Jeannie Mills Pwerle b. 1965

 Jeannie Mills Pwerle is an established artist from the expansive Utopia homelands region of Central Australia, and grew up primarily between the small communities of Irrultja and Atnwengerrp, some 250-300km north-east from Mparntwe (Alice Springs). Jeannie grew up steeped in her traditonal culture, surrounded by her family members that include a number of respected elders and artists; namely her mother, Dolly Mills, her uncle and Alhalkere elder, Greeny Purvis Petyarre (dec.), and her auntie, the internationally celebrated artist, Emily Kame Kngwarreye (dec.). She also spent many years alongside Ahalpere elder Lena Pwerle, painting and learning culture and ceremony. Jeannie's daughter, Rebecca Jones, is a talented emerging artist who paints similarly to Jeannie's signature style. 

Jeannie started painting more frequently from 2004, gaining fast recognition for her distinct style of depicting anaty, the pencil yam, and kame, its tiny seeds. The pencil yam is a trailing herb or creeper plant, often found in the sandy banks of dry creek beds, with heart-shaped leaves and long swollen tubers. It is an important source of carbohydrate in the Utopia region, and also holds significant spiritual meaning – a great deal of song and ceremony are dedicated to the pencil yam, as it is both a food source and a healing medicine. The other Dreamings that Jeannie paints include anemangkerr (Bush Melon) Dreaming and akarley (Wild Orange). Jeannie has intimate and extensive knowledge of her ancestral country and the flora and fauna that bring abundance to Indigenous people of the arid desert regions. Jeannie is a respected healer in her community, and teaches others about bush foods and native medicinal plants. Using traditional methods, she prepares a variety of bush medicine and continues her healing work alongside her art practice.

Jeannie has proudly continued her family's artistic legacy while pioneering a style of expressing her Country that is all her own. Jeannie’s work is well-collected, and she has been exhibited extensively, both in Australia and overseas. In 2008, one of Jeannie’s large Anaty paintings was selected for the presitigous NATSIAA (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Award).