Media Release | NAS O Week: Take Two

Media Release | NAS O Week: Take Two

2020-04-03

The National Art School launches innovative academic program

Students back to school as NAS reboots art education

The National Art School has responded to the challenge of education in the time of coronavirus by rapidly developing new ways to engage with students and support their art practice, embracing a range of digital platforms and rearranging the academic year to maintain our outstanding teaching and learning environment.

Over the past weeks, NAS academic managers and staff have worked tirelessly to create an Academic Contingency Plan for students and teachers in the Bachelor of Fine Art, Master of Fine Art and Doctor of Fine Art courses. The plan ensures NAS continues to provide the best art education, blending online and onsite learning across a revised and extended academic year.

NAS’s traditional Orientation Week for students took place as usual in February at the start of the 2020 academic year. From April 7, the school will host a second online Orientation Week. This will introduce students to the next stage of their art education, restarting on April 14, including revised teaching schedules, accessing information and resources through a custom-built online student portal, and providing personalised video platform tutorials.

These changes bring the National Art School’s Art History and Theory lectures and tutorials online alongside some fine art teaching and critiques for the first time, embracing new teaching methods and accessibility that will continue to enhance student learning long after they return to campus and face-to-face instruction.

“The school is dedicated to supporting all its students to pursue their degrees in the best possible conditions given the present circumstances,” said Steven Alderton, NAS Director and CEO.

As the coronavirus has affected all education institutions, NAS has consulted with peer institutions throughout the higher education sector, to compare approaches, support each other and ensure art schools continue to deliver a comprehensive art education during this challenging time.

NAS also continues to connect to its wider community. For the many visitors who participate in NAS’s busy public art program, the school’s current exhibition as part of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney: NIRIN will soon be accessible online via the Google Arts and Culture platform, with plans for filmed walk-throughs, podcasts, interactive Q&A sessions with artists and curated tours. As of last week, NAS began presenting its own series of interviews with Biennale artists, starting with Tony Albert and Lucienne Rickard, through its website and social media.

NAS Connect launched this week on social media, with students sharing their creativity at home via #NASStudioSessions, not only through their work but the personal places they have converted into innovative studio spaces, from the dining room table and the garage to the paddock. Esteemed NAS alumni and teachers such as Luke Sciberras and Les Rice are also sharing their experience and thoughts.

“These terrifying times, like others, test our mettle – our resolve to make work that takes us into and out of our own selves. It is as vital to work through times of grief, fear, environmental catastrophes and medical emergencies as it is to work and explore as ever.” Luke Sciberras

“It’s impossible to predict what the coming weeks and months will bring, but NAS will continue to provide outstanding artistic learning and public engagement with the arts. We are planning for the long game,” Steven Alderton said. Further updates will be announced via the NAS website and social media.

Media contacts

Jacqui Taffel
[email protected]
ph: 9339 8765
mob: 0413 874 251

Naomi Chilcott
[email protected]
ph: 9339 8635

Art Club is our high school student program for 15-17 year olds, designed to enhance and extend students’ technical, conceptual, and intellectual skills, through intensive practical study in the disciplines offered at NAS as well as engaging in an experience of our studios and campus, under the expert direction of experienced artists.

Set your child on a creative path with Art Club.

Learn more at the link in bio.

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Apr 15

Open

Art Club is our high school student program for 15-17 year olds, designed to enhance and extend students’ technical, conceptual, and intellectual skills, through intensive practical study in the disciplines offered at NAS as well as engaging in an experience of our studios and campus, under the expert direction of experienced artists.

Set your child on a creative path with Art Club.

Learn more at the link in bio.

Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize and congratulations again to the prize winner NAS alumna Rosemary Lee.

The 24th Dobell Drawing Prize is now open until Saturday 21 June 2025
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday
NAS Gallery
Free admission, all welcome

Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.

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Apr 11

Open

We are delighted to announce NAS alumna Rosemary Lee as the winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000.

Selected from 56 nationwide finalists, and 965 entries, Rosemary’s work will become part of the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years. Rosemary, in her winning work 24-1 (2024), observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life.

