Carol Young

Carol, granddaughter of Agnes Abbott, and daughter of Jane Young, was one of the foundation members of Keringke Arts with her mother and her mother’s mother. Born in Alice Springs, Carol grew up in Santa Teresa surrounded by painters and painting. She has painted all her life and loves to sit down with other artists at the Community Centre at Ewyenper Atwatye (Hidden Valley) Town Camp.

Since 2015, Carol has been one of the Ewyenper Atwatye Artists (EAA) who have focused on the designing and screenprinting of homewares and clothing items. Carol’s work with Town Camp Designs has been extremely popular. In 2019 her Kwatye drawings were translated to a silk scarf and also a linen look which was exhibited on the Country to Couture runway in Darwin.

Carol was one of several Town Camp Artists who worked with Thea Perkins as part of her Dreaming project, an award granted by Creative Australia in 2020. The resulting series of screenprints channel anxiety about time running out for action on climate change, and the particular effects of climate change on First Nations people and those who live in the desert. The screenprints were released in 2023 (after several COVID delays) and were rapidly acquired by institutions as well as individuals.

Carol has also participated in several collaborative workshops with EAA and Tangentyere Artists. In 2022, Carol worked on football themed works on paper for Footy Show at Watch this Space ARI. She also learnt from acclaimed ceramicist Penny Evans, during a residency in Mparntwe/Alice Springs which was part of the Australian Ceramics Triennale.

In 2022, EAA began creating a collaborative fashion range with First Nations label Magpie Goose. The first designs in the collection were launched in September 2023 at Desert Mob Sympoisum in Alice Springs. Carol’s ‘Angkulye’ (cloud) design is due to be dropped in July and in August the full collection will be shown on the catwalk at Country to Couture in Darwin.

Ewyenper Atwatye Artists is a program which was started by families from the Town Camp to challenge social and economic disenfranchisement and disadvantage through visual arts workshops which are culturally safe while also building individual and community economic capacity.

Tangentyere Artists is the central provider of arts services to Town Camp residents through Tangentyere Council. The Art Centre also supports development of arts activities and arts programs operating through Town Camp Community Centres and other Tangentyere Council programs.