Case Study:
Tangentyere Artists, Mparntwe / Alice Springs
Established in 2005, Tangentyere Artists is an Aboriginal owned, not-for-profit enterprise and is the central hub for arts activities across the Town Camps. This includes the Yarrenyty Arltere Artists, located at Larapinta Town Camp. It also welcomes Aboriginal artists visiting from remote communities, providing a space for them to work in Mparntwe Alice Spring. In 2020, the online store Town Camp Designs was created to support young artists.
Tangentyere Artists was formed in the wake of the closure of Jukurrpa Artists, Warumpi and Sandover Arts, art centres that previously operated in Alice Springs. It set out to combat the prevalence of carpetbaggers and provide professional and career development opportunities to artists.
Tangentyere Artists are renowned for figurative paintings, diversity of mark making, rich colour palettes and embracing traditional and contemporary Aboriginal art making. The practice extends to short animations. Town Camp artists communicate stories about their families, identity and everyday lives.
It is located in a light industrial area of Alice Springs, across the street from Tangentyere Council. The Council provides support and offers services for Aboriginal people. Tjanpi Desert Weavers, Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands), and the Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists’ studio are all nearby, creating a cultural destination for visitors and promoted through local tourist bodies.
I spent time in Mparntwe Alice Springs in September 2022 and June 2023. Days were warm and sunny, but nights were chilly and a reminder I was in the desert. On my first afternoon I made my way up ANZAC Hill – Untyeyetwelye (or Atnelkentyarliweke in Arrernte) to get a sense of “Alice’s” topography. The mountains hug and contain the gridded town that stretches along the Todd River, a wide dry sandy expanse on my visits. As the mountains glowed orange with the setting sun, I was struck by the beauty of the place.
The town sits in the shadow of the MacDonnell Ranges, a series of ancient mountains that stretch east and west. Arrernte creation stories tell of their formation by caterpillar beings Ayepearenye, Ntyarlke and Utnerrengatye. There are over 100 Aboriginal sacred sites in and around Mparntwe, Alice Springs.
Over preceding days, I explored the town on a bike, visiting the cluster of art centres and galleries and discovering a few nice buildings. I was told about a brilliant graphic novel The long Weekend in Alice Springs, adapted by Joshua Santospirito from an essay on the Jungian concept of the cultural complex by Craig San Roque. I caught some amazing music at the Desert festival, including young First Nations female songwriters who were part of a “Desert Divas” program. The love for the desert was palpable in the artists, architects and creatives I met.
Architecture
The art centre occupies a building that was refurbished in 2014 by Tangentyere Designs. The original structure set back from the street had a small brick building that housed a store to the front and a steel framed warehouse shed to the back. The front was converted to a gallery with the artist studio to the back and administration between. The building now operates in three zones, with thresholds between that are marked by doors and changes in floor surface.
As an urban art centre, the building welcomes more visitors than remote locations and hosts public events and exhibition openings. The design and management of the building reflects these factors. There are discrete spaces for artists and visitors, each with their own entrances. The configuration of the building and its operation result in artists and visitors not readily mixing. Visitors are given access to the artist studio by special invitation only.
There is a pleasant arrival sequence for both artists and visitors. Artists are generally collected from Town Camps around Mparntwe and brought to the art centre in a minivan that parks through a gate to the side of the building. There are low standing structures across the driveway that define the entrance and provide a level of privacy for artists working outside.
Visitor enter on the other side through a courtyard and arrive into a double height gallery space with its high windows, feels light and airy. There is a professional hanging systems and lighting tracks. The adjoining gallery in the original brick building feels more intimate and has small square windows that need to be factored into the hanging of paintings. Skylights to one side make the space feel larger and shift focus from the storage and toilets off a vestibule to the other side.
A central corridor, hung with artworks, links the gallery and studio. It is flanked by an open plan office / work zone to one side and an enclosed office and retail space, selling paintings, printed t-shirts and tea towels to the other. It brings visitors closer to the operations of the art centre.
The artist studio is a large open shed space with ramps located at either end – one to the administration, and the other to the canvas stretching space and artists bathrooms. The semi-enclosed ramp passages break up the space, creating zones – one has staff desks along a wall, another has paint mixing and preparation. Artists paint at large tables arranged through the length of the space. Large sliding doors connect with outdoor spaces on either side of the building.
A fully fenced space with a shade structure, fire pit and an outdoor kiln, sit to one side for use by the artists. With the landscaping it was a pleasant place to be.
The building is clad in polycarbonate and corrugated iron sheets supported on a steel structure and using industrial roller doors. The material pallet is robust and raw with attention given to how materials meet and come together.
View of Tangentyere from the street with entrance and yard for artists on left
Artist studio and workspace that opens with roller doors to the sides. A structure with openings is built around the ramps at either end of the artist studio, creating a sense of arrival and spaces of containment within the long shed. Below: To the left of the photograph is the paint mixing and preparation space, to the far right are artists lockers.
Looking from the main gallery towards the entrance (left). The space can host events and different types of exhibitions. The canopy creates a space of containment on arrival and is the datum for the picture hanging rail around the gallery. The plywood soffit gives a warm ambience to the threshold between inside and out.
A smaller gallery occupies the original building to the street with new skylights inserted to bring in additional light and makes the space feel more generous.
Artists entrance with a covered workspace to the rear and parking to the front. Red highlights are used throughout the building including the studio flooring and doors. Drainpipes and awnings articulate the warehouse shed, and the brick building to the street frontage is painted red with the Tangentyere logo. Murals also surround the building and fences.
1. Gallery
2. Storage
3. Open plan administration
4. Workshop and meeting space
5. Office
6. Retail
7. Kitchen
8. Artist studio
9. Kiln
10. Art preparation and packing
11. Covered outdoor working space
12. Visitor entry courtyard
13. Artist entrance with parking
14. Visitor parking
A retail space (above) sits in the administration / public zone between the gallery and artists studio, as well as a kitchen (right) with large openings into the studio and the outside so it can easily serve the artists.