Waringarri Media’s logo has gone through various iterations since our humble beginnings in the late 1980’s, but 30+ years on, we are going back to our roots with a new logo inspired by an original painting from well-known local artist, the late Paddy Carlton.

Mr Paddy Carlton or “Gwanbany” (1926-2006) began painting from a young age and is internationally renowned for painting his country and stories that were passed down to him through his elders. His legendary trademark painting ‘lightning man’ is known world-wide.

As a key artist and mentor for Waringarri Arts, Paddy demonstrated his extensive cultural knowledge, respected status in the community and his strong connection to country, through his art works. 

In this painting which he donated to us in our early years, tells the meaning of ‘Waringarri’ in his familiar style of depicting ‘big mob people coming together one place to meet’.

Miriwoong elder David ‘Joomala’ Newry, who was a good friend of the late artist, describes the meaning of this painting as signifying:

Big mob of people (elders) coming together to talk, and make decisions on things (represented by the rectangular like shape at the centre of the painting surrounded by dots for each participant), and then those deliberations and decisions being disseminated outwards to everyone on country across the region (represented by the arms or branches going out from the centre).

This painting perfectly encapsulates our vision and our role – to bring communities of people together to talk, and beam those conversations and information out to everyone in our region.

We do this in a way that truly celebrates local Aboriginal peoples – their cultures, stories and traditions – providing their unique perspectives on local history, issues and events.

At the same time Waringarri Media is inclusive of our broader communities of peoples, to help build greater understanding, mutual respect, and trust.

Recently, we met with several members of the late Paddy Carlton’s family, who graciously gave us permission to use a closer likeness of his painting for our brand-new logo. We are honoured and extremely proud to showcase his professional work for our image, as we believe it beautifully encompasses our vision and values.