Tania Hartigan on protecting Country, creating art retreats and why making is important
When you drive from Sydney to Tamworth, you pass through a small, humble town called Wallabadah. From the car, and after 4 hours of driving, it could easily blend into the highway, becoming another checkpoint on the map. But nestled behind it, about 4 kms out of town, lies the serene property of Wilgabah, where artist Tania Hardigan lives, works and helps other creatives to retreat and make, free from the distractions of a complicated world.
Tania Hartigan, a Gamilaroi woman from Wallabadah, wasn’t always an artist in a formal sense. When she finished school, she was interested in becoming a film maker, but pursued teaching ‘…because it was the sensible thing to do’. But she never abandoned her creative sensibilities.
“I was still sort of doing arts and creative things and volunteering with a lot of community stuff,” she said. In 1997, she also joined the board of the then brand-new Arts North West, the dedicated Regional Arts Development Organisation (RADO) in her area.
Tania Hartigan with a portrait of husband, Rodney (work in progress). Photo courtesy of the artist.
Tania later decided to make a big shift in her life, retiring early from teaching and buying the property of Wilgabah with her husband Rodney and their two children. For the past 20 years, the family have worked hard to foster the land to preserve her cultural heritage and develop farming and land management strategies that protect our country’s vulnerable flora and fauna.
After they discovered that this property was the site of over 200 grinding grooves, evidence that Tania’s ancestors lived and travelled through the land for thousands of years, they worked hard to preserve this cultural heritage.
Tania said, “It’s taken a number of years and whenever we had some spare cash we’ve fenced 30 acres out around that and had it all heritage listed. We were really lucky that it was actually a fellow from Gunnedah who was an archaeologist and he came over and he said, ‘If you two are willing to list this as at a heritage site, I’m happy to do the work for nothing’, which was really wonderful.”
This led to them finding out that the site of the grinding grooves was near a mining site where the Gamilaroi people mined quartz for tool making.
“So, you could see why there were so many grinding grooves because they’re coming here and making their tools and their weapons. But yeah, it’s just been an exciting thing for us to actually get in and protect it all.”
They have also been working hard to protect the native flora and fauna on Country too, fencing off about half of their 660-acre property as a dedicated Whitebox woodland. An ecologist identified five vulnerable species living in this area, including the Koala.
“Everybody loves a koala. We want that area to recover and be good so that they stay away from humans and can live comfortably. And then we’ve also now starting to see orchids, native orchids that we haven’t been seen here for a hundred years coming back up.”
Again, Tania and Rodney have funded this work themselves, gradually, as they’ve had the means, saying “…we obviously like the idea that if we can sort of save a few things and be as friendly as we can with the environment.”
The Art Shack, at Wigabah on Gamilaroi Country NSW. Photos by Beatrice Waller.
Alongside all of this, Tania’s art business, the Art Shack was also built gradually. It started with building her own studio off the side of their shed. After this, she figured artists would also need somewhere to stay, leading to her getting three cabins with ensuites. Today there are nine in total, where artists and tutors can stay for art retreats that last up to 12 days, led by professional artists.
“Nowhere offers this, where you can come and stay with the tutor and you get to sit and have breakfast and lunch and dinner with your tutor and get to know them as well as doing your class during the day… It’s good to actually create a space where people could come here and we could all work together and develop our art skills and develop what we’re doing.”
Tania’s love for Country is palpable, obvious in her care of the land, through her business and into her own practice as an artist. She describes herself as a painter and papermaker, and uses materials from Country to create everything, including her own surfaces and inks.
An art workshop at The Art Shack, Gamilaroi Country NSW. Photo courtesy of the artist.
This is an intensive process. To make her paper, she needs to collect plant materials, grind them into fibres and then mix in some cotton fibre for stability. She then suspends the mix in water and pulls through a mesh frame to create sheets of paper.
