Ngurratjuta Iltja Ntjarra; Many Hands Art Centre is proudly Aboriginal owned and operated and is situated in the township of Alice Springs. The Art Centre has been established to provide a place for Aranda Artists to come together to paint, share and learn new techniques and ideas. Marilyn Armstrong who is one of our prominent artists and also a Ngurratjuta board member says of the art centre:

“It’s a place where we can sit and talk together about the dream time and learn from each other”.

Ngurratjuta supports a range of well established contemporary watercolour and acrylic artists who frequently exhibit interstate as well as many new and emerging artists who are developing their skills. We produce four specific styles of art including, watercolours, traditional dot style, naïve style and the more contemporary style paintings. The artworks tell many different stories and are completed in a variety of techniques including, intricate and subtle brush strokes, distinct and detailed dot work as well as broad and often bold freestyle use of acrylic paints and colours.

We currently support over 300 artists with a special focus on encouraging the “Hermannsburg School’ style watercolour artists, who continue to paint in the tradition of their grandfather, Albert Namatjira, arguably one of Australia’s most famous artists of the 20^th century. Albert Namatjira taught his children to follow in his unique style, who have since passed this knowledge on to their children, which has resonated in a legacy of watercolour artists in the Central Desert region. By continuing his legacy, these artists sustain an important piece of living history.

Ngurratjuta is proud of its ethical work practices, and aims to return the greatest possible percentage of the sale to the artist. The artists are welcome to paint at the art centre from Monday to Thursdays and on these days there are between five and twenty town-based artists painting on site.

We welcome visitors to come and talk to the artists at work and browse through the completed paintings which are for sale.