Business takes traditional art to the digital age as rent pushes it online

But it's not all bad news for fans of their award-winning, First Nations art business as the shop will pivot to online sales through its website: Indigico Creative Studio.

"There were a few variables that led to us making the decision. One of them was cost of living is a huge challenge at the moment," Indigico's founder and director Amy Allerton said.

Ms Allerton says she was paying "just under" $2300 a month to rent the store on the corner of Dowe and Brisbane streets.

She and her husband looked into moving on to Peel Street - just a block over - in a bid to drum up sales, but rent on the city's main road is "more than double" what they were already paying.

The Allertons decided that money could be better spent promoting their online business, which they say has already attracted customers from Brisbane and Sydney.

"We decided it would be more financially beneficial to invest in online advertising to get a much broader reach online for our artists and getting their names out there," Ms Allerton said.

"We're still really committed to supporting our regional Gamilaroi artists. We want to give our artists all the opportunities we can and that looks a little different now."

Moving through dreams

Providing a gallery and retail store for First Nations artists has always been a dream for the Allertons. Especially for Amy, a Gumbaynggirr and Bundjalung woman who was born and raised on Gomeroi country.

She says opportunities for regional artists to break into the retail market are few and far between.

Through no small effort Indigico Creative has been able to consistently provide a platform for 10 local artists to display their works, while also running several successful 'Create and Yarn' workshops.

"The idea was to have a space where we could support artists who don't necessarily have a place to display their artwork, and we'll be continuing to support them after we move online," Amy's husband and business partner Rick Allerton said.

But as a graphic designer and engagement consultant Ms Allerton does a lot of corporate-to-corporate consulting, meaning long hours away from the store, if not days.

With high rent and operating costs eating into their margins, the Allertons said they couldn't afford to hire someone to run the store while they were away.

Hence the move online.

While it is a blow to lose her "dream" store, Ms Allerton says she's hopeful the move into cyberspace will help Indigico achieve its goal of helping local artists break into larger markets.

"It's about sharing culture. The Gamilaroi nation has a really vibrant and thriving art community with incredible artists," she said.

"We want to be able to showcase that, share our culture, and share the incredible capacity our first nations people have."