blacktown City Council provides a comprehensive analysis of the importance of Garage Graphix
Header image: Alice Hinton Bateup, Lin Mountstephen and Leanne Clerke printing a poster for the Indigenous People’s Council Photo – Blacktown District Star newspaper.
All photos from Marla Guppy’s collection. Photos may not be reproduced or used without permission.