Colleen's
Arts and Crafts

Colleen was born in 1947 in Cherbourg, Queensland. Her ancestry is from the Gamilaroy and Birrah nations. her parents, Hugh and Dorothy Kirk (nee Fisher) were removed from their traditional lands and sent to the Barambah mission in the early 1900s.  Colleen lived under the Queensland Governmental control on the mission of Cherbourg once known as Barambah mission. At the age of 13 years, she was sent out to work as a domestic worker on cattle stations.  It was work she was never paid for. Colleen has been creating arts and crafts since she was a young girl. Her talents include jewellery making, crocheting, knitting, and weaving. She is also a sort-after seamstress. Colleen is the wife of renowned Aboriginal visual artist Ron Hurley.