Broadsheet: From Gaol to Artistic Education: A New Exhibition at the National Art School Celebrates the Site’s Rich History

Broadsheet: From Gaol to Artistic Education: A New Exhibition at the National Art School Celebrates the Site’s Rich History

By Jane Albert

The former Darlinghurst Gaol has plenty of stories to tell, from murderous bushrangers and famous poets to Archibald-winning artists. This new exhibition reveals the ghosts of the past, and celebrates 100 years of artistic prestige.

Since 1922 it has been art students, not inmates, who have wandered the evocative, historic sandstone campus. A new exhibition, Captivate: The National Art School and Darlinghurst Gaol, explores the site’s rich history – from its decades as a place of corporal punishment, to its transformation over the past century into the prestigious art school that gave us artists including Margaret Olley, Robert Klippel, Tony Tuckson, Fiona Hall and Joan Ross, and boasted teachers such as William Dobell.

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Join us for the closing party for The Neighbour at the Gate – 'Afterglow', headlined by Miss Kannina, and featuring performances by HYLANDER, Rocky Stallone, BRINA, Kuya Hennessy and DJ Court Jester. This free, 18+ concert will be a night to remember! 

Thursday 16 October 2025 
4.30pm – 10pm 
Cell Block Theatre 

RSVP at the link in bio. 

The Neighbour at the Gate has been made possible with the generous support of the NSW Government through its Blockbusters Funding initiative.
Karatsu ceramicist Yukiko Tsuchiya (@tsuchiyayukiko) and curator Kathryn Hunyor (@artspeople_au) delivered two very special workshops in the teaching studios of the Ceramics Department at the National Art School (NAS), in an exciting collaboration between The Japan Foundation (@jpfsydney), Sydney, the NAS Ceramics Department and the National Art School.

Peek inside the wheel-throwing and hand-coiling masterclasses that took place.
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