Nikita Ridgeway
{{Short description|Australian Bundjalung/Biripi graphic designer}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
Nikita Ridgeway (born 1986) is a Bundjalung/Biripi graphic designer from Australia, who was awarded the a BBC 100 Women Award in 2015 in recognition of her entrepreneurial work and advocacy for Aboriginal graphic design.
Biography
Ridgeway was born in 1986 belongs to the Bundjalung and Biripi peoples.{{Cite web|last=Ridgeway|first=Nikita|title=In this together : National Reconciliation Week 2020 : 27 May - 3 June - Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)|url=http://aiatsis.library.link/portal/In-this-together--National-Reconciliation-Week/rtx11zVlkZM/|access-date=2021-11-25|website=aiatsis.library.link|language=en}} Her parents are Steven and Dianne Ridgeway; her grandmother was the historian and writer, Ruby Langford Ginibi.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t6Zxe_YrWcEC&dq=nikita+ridgeway&pg=PA126-IA3|title=All My Mob|isbn=9780702235962|last1=Ginibi|first1=Ruby Langford|year=2007|publisher=Univ. of Queensland Press }} She attended Blacktown Girls' High School, and was the first Koori to be the school captain.
A graphic designer, she founded Dreamtime Ink Australia which is a social media account specialising in Aboriginal tattoo art in Australia.{{Cite news|date=2015-11-17|title=BBC 100 Women 2015: Who is on the list?|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-34745739|access-date=2021-11-25}} She also owns Boss Lady Creative Design Agency, which specialises in Aboriginal graphic design.{{Cite news|title=Nikita Ridgeway, 29, Australia|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/business-34799251|access-date=2021-11-25}}{{Cite web|date=2015-08-13|title=Artist forges ahead with creative design agency|url=https://www.sbs.com.au/cyclingcentral/video/503631939519/Artist-forges-ahead-with-creative-design-agency|access-date=2021-11-25|website=Cycling|language=en}} In 2020 Ridgeway created artwork used in National Reconciliation Week.{{Cite web|date=2020|title=2020 National Reconciliation Week|url=https://www.indigenous.gov.au/news-and-media/announcements/2020-national-reconciliation-week-theme|access-date=2021-11-25|website=www.indigenous.gov.au}}
In 2021 she created the brand for Coles' Supermarkets renewable energy initiative.{{Cite web|date=2021-03-19|title=Coles shuns coal: supermarket giant vows to source all its electricity from renewables by 2025|url=http://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/mar/19/coles-shuns-coal-supermarket-giant-vows-to-source-all-its-electricity-from-renewables-by-2025|access-date=2021-11-25|website=the Guardian|language=en}} Also in 2021 she created indigenous artwork used to decorate two fire trucks used by Wreck Bay (Australia) Rural Fire Brigade.{{Cite web|date=2021-11-16|title=Australian Apparatus Art: See Wreck Bay's Unique Truck Design|url=https://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/fire-apparatus/australian-apparatus-art-see-wreck-bays-unique-truck-design/|access-date=2021-11-25|website=Fire Apparatus|language=en-US}} The brigade is owned and managed by the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council.{{Cite news|date=2021-11-16|title=Ocean, earth and fire trucks: Wreck Bay brigade cheers striking cultural makeover|language=en-AU|work=ABC News|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-11-16/wreck-bay-celebrates-identity-branding-on-fire-trucks/100616684|access-date=2021-11-25}} Ridgeway has also worked on a variety of state-wide, national and international commissions, including the logo design for Sydney Water's Innovation Festival in 2021 and with the First Nations Foundation on a superannuation toolkit.{{Cite web|title=Values and Vision {{!}} Isle utilities|url=https://www.isleutilities.com/news/emerging-tech-bologna|access-date=2021-11-25|website=www.isleutilities.com}}{{Cite web|last=Foundation|first=First Nations|title=First Nations Foundation launches Indigenous superannuation learning resource {{!}} First Nations Foundation|url=https://firstnationsfoundation.org.au/first-nations-foundation-launches-indigenous-superannuation-learning-resource/|access-date=2021-11-25|website=First Nations Foundation|language=en-AU}}
Ridgeway also established Australia's first indigenous hip-hop record label with her brother Stephen.{{Cite web|title=Australia's First Aboriginal Record Label Opens in Sydney|url=https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-2007-11-07-voa17/400677.html|access-date=2021-11-25|website=VOA|language=en}} Called Redfern Records, the label was named after the Sydney neighbourhood of Redfern they grew up in.{{Cite news|date=2008-01-12|title=Aboriginal rappers on rise in Australia|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/music-australia-dc-idUSN1232060420080112|access-date=2021-11-25}}
Awards
- BBC 100 Women (2015)
- NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Finalist (2016){{Citation|title=Nikita Ridgeway NSW Aboriginal Woman of the Year Finalist 2016|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFOLSDm-GKY|language=en|access-date=2021-11-25}}