Centring First Nations Voices in Arts Education

Centring First Nations Voices in Arts Education

2023-03-31

“To have social groups and culture represented equitably in an educational context is important to grow their voices” John Waight.

John Waight, Head of First Peoples Programs at NAS, was recently interviewed by Arts Hub about his experience as an arts professional pushing for equity and diversity in Australian educational and cultural institutions. Waight’s role at NAS includes rethinking and reworking the School’s curriculum to place First Nations art and culture in a central position as a foundation of Australian art, as well as working to ensure inclusion and storytelling are embedded in the educational experience.

Article by Gina Fairley.

Image by Peter Morgan. Smoking Ceremony, National Art School, 2022.

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Introducing Kirtika Kain and Kyra Mancktelow, speakers at Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
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Moderated by Chelsea Lehmann, Kirtika will be discussing the role of drawing in process, experimentation, and abstraction in material and socially-engaged practices, while Kyra will discuss the influence Dylan Mooney`s work has had on their practice, especially his most recent exhibition The Story of My People.
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Kirtika Kain is an artist practicing on Darug Country, New South Wales, Australia. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2016 and was awarded the Bird Holcomb Scholarship to complete her Master of Fine Art in 2018 at the National Art School, Sydney. She was a recipient of the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award in 2017, the Art Incubator Grant and Dyason Bequest, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and a finalist in the Churchill Fellowship and numerous art prizes including Blacktown Art Prize (2017, 2019). Kirtika has been a finalist in the Create NSW Emerging Artist Fellowship at Artspace, a recipient of the Parramatta Artist Studio (2020, 2024) and an artist in residence at the British School at Rome (2019) and the Amant Siena Summer Residency (2022).
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Kyra Mancktelow’s multidisciplinary practice investigates legacies of colonialism, posing important questions such as how we remember and acknowledge Indigenous histories. A Quandamooka artist with links to the Mardigan people of Cunnamulla, Kyra’s practice includes printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture – each applying a unique and distinct aesthetic. Kyra works with various materials to share her rich heritage, stories, and traditions to educate audiences and strengthen her connection to Country. Her printmaking explores intergenerational trauma as a result of forced integration on colonial missions, and her use of local materials in her sculpture, including clay, emu features, and Talwalpin (cotton tree), strengthens her connection to Country.
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Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
Saturday 12 April 2025
Facture – The manner in which something is made
—
Learn more about the speakers and symposium at the link in bio.

View

Mar 27

Open

Introducing Kirtika Kain and Kyra Mancktelow, speakers at Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
—
Moderated by Chelsea Lehmann, Kirtika will be discussing the role of drawing in process, experimentation, and abstraction in material and socially-engaged practices, while Kyra will discuss the influence Dylan Mooney's work has had on their practice, especially his most recent exhibition The Story of My People.
—
Kirtika Kain is an artist practicing on Darug Country, New South Wales, Australia. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2016 and was awarded the Bird Holcomb Scholarship to complete her Master of Fine Art in 2018 at the National Art School, Sydney. She was a recipient of the Lloyd Rees Memorial Youth Art Award in 2017, the Art Incubator Grant and Dyason Bequest, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and a finalist in the Churchill Fellowship and numerous art prizes including Blacktown Art Prize (2017, 2019). Kirtika has been a finalist in the Create NSW Emerging Artist Fellowship at Artspace, a recipient of the Parramatta Artist Studio (2020, 2024) and an artist in residence at the British School at Rome (2019) and the Amant Siena Summer Residency (2022).
—
Kyra Mancktelow’s multidisciplinary practice investigates legacies of colonialism, posing important questions such as how we remember and acknowledge Indigenous histories. A Quandamooka artist with links to the Mardigan people of Cunnamulla, Kyra’s practice includes printmaking, ceramics, and sculpture – each applying a unique and distinct aesthetic. Kyra works with various materials to share her rich heritage, stories, and traditions to educate audiences and strengthen her connection to Country. Her printmaking explores intergenerational trauma as a result of forced integration on colonial missions, and her use of local materials in her sculpture, including clay, emu features, and Talwalpin (cotton tree), strengthens her connection to Country.
—
Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
Saturday 12 April 2025
Facture – The manner in which something is made
—
Learn more about the speakers and symposium at the link in bio.

Secure your spot in a Term Two short course today. Places are filling up, so don’t miss out!

Learn more about the courses on offer at the link in bio.

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Mar 27

Open

Secure your spot in a Term Two short course today. Places are filling up, so don’t miss out! Learn more about the courses on offer at the link in bio.

Introducing Anne Judell and Liz Coats, speakers at Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
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Moderated by Margaret Roberts, Anne will discuss her decades-long exploration of the patterns and forces of the natural world and pay homage to the artist who first inspired her, while Liz will talk about the recent work of long-time friend and colleague, Margaret Roberts, together with a short description of her experiments with colour painting.
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Anne Judell was the 2011 winner of the Dobell Drawing Prize awarded by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Respect for Anne`s work has grown over a career spanning more than four decades, as a solo exhibitor and through her presence in selected group exhibitions. Her entries have been included on many occasions as a finalist in the Wynne Prize, the Dobell Drawing Prize and the Blake Prize as well as in other prestigious competitions including the Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award and Kedumba Drawing Award.
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Liz Coats has devoted her career to the exploration of colour in abstract painting as an embodied, material practice that brings organic and formal issues into relationship. Since the mid-1970s, colour has remained her central focus, in particular how it mediates her preoccupations with dimensional insight, transition and connectedness.
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Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
Saturday 12 April 2025
Facture – The manner in which something is made
—
Learn more about the speakers and symposium at the link in bio.