The judging panel comprising acclaimed First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, National Art School, commented of Rosemary’s work: “The decision to award the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize to Rosemary Lee for the work ‘24-1’ was unanimous. We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image capturing a broader sense of transience and the omnipresence of construction sites in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.”

See Lee’s work alongside the work of the other finalists in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, 11 April – 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery
—
Left to right: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper, image courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan

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Apr 10

Open

We are delighted to announce NAS alumna Rosemary Lee as the winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000.

Selected from 56 nationwide finalists, and 965 entries, Rosemary’s work will become part of the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years. Rosemary, in her winning work 24-1 (2024), observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life.

The judging panel comprising acclaimed First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, National Art School, commented of Rosemary’s work: “The decision to award the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize to Rosemary Lee for the work ‘24-1’ was unanimous. We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image capturing a broader sense of transience and the omnipresence of construction sites in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.”

See Lee’s work alongside the work of the other finalists in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, 11 April – 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery
—
Left to right: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper, image courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan

Introducing the National Art School Short Courses Program from July–December 2025

Whether you’re a beginner, rediscovering a past passion, refining your skills, or considering our Fine Arts degree, the short courses offer a stimulating and rewarding experience for all levels.

Our 2025 program begins in July with Winter School, followed by Term Three, Spring Weekend Workshops in September, and Term Four in October.

Learn more and enrol at the link in bio.

View

Apr 10

Open

Introducing the National Art School Short Courses Program from July–December 2025

Whether you’re a beginner, rediscovering a past passion, refining your skills, or considering our Fine Arts degree, the short courses offer a stimulating and rewarding experience for all levels.

Our 2025 program begins in July with Winter School, followed by Term Three, Spring Weekend Workshops in September, and Term Four in October.

Learn more and enrol at the link in bio.

Making Sound is a performance event featuring four artists who make devices that make sound, including Gary Warner, Pia van Gelder, Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell, presented following Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025, Saturday 12 April 5-6pm.

Gary Warner creates an improvised soundfield with his ‘aleatoric ensemble’ autonomous sound machines, a collection of modified turntables that spin ad-hoc bric-a-brac assemblages.

Pia van Gelder (pictured) amplifies an electronic circuit as it is built in real-time. Under the moniker of “PvG sans PCB,” in these performances, van Gelder works on a breadboard with electronic components and additional found objects to demonstrate the electronic variabilities produced in the material world.

Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell perform together with handmade synthesizer systems that sense and sonify barometric pressure and the flow of electrons through matter.

Purchase your tickets to the symposium at the link in bio.
—
Pia van Gelder, `sans PCB`, 2021, performance, Collings Creative, image courtesy and © the artist

View

Apr 6

Open

Making Sound is a performance event featuring four artists who make devices that make sound, including Gary Warner, Pia van Gelder, Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell, presented following Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025, Saturday 12 April 5-6pm.

Gary Warner creates an improvised soundfield with his ‘aleatoric ensemble’ autonomous sound machines, a collection of modified turntables that spin ad-hoc bric-a-brac assemblages.

Pia van Gelder (pictured) amplifies an electronic circuit as it is built in real-time. Under the moniker of “PvG sans PCB,” in these performances, van Gelder works on a breadboard with electronic components and additional found objects to demonstrate the electronic variabilities produced in the material world.

Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell perform together with handmade synthesizer systems that sense and sonify barometric pressure and the flow of electrons through matter.

Purchase your tickets to the symposium at the link in bio.
—
Pia van Gelder, 'sans PCB', 2021, performance, Collings Creative, image courtesy and © the artist

Passionate about collections and the arts? Join us as a Digitisation Volunteer!

The National Art School Archive and Collection team is looking for enthusiastic Digitisation Volunteers to help bring our art collection to life! Your work will play a key role in making art and history more accessible—by photographing and recording our collections, enhancing our museum database, and digitising our extensive archive of photographs. Through your efforts, every stored object and artwork in our collection will have a high-quality, searchable digital record for generations to come.

Apply at the link in bio.

View

Apr 2

Open

Media Release | NAS O Week: Take Two