Catherine Jaktman's husband once joked that she had so much Aboriginal art at home that she needed to open a gallery. So she did.
The Art Mark Gallery officially opened its doors on Thursday evening, bringing the capital ethically sourced Indigenous artwork from across the country.
But at a time when there are fewer private art galleries, Dr Jaktman is hoping her Fyshwick gallery will make art, and in particular Aboriginal art, more accessible to the average buyer.
"I think art is quite difficult to buy online, especially Aboriginal art," Dr Jaktman said.
"People really want to know the story behind it and I also wanted to do events here in the space, so my choice for Fyshwick was to keep the rent down but also to make the art more accessible.
"I'm American and when I came to Australia I really fell in love with Aboriginal art, so I studied it and collected it over many years and my passion for the art just grew and grew until I decided that why not share this passion with the Canberra community.
"I wasn't able to find contemporary art in Canberra where there were revolving exhibitions and also Aboriginal-designed products, so I decided to open the gallery."
Dr Jaktman works with 12 Indigenous communities across the country to ensure the gallery has a new exhibition about every six weeks. First off the ranks is Earth, Water and Fire by Tarisse and Sarrita King. Daughters of highly regarded artist William King Jungala, the King sisters follow on from the stories of their father, with images of earth and water from Katherine in the Northern Territory.
But the King sisters are just the beginning. With artwork coming from across the country, it means Art Mark's exhibitions - while all contemporary Indigenous art - will be diverse in content and aesthetic.
"Some of the exhibitions that I have planned are very unique and will be the first exhibition [of its type] in Canberra," Dr Jaktman said.
"My next exhibition from Mornington Island up in far north Queensland, is very much around the pinks, the oranges, the yellows, around the corals of living on the island, around sea cucumbers and sea animals and the coastline, so very different again to the King sisters."
Art Mark Gallery is the third gallery to open on Wollongong Street, joining Humble House Gallery and Margaret Hadfield Gallery, and according to Dr Jaktman, there are plans for setting up a gallery tour to go between the locations.
