Ada Bird Petyarre was born at Akaye Soakage, Utopia 1930c. She is an Anmatyerre speaker and her country is Atnangkere. Ada has painted silk batiks and used acrylic to paint on canvas and linen. The traditional stories that she paints are Mountain Devil Lizard, Emu, Pencil Yam, Grass Seeds and Small Brown Grass.

Ada has had her work shown in individual exhibitions and group exhibitions both in Australia and overseas since the late 1970's for
her silk batik work, and in the 1990's for her painting on canvas. Ada is one of seven sisters and with her sisters, participated in an exhibition of the same name in the Brisbane City Hall in 2001. Her sisters include other famous artist's, Kathleen Petyarre, Gloria Tamerre Petyarre, Myrtle Petyarre, Violet Petyarre, Jeannie and Nancy. Four of her family members exhibited silks and paintings with her in Paris in December 1997.

Sadly, ada passed away in 2009

Collections Held:

~ Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney

~ National Gallery of Australia, Canberra

~ The Holmes a Court Collection, Perth

~ The Kelton Foundation, Santa Monica, USA

~ University of Queensland, Anthropology Museum, St. Lucia.

Solo Exhibitions:

~ 1990, Utopia Art, Sydney

~ 1999, Mbantua Gallery, Alice Springs, NT

~ 1999, Ginninderra Galleries, ACT

Group Exhibitions:

~ 1977-1987 Exhibited with Utopia women at exhibitions in Australia and overseas

~ 1988, Time Before Time, Austral Gallery, St. Louis, USA

~ 1988, Contemporary Aboriginal Art, Sydney

~ 1989, Utopia Batik, Araluen Centre, Alice Springs, N.T.

~ 1990, Utopia-A Picture Story, an exhibition of 88 works on silk from the Holmes' a Court Collection by Utopian artists, which toured Eire and Scotland.

~ 1991, Flash Pictures, National Gallery of Australia

~ 1991, The Eighth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

~ 1992-1993, New Tracks, Old Land, An Exhibition of Contemporary Prints from Aboriginal Australia, touring Australia and USA

~ 1993, The Tenth National Aboriginal Art Award Exhibition, Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory

~ 1993-1994, ARATJARA, Art of the First Australians, touring Kunstammlung, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Dusseldorf, Hayward Gallery London, Louisiana Museum, Humlebaek, Denmark

~ 1994, Power of the Land, Masterpieces of Aboriginal Art, National Gallery of Victoria

~1994, Yiribana, Art Gallery of New South Wales

~ 1998, Dreamings, Florence, Brussels

~ 1998, Art Gallery Kunsthuys, Netherlands

~ 1998, Art Centre, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands

~ 1998, New World Art Gallery, Hattem, The Netherlands

~ 1998, Hilton Hotel Art Gallery Rotterdam, The Netherlands

~ 1998, Museum Dorestad, Wijk bij Duurstede, The Netherlands

~ 1998, Culture Store Art Gallery, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

~ 1999, My Country, Powerful expressions, Wollondilly Gallery, Germany

~ 2000, Utopia, Noosa Blue Resort, Noosa Heads, QLD

~ 2000, Utopia, University of the Sunshine Coast, Qld

~ 2000, Utopia, Red Desert Gallery, Eumundi Qld.