Walya Mitchell (dec), Untitled. 2020. 500mm x 500mm. Acrylic on cardboard. Warakurna Artists. (#76-20)

Walya Mitchell was from Warburton but used to stay with family in Warakurna. Her brother was Arthur Tjatitjarra Robertson (dec). She has painted with the Warburton Arts Project and also was involved in the women's felting project. Walya usually paints a place called Kunamarra. The Wati Nyiinyii pirni (many finch men) travelled through to that special place. The Nyiinyii minyma (finch women) travelled there too. They all then went on to a special place past Karilwara to build wiltjas (shelters). This place is in the Gibson Desert nature reserve. Mrs Mitchell passed away peacefully in December 2017.

Since 2014, artists have been experimenting with ideas and designs through the Ngurra Streetwear Project. The focus every year is to create print-ready designs, which utilise fashion as a canvas to express self, Ngaanyatjarra culture and life in a remote community. In addition to having the opportunity to see their works immortalised on t-shirts, artists learn hands-on skills in graphic design, layout, and merchandising. While not all designs can be printed, the hard-copy one-off designs serve to document the process, as in the one here. Mrs Mitchell’s design is a vibrant and graphic interpretation of country. The Ngurra Streetwear Project was initiated in 2014 in response to artists and directors request to design fashion within the community. Working with graphic designer, Jack Searls, each year we host a week- long intensive design workshop to create aesthetic elements that are new and original. Participants use paint, textas and photography to create a host of imagery from around the community, which are then workshopped to create the best images for screen printing as well as creating a design direction for the overall project. The workshops include photography, collage and digital manipulation using design software. Participants then made the final designs print ready and worked out costing, sizes and market development.