Mangkaja Arts began as an arm of Karrayili Adult Education Centre, first established in 1981 for local people who wanted to learn the English language. The initiative, led by the local men, provided a place where people could study and paint their personal stories, bush trips and histories. Mangkaja Arts Resource Agency Aboriginal Agency was incorporated as a separate organisation under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1976, and given its name Mangkaja on October 25 1993. Mangkaja, a Walmajarri word for the wet weather shelters erected by the Walmajarri people in the Great Sandy Desert during the wet season.