View

Mar 26

Open

Introducing Anne Judell and Liz Coats, speakers at Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
—
Moderated by Margaret Roberts, Anne will discuss her decades-long exploration of the patterns and forces of the natural world and pay homage to the artist who first inspired her, while Liz will talk about the recent work of long-time friend and colleague, Margaret Roberts, together with a short description of her experiments with colour painting.
—
Anne Judell was the 2011 winner of the Dobell Drawing Prize awarded by the Art Gallery of New South Wales. Respect for Anne's work has grown over a career spanning more than four decades, as a solo exhibitor and through her presence in selected group exhibitions. Her entries have been included on many occasions as a finalist in the Wynne Prize, the Dobell Drawing Prize and the Blake Prize as well as in other prestigious competitions including the Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award and Kedumba Drawing Award.
—
Liz Coats has devoted her career to the exploration of colour in abstract painting as an embodied, material practice that brings organic and formal issues into relationship. Since the mid-1970s, colour has remained her central focus, in particular how it mediates her preoccupations with dimensional insight, transition and connectedness.
—
Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
Saturday 12 April 2025
Facture – The manner in which something is made
—
Learn more about the speakers and symposium at the link in bio.

Introducing Dominic Terlizzi and Osvaldo Budet, speakers at Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
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Moderated by Joe Frost, Dominic and Osvaldo will discuss transformations and voids found in objects and history through expanded drawing approaches.
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Dominic Terlizzi is a Brooklyn based artist whose studio work includes drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation. He utilises objects and textures to build imagery. Dominic recently exhibited at Craig Krull Gallery and Helen J Gallery in LA, My Pet Ram, Tappeto Volante, Field of Play, The Front, Good Naked, Underdonk, and Headstone Gallery in New York. International exhibitions include McBride Contemporian in Montreal, and NEVVEN Gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Osvaldo Budet is a Puerto Rican artist and graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art, where he completed his Master of Fine Arts in painting. He currently lectures in drawing at the National Art School, Sydney and is represented by Cassandra Bird, Sydney. His work explores the physical and political dimensions of colonization and post-colonization, as a reflection of the culture and the interests of the systems we inhabit.
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Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
Saturday 12 April 2025
Facture – The manner in which something is made
—
Learn more about the speakers and symposium at the link in bio.

View

Mar 25

Open

Introducing Dominic Terlizzi and Osvaldo Budet, speakers at Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
—
Moderated by Joe Frost, Dominic and Osvaldo will discuss transformations and voids found in objects and history through expanded drawing approaches.
—
Dominic Terlizzi is a Brooklyn based artist whose studio work includes drawing, painting, sculpture, and installation. He utilises objects and textures to build imagery. Dominic recently exhibited at Craig Krull Gallery and Helen J Gallery in LA, My Pet Ram, Tappeto Volante, Field of Play, The Front, Good Naked, Underdonk, and Headstone Gallery in New York. International exhibitions include McBride Contemporian in Montreal, and NEVVEN Gallery in Gothenburg, Sweden.
—
Osvaldo Budet is a Puerto Rican artist and graduate of Maryland Institute College of Art, where he completed his Master of Fine Arts in painting. He currently lectures in drawing at the National Art School, Sydney and is represented by Cassandra Bird, Sydney. His work explores the physical and political dimensions of colonization and post-colonization, as a reflection of the culture and the interests of the systems we inhabit.
—
Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025
Saturday 12 April 2025
Facture – The manner in which something is made
—
Learn more about the speakers and symposium at the link in bio.

Facture – the manner in which something is made
—
Join us Saturday 12 April for the 2025 Drawing Symposium at the National Art School, presented by the National Centre for Drawing. Featuring a diverse range of national and international speakers, as well as associated performances and exhibitions, this event is held in conjunction with the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize. The symposium will explore the theme of Facture, a concept that emphasises an artwork’s tangible reality as an intentionally crafted object, linking the act of creation directly to its physical presence. Considering an artwork in terms of its facture reveals it as a record of the artist’s decisions, methods, and materials. Discussions will examine how this concept enriches our understanding of drawing and aligns with contemporary and interdisciplinary approaches to art-making.
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Learn more and buy tickets at the link in bio.

View

Mar 19

Open

Facture – the manner in which something is made
—
Join us Saturday 12 April for the 2025 Drawing Symposium at the National Art School, presented by the National Centre for Drawing. Featuring a diverse range of national and international speakers, as well as associated performances and exhibitions, this event is held in conjunction with the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize. The symposium will explore the theme of Facture, a concept that emphasises an artwork’s tangible reality as an intentionally crafted object, linking the act of creation directly to its physical presence. Considering an artwork in terms of its facture reveals it as a record of the artist’s decisions, methods, and materials. Discussions will examine how this concept enriches our understanding of drawing and aligns with contemporary and interdisciplinary approaches to art-making.
—
Learn more and buy tickets at the link in bio.

Opening night and winner announcement: 24th Dobell Drawing Prize

Join us on Thursday 10 April for the opening night of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, and an unparalleled celebration of technique, innovation and expanded practice. The winner will be announced at 6:30pm.

Presented at the National Art School in partnership with the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, this biennial exhibition continues to highlight the enduring relevance and changing role of drawing within contemporary art practice. The winning work enters the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years.

This 24th edition is curated by Lucy Latella and showcases the work of 56 finalists, selected from 965 nationwide entries by judging panel Vernon Ah Kee, Dr Yolunda Hickman and Paula Latos-Valier AM.

RSVP at the link in bio.

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Mar 13

Open

Centring First Nations Voices in Arts Education