FIRST NATIONS
ARTIST
RESIDENCY
2026/2027
The opportunity for an Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islander artist to deeply engage with their practice
in their own studio (rent free)
for12-months, and develop curatorial experience through
the presentation of a major exhibition for NAIDOC Week 2027.
Supporting First Nations artists through an opportunity to grow, explore and foster their creative practice.
• A 12-month rent-free studio space at The Creator Incubator
• The opportunity to curate an exhibition for NAIDOC Week 2027
• Collaboration and skill exchange with 55 resident artists
• Inclusion in a vibrant and supportive artistic community
• Exposure to galleries, curators, and industry mentors, and
more...
Artists supporting
Artists.
Emerging and early career, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artists are invited to apply for a 12-month studio residency at The Creator Incubator.
Applications Open: Sunday 17th May, 2026
Applications Close: 11:59 pm, Friday 19th June, 2026
Recipient Announced: 6:30 pm, Saturday 11th July, 2026
Ngaire Pakai
2025- 26
Ngaire Pakai is a proud Wiradjuri and Māori woman developing her artist practice on Awabakal land. Her cultural connections and practices inform her artmaking, which takes on many mediums like painting, digital art, weaving and textiles - creating as a multi-disciplinary artist.
Ngaire has a particular interest in Aboriginal weaving, taught to her through cultural revitalisation programs run by staunch Aboriginal women in the Hunter region. She has have worked over 7 years in delivering Aboriginal cultural education in a variety of environments, with mob and non-Indigenous participants, whilst also undergoing her studies at UON for Bachelor of Education (Visual Arts).
Her personal art practice is to create work that explores Aboriginal ways of making by confusing the contemporary, re-imagining culture, and Indigenising the everyday.
