24th Dobell Drawing Prize People’s Choice Winner Announcement

24th Dobell Drawing Prize People’s Choice Winner Announcement

We are delighted to announce Margaret Ambridge’s work Cheek by jowl (2024) as the winner of the People’s Choice Award for the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize. A huge congratulations to Margaret, who also won the People’s Choice Award for the 23rd Dobell Drawing Prize in 2023.

Margaret shares:

‘My primary practice is drawing. To have three very different, some say demanding, works exploring the human condition accepted for the Dobell Drawing Prize over the years is such a rare privilege and wonderful recognition of my artwork. For many years I have struggled with drawing’s place in my art practice. To me there always seems to be an external pressure suggesting that drawing is a pathway to something ‘bigger’ like a painting or a sculpture. The longevity and gravitas of the Dobell demands that drawing be seen as the final work in its own right. It’s been a long journey from drawing at the kitchen table as a child with my mother, an artist in her own right.’

See Margaret’s winning work in this final week of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize at NAS Gallery, closing Saturday 21 June 2025.

Image credit: Margaret Ambridge, Cheek by jowl, 2024, charcoal and rainwater on paper, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Mark Fitz-Gerald

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Opening night: The Neighbour at the Gate 

Join us on Thursday 10 July for the opening night of The Neighbour at the Gate, a major exhibition at the National Art School Gallery, curated by a guest curatorium led by Clothilde Bullen (Wardandi Noongar and Badimaya Yamatji), with Micheal Do and Zali Morgan (Whadjuk Balladong and Wilman Noongar).

Bringing together newly commissioned works by leading Australian artists Jacky Cheng, Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson, Dennis Golding (Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay), Jenna Mayilema Lee (Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman, KarraJarri), James Nguyen and James Tylor (Kaurna, Thura-Yura language region), the exhibition reckons with the echoes of immigration policies and the legacies of Colonialism in Australia, unravelling how these forces continue to shape First Nations and Asian Australian experiences and relationships.

Across various mediums and perspectives, The Neighbour at the Gate charts the entangled legacies of exclusion and resilience, drawing vital parallels between the past and present, memory and nationhood.

The Neighbour at the Gate has been made possible with the generous support of the NSW Government through its Blockbusters Funding initiative.

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Burned trees build no homes. 

Today we acknowledge World Environment Day with this work by alum Una Foster, now in the National Art School Collection.
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Una Foster, ‘Burned Trees Build No Homes’, c.1945, commercial print on paper; image courtesy the artist and National Art School © Una Foster. From the National Art School Collection.
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Your donation will be vital in helping us build a more inclusive and vibrant arts community — creating crucial pathways for talented artists to become leading international artists, regardless of their background.

Support our EOFY campaign via the link in bio and help us to break down barriers to art education.
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