32 Facts About Bronwyn Bancroft

Bronwyn Bancroft was born on 1958 and is an Aboriginal Australian artist, administrator, book illustrator, and among the first three Australian fashion designers to show their work in Paris.

Bronwyn Bancroft was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, and trained in Canberra and Sydney.

In 1985, Bancroft established a shop called Designer Aboriginals, selling fabrics made by Aboriginal artists, including herself.

Bronwyn Bancroft was a founding member of Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative.

Bronwyn Bancroft's artwork is held by the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Art Gallery of Western Australia.

Bronwyn Bancroft illustrated and written 47 ;children's books, including Stradbroke Dreamtime by activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal, and books by artist Sally Morgan.

Bronwyn Bancroft has a long history of involvement in community activism and arts administration, and has served as a board member for the National Gallery of Australia.

Bronwyn Bancroft served on the boards of copyright collection agency Viscopy, the Australian Society of Authors and Tranby Aboriginal College, and the Artists Board at the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia in Sydney.

Bronwyn Bancroft has said that her great-great-great-grandmother Pemau was one of only two or three survivors from her clan, the rest murdered when their land was settled by a white farmer.

Bronwyn Bancroft recalled that her father's education was obstructed by discrimination because he was Aboriginal.

Bronwyn Bancroft never returned to live in Tenterfield, although her three sisters were living there in 2004.

Bronwyn Bancroft has three children: Jack was born in 1985, Ella in 1988.

Bronwyn Bancroft separated from Manning when they were very young; her third child Rubyrose was born in 1999.

Bronwyn Bancroft was a founding member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, one of Australia's oldest Indigenous-run artists' organisations, established in 1987.

Bronwyn Bancroft served in the roles of chairperson, director, and treasurer during its first two decades.

Bronwyn Bancroft has cited as influences the American painter Georgia O'Keeffe, European painters Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, and Marc Chagall, and Australian Indigenous artists such as Emily Kngwarreye, Rover Thomas, and Mary MacLean.

Art works by Bronwyn Bancroft are held by the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales, the Art Gallery of Western Australia and the Queensland Art Gallery.

Bronwyn Bancroft's art has been exhibited in Indonesia, New Zealand, the US, France and Germany.

In 2004, Bronwyn Bancroft was commissioned to design a large mural covering the exterior of a sports centre housing two basketball courts at Tempe Reserve in Marrickville, New South Wales.

Bronwyn Bancroft ventured into illustrating children's books in 1993, when she provided the artwork for Fat and Juicy Place written by Dianna Kidd.

Bronwyn Bancroft was the third artist to have provided images for successive editions of the book, of which the first edition was released in 1972.

Bronwyn Bancroft's art has appeared in the publications of a number of other individuals and organisations, including as cover art for books from the Australian Museum and the New South Wales Education Department, for Larissa Behrendt's novel Home, and for Roberta Sykes's controversial autobiographical narratives Snake Cradle and Snake Dancing, among others.

Bronwyn Bancroft has been active in arts organisations, and served two terms on the board of the National Gallery of Australia during the 1990s.

Bronwyn Bancroft was chair of the Visual Arts Board of the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts, and of the National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Organisation from 1993 to 1996.

Bronwyn Bancroft was a member of the board of directors of the Australian copyright collection agency, Viscopy, and while serving in that position has been an advocate of resale royalty rights for artists.

Bronwyn Bancroft has observed that "resale royalties are an intrinsic link to the improvement of the inherent rights of Australian artists to a fair income".

Bronwyn Bancroft was a member of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia's Artist Advisory Group in 2005, and is a member of the museum's artists board.

Bronwyn Bancroft has served on the board of the Indigenous training organisation, Tranby Aboriginal College.

Bronwyn Bancroft has taught and mentored Indigenous school students such as Jessica Birk, a winner of the Australia Council's inaugural Emerging and Young Artist Award in May 2009.

In 2021, Bronwyn Bancroft was inaugural recipient of the A$30,000 NSW Aboriginal Creative Fellowship.

Bronwyn Bancroft was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2024 King's Birthday Honours for "significant service to the arts, and to the Indigenous community".

Bronwyn Bancroft was awarded the 2024 Lady Cutler Award for her "distinguished service to children's literature" with a particular focus on Aboriginal children's literature.