Corona Quilt unites students, staff and alumni during Covid

Corona Quilt unites students, staff and alumni during Covid

During Sydney’s lockdown in March, when the NAS campus closed, second-year students Rani Matthews and Anna Mould initiated a community craft project, called the Corona Quilt, inviting other students working in isolation to create their own quilt square on the theme of COVID-19 crisis. When the students were able to come together again, the squares would be sewn together to create a group artwork and momento of this strange and difficult time. The quilt would become a material platform for making meaning and building connections at a time when human communication had shifted to the digital realm.

Students, staff and alumni of the National Art School have participated in this virtual quilting bee, creating quilt squares responding to the health, economic and social crises caused by the pandemic. Anna and Rani are leading the final stage of the project, sewing the squares together, and the finished quilt will be shown during Sydney Craft Week at the East Sydney Doctors display window opposite the National Art School.

Anna and Rani, with their lecturers Dr Molly Duggins and Dr Priya Vaughan who have assisted with the project, will participate in an accompanying Art Forum talk via Zoom for Sydney Craft Week. They will discuss quilt-making as a historically rich, tactile language of form used to document everyday experience, commemorate significant personal and public events, and raise awareness of topical political issues.

Corona Quilt Sydney Craft Week Exhibition
Friday 9 October – Sunday 18 October, East Sydney Doctors display window, 102 Burton Street, Darlinghurst (opposite the National Art School)

Corona Quilt Art Forum Talk
Wednesday 14 October, 12.30-1.30pm via Zoom, join at https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82573642835
For more information see coronaquiltnas.wordpress.com and sydneycraftweek.com

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We are pleased to share the exciting news that we are introducing a new BFA (Hons) degree at the National Art School in 2026.

The Bachelor of Fine Art (Honours) is an intensive one-year program designed for graduates of the BFA who are ready to deepen their studio practice and expand their academic and professional capabilities. This course is ideal for emerging artists who want to refine their practice, build industry connections, and prepare for postgraduate study or professional opportunities in the creative sector.

New scholarships will be available to students entering the BFA (Hons), with further details to be shared later this year. For more information and key dates, visit futurestudents.nas.edu.au (link in bio).
Join us for free 18+ concert 'Afterglow' – The Neighbour at the Gate exhibition closing party.

Headlined by Miss Kaninna, the event features performances by HYLANDER, Rocky Stallone, BRINA, Kuya Hennessy, and DJ Court Jester. RSVP today as tickets are going fast!

Afterglow 
Thursday 16 October 
Doors: 4.30pm
Concert starts: 7.00pm
Cell Block Theatre, National Art School

Please note: if the Cell Block reaches capacity, you’re welcome to enjoy the concert from the courtyard until space opens up inside. Food trucks and pop up bar.

FREE ADMISSION, RSVP is essential due to limited capacity (link in bio)
Congratulations to NAS Short Courses Painting Lecturer Michelle Hiscock (@michellelouisemariehiscock) for winning the 2025 Portia Geach Memorial Award with her work, 'The Weather Watcher after Zurbarán'. 

The Portia Geach Memorial Award is the pre-eminent portraiture prize for women in Australia, established by Florence Kate Geach in memory of her sister in 1965. 

An exhibition of all finalists’ works is open for public viewing at the S.H. Ervin Gallery (@shervingallery) in The Rocks, Sydney, from Friday 19 September until Sunday 2 November.

Visit shop.nas.edu.au (link in bio) to book now for Term 4 Short Courses. Summer School Short Courses in January 2026 will open for booking from Friday 3 October. 

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Michelle Hiscock, 'The Weather Watcher after Zurbarán', 2025, oil on linen, 50 x 40 cm, courtesy of the artist and the S.H. Ervin Gallery (The Rocks, Sydney)
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