The $30,000 Dobell drawing prize is known for pushing the boundaries among Australian artists. This year is no different, with the 58 finalists in the biennial prize both going back to first principles and stretching our understanding of what constitutes this most fundamental of art forms.
Image: Madeleine Joy Dawes, Rebuild (partial) 2018, pen on cotton paper. 150 x 150 cm. Courtesy the artist.
Thank you to outgoing Chair Susan Rothwell AM & welcome to incoming Chair Jeff Weeden. The National Art School would like to express its deepest gratitude to Susan Rothwell AM, whose term as Chair of the NAS Board concludes on 31 May 2025.
At the same time, we are pleased to announce and warmly welcome Jeff Weeden as the incoming Chair of the NAS Board, effective 1 June 2025.
Jeff has served as a Director on the NAS Board since 2019 and currently chairs the Finance and Audit Committee, a position he has held since 2023. For the full announcement, click the link in the bio.
May 29
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) starts today! As part of our NAS NRW program, we invite you to a special screening of the documentary `Kindred` (2023) in our Cell Block Theatre. The directors Gillian Moody and Adrian Russell Wills will be joining us for the screening.
`There`s the black world, and then there`s the white world. I felt walking in each of them was complicated enough. To bring those together would just make it even harder.` (Kindred: Trailer)
`Kindred` is a deeply personal feature-length documentary that delves into the emotional landscape of family, love, and loss through the eyes of two close friends.`
Limited capacity - click the link in bio to reserve your seats.
May 27
Congratulations to NAS alumni/staff Daniel McClellan, Jasmine Mowbray, Erin Murphy, Gemma Smith, Nicola Smith and Michael Snape, finalists of the Sulman Prize 2025.
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Daniel McClellan, ‘Jupiter’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 169.9 x 110.4 cm; Jasmine Mowbray, ‘Under an ancient tortoiseshell sky’, 2025, oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 150.2 x 120 cm; Gemma Smith, ‘Windward’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint, linen and canvas on linen, 230.2 x 199.5 cm; Nicola Smith, ‘The beginning of spring’, 2025, oil on linen, 85.4 x 80.2 cm; Michael Snape, ‘Painting with fluid subject’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, 91.7 x 92 cm; Image courtesy the artists and Art Gallery NSW (@artgalleryofnsw) and © the artists
May 26
Congratulations to NAS alumni/staff Mitch Cairns, Nick Collerson, Sarah Contos, Brodie Cullen, Daniel Hollier and Ildiko Kovacs, finalists of the Sulman Prize 2025.
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Mitch Cairns, ‘Narrow cast (studio mural)’, 2025, vinyl on primed linen, 91.9 x 76.4 cm; Nick Collerson, ‘Interpretation of remembrance’, 2025, oil on linen, 137.5 x 152.5 cm; Sarah Contos, ‘Hypnagogia zeitgeist’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on cotton, screenprint on canvas, tufted Australian wool on cotton monk`s cloth, 184.2 x 169.7 cm; Brodie Cullen, Untitled (mattress painting)’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on found mattress, 200.2 x 155 cm; Daniel Hollier, ‘Summer rains in dragon veins’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on polyester, 90 x 100 cm; Ildiko Kovacs, ‘Tracing light’, 2025, oil and oil stick on plywood, 240 x 180 cm; Image courtesy the artists and Art Gallery NSW (@artgalleryofnsw) and © the artists
May 26
Congratulations to NAS alumni/staff Joe Frost, Eliza Gosse, Catherine O`Donnell, Ebony Russell, Michael Snape and Natasha Walsh, finalists of the Wynne Prize 2025.
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Joe Frost, ‘Cumberland / Wallumatta and Wanne’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on polyester, 183 x 244.1 cm; Eliza Gosse, ‘Flannel flowers under the wattle tree’, 2025, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, oil on birch plywood, 183.4 x 152.7 cm; Catherine O`Donnell, ‘Echoes of home’, 2025, oil on linen, 45.5 x 120.3 cm; Ebony Russell, ‘Polychrome loutrophoros gesture of revealing in blue’, 2025, porcelain, stain, 120 x 35 x 30 cm; Michael Snape, ‘Witness’, 2025, carved cedar wood, 245.5 x 79.8 x 80.5 cm; Natasha Walsh, ‘chrysanthemum tea by the window’, 2025, oil on copper, 40 x 31.6 cm; Image courtesy the artists and Art Gallery NSW (@artgalleryofnsw) and © the artists
May 25
Congratulations to NAS alumni/staff Seth Birchall, Margaret Campbell, Mark Maurangi Carrol, Armando Chant, Casey Chen, Lucy Culliton and Stephen Evans, finalists of the Wynne Prize 2025.
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Seth Birchall, ‘Soft spoken and proud’, 2025, oil on canvas, 163 x 183.2 cm; Margaret Campbell, ‘Minyma pulka (big woman)’, 2025, stoneware with underglaze and sgrafitto, 25.6 x 15.7 x 5.5 cm; Mark Maurangi Carrol, ‘Song palm (stay forever)’, 2025, oil enamel and permanent marker on linen, 198.2 x 244 cm; Armando Chant, ‘Aura’, 2025, linen thread, pigment and binder on linen, 150.4 x 160.7 cm; Casey Chen, ‘Military maneuvers 7 (after Rousseau), 2025, glazed earthenware tiles, overglaze enamels, gold lustre, wood, grout, 39.5 x 49.5 cm; Lucy Culliton, ‘Cliff Hole, Bottom Bullock’, 2025, oil on canvas, 183.4 x 244 cm; Stephen Evans, ‘Brunswick creek’, 2025, concertina book; ink and watercolour on paper, 5 x 49 cm; Image courtesy the artists and Art Gallery NSW (@artgalleryofnsw) and © the artists
May 25
