Anna Eglitis’s Mother was Australian, her father a New Zealander who, when she was born was working with telecommunications in Suva. Three years later he accepted a position as an illustrator with the Sun Newspaper in Sydney, as he was also a talented commercial artist. The family moved to Australia and settled in Sydney where Anna completed her education at Abbotsleigh College and then went on to art studies at East Sydney at what is now called the National Art School.

Over the last 21 years she has worked closely with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait artists as they have sought to rediscover their culture through their art, talking with their elders to find links with their ancestors, learning the history of their people.

Anna edited a book “Contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art” published by Central Queensland University Press in 2000 which features the work of the indigenous artists who have studied with the Cairns visual arts course. Many of the intricate linocut prints of the Torres Strait Islander group are printed in this book and these images are now recognised as the forefront of an exciting new contemporary art movement.