Making inks is another complicated process. She uses pigments from plant material, as well as ochre and uses oils to help them bind. This also helps them become ‘colour-fast’, so the pigments have a long life.
“I just love the whole feeling as you pull up that piece of paper that you’ve had drying because they all turn out differently and some are great, and some are not so great. And then I combine the two by painting on the handmade papers.”
Tactility is another important part of her process, drawing her to painting in all mediums, but particularly soft pastel.
“I love getting all messy,” she says, “There’s probably as much soft pastel all over me as on the artwork…it’s my happy place. I know when if I spend a few hours painting, I just feel regenerated and ready to go again.”
Tania has seen significant success in this side of her career, being a featured artist at the first NSW delegation at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair earlier this year with the Aboriginal Regional Arts Alliance (ARAA). She was also included in the Artists in Volatile Landscapes and Horizons programs by the Regional Arts Network and has exhibited in major Sydney institutions such as Casula Powerhouse.
Tania Hartigan’s work and practice. Photos courtesy of the artist. (Handmade paper and inks, KuragongPods, Emu in the sky, studio & exhibition images and Family Always here)
Being a regional artist, and heavily involved in Arts North West since it was established, Tania does, however, have a strong awareness of the isolation that comes with being based in a place as beautiful and far away as Wallabadah.
She’s noticed that people are disconnected, especially since COVID, and need the arts more than ever to combat poor mental health. But funding in the arts is scarce and creatives need support.
“The government is going to make hard decisions, but they need to look at the fact that here in regional NSW, there are lots of amazing artists and some people that just need that support to keep them going. It just gives that connection.”
Tania is very aware of that the way that arts services organisations are structured in NSW is essential to gaining this government support, as well as connecting the arts ecology across the state. This structure involves the 15 RADOs, which are located across regional NSW and service the entire state, in partnership with Regional Arts NSW (RANSW), which acts as the connection point between them.
“I’ve spoken to people from other states and talked about how it all operates here in NSW and they say, ‘This is what should be happening in our state’… And that would be a very, very sad day, I think, if it didn’t keep it operating.”
“Certainly, I know from myself the last almost 30 odd years, with my connection with Arts North West, has certainly enabled us to have the confidence and the support to look at developing an arts business here in regional NSW that’s quite successful.”
“And we need RANSW too because it gives us a voice and it gives us connection to other artists across the state, the whole state. Without you guys down there, we couldn’t do all this sort of stuff because you’re in there batting for artists.”
Smoking ceremony at The Art Shack, at Wigabah on Gamilaroi Country NSW. Photo courtesy of the artist.
Tania was one of these mentors, hosting the First Nations artists and taking them onto Country, telling them about culture and Aboriginal protocol, and giving them a taste of bush tucker.
Tania said, “I’ve listened to a couple of videos that they recorded with the young guys out here. And one of them really struck me. She was talking about how coming to a place like this she realised that she could work as an artist,” showing that programs like Horizons are essential tools in fostering young artists and showing them that a career in this field is possible for them.
Despite the challenges of funding, Tania does remain hopeful, understanding her purpose as a creative in helping Australia understand Aboriginal culture and providing a safe place for First Nations visitors.
“We’ve got to look at the fact that the Aboriginal culture of Australia belongs to all Australians. I guess as an artist, I can try and put that into my art and show people that Aboriginal culture is important.”
“And Rodney and I feel quite good about the fact that we can have people come here and they feel safe and comfortable. We hold lots of healing days and camps for Aboriginal groups that come in and feel happy. They say this is our country because we say, yes, it’s for everyone. We’re just the custodians looking after it, which is an important thing.”
If you would like to stay up to date on Tania’s latest work and find out about upcoming exhibitions, follow her on Instagram here.
The Art Shack is located on Gamilaroi Country, near Wallabadah, NSW and has openings for upcoming retreats and workshops. You can also book accommodation year-round. Visit theartshack.com.au for more information.
Written by Beatrice Waller
2 October 2025