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Award Winning Artist Lani Balzan
Award winning artist Lani Balzan has been creating Aboriginal Art for over 5 years now. Her family comes from the Wiradjuri people of the three-river tribe in Mudgee. Her passions are to inspire other aboriginal people to connect with their culture and focuses very heavily on educating Australian people the importance of her culture through Art. Learn More
"Lani is a very inspirational young indigenous woman. As St George Illawarra Dragons Community Manager, I met Lani in 2015 to commission her for the design of the 2016 Dragons indigenous jersey. Design criteria included recognition and significance to the local Dharawal nation. Lani’s design was outstanding and was unofficially recognised as the best indigenous jersey in the NRL. Lani has also designed the 2017, 2018 and 2019 indigenous jersey's that were worn at each years indigenous round. Lani continues to work with us and has become, in a short time, highly recognised as an outstanding role model in bringing awareness, knowledge and understanding of aboriginal culture. She will be an integral part of the design of St George Illawarra’s Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) which will be completed mid-2017."
Paul Everill, St George Illawarra Dragons, 2019
"The Sheldon team approached Lani to create an artwork for us that we could then transfer to a Surf Boat. As part of our ongoing sponsorship of the Newport Surf Life Saving Club, we planned to donate the Surf Boat to them and hence we wanted to make the boat unique to the Aboriginal community in the area. After a brief explanation of what we wished to do, Lani diligently researched and came back to us with a number of suggestions, a shark being the collective decision.Lani is a unique artist and we couldn’t be happier with the final piece. The artwork she created for us is truly inspirational. We were able to convert the artwork into a graphic for use on the Surf Boat, and we are lucky enough to now have the piece on display in our office. Passers-by often stop for a look, impressed by the vivid colours and intricate detail. We would happily recommend Lani to anyone who is looking for a memorable piece of art."
Robert Bagatella, Managing Director, Sheldon Commercial Interiors.
2016 NAIDOC Poster Competition Winner
In 2016 Lani painted this painted and entered the 2016 National NAIDOC poster competition. She was selected as the winner and her artwork was used around the country to celebrate NAIDOC Week.
