Bronwyn Bancroft

Bronwyn Bancroft is an Australian artist, illustrator, and arts administrator. She was one of the first Australian fashion designers invited to show her work in Paris. Her painting Prevention of AIDS was used in a campaign to raise awareness of HIVAIDS in Australia.

About Bronwyn Bancroft in brief

Summary Bronwyn BancroftBronwyn Bancroft is an Australian artist, illustrator, and arts administrator. She was one of the first Australian fashion designers invited to show her work in Paris. She has provided art work for more than 20 children’s books, including Stradbroke Dreamtime by writer and activist Oodgeroo Noonuccal. Her painting Prevention of AIDS was used in a campaign to raise awareness of HIVAIDS in Australia. She is a founding member of the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative, one of Australia’s oldest Indigenous-run artists’ organisations. Her art work is held by the National Gallery of Australia, the Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Art gallery of Western Australia. Her father was an engineer during World War II, managing barges at Madang and Rabaul. Her grandfather and uncle worked in local goldmines. She never returned to live in Tenterfield, although her three sisters were living there in 2004. Her husband-to-be Ned Manning had also been her teacher. She separated from Manning when they were very young; her third child Rubyrose was born in 1999.

Jack was awarded NSW Young Australian of the Year in 2010 for his work arranging the mentoring of Indigenous school students. He is now the father of Ella, Ella’s brother, and Rubyrose’s sister, Rubyrose, who is also an artist. She lives in Sydney with her husband, Ned Manning, and their three children. She works as an artist and illustrator in Sydney and Canberra, and has worked with many media, including painting, collage, illustration, interior decoration, sculpture and sculpture. She also runs Designer Aboriginals, a shop selling fabrics made by Aboriginal artists including herself. In 1985, she opened a shop in Sydney called Designer Ab Originals, selling the work of designers including her own fabrics, and staffed by her Indigenous female students. Although initially known as a fabric and textile designer, she moved away from the fashion industry in 2005 and has since worked as a painter. She cites American painter Georgia O’Keeffe, European painters Joan Miró, and Marc Chagall as influences.