Learning Resources

National Art School Teacher Learning Resources

Geoff Raby In Our Time Education Kit

IN OUR TIME: FOUR DECADES OF ART FROM CHINA AND BEYOND. THE GEOFF RABY COLLECTION

Education Kit

To accompany ‘In Our Time: Four Decades of Art from China and Beyond – the Geoff Raby Collection’, NAS Galleries has developed a set of education resources designed for students in the senior years of high school, most specifically for students studying Visual Arts, through either the NSW Preliminary and HSC or the IB syllabuses.

However, these materials may also be useful for secondary and tertiary students from different disciplines visiting the exhibition. They aim to provide interesting entry points through which teachers and students can engage with works in the exhibition, and suggestions for more in-depth case studies.

Dobell Drawing Prize #23

Education Kit

This resource has been written in line with the Years 7-10 Visual arts Syllabus and the Higher School Certificate Visual arts Syllabus, as a guide to exploring the exhibition or as a pre- or post-visit resource. Tertiary students and the general public may also find the resource useful.

Teachers will be able to use this resource in conjunction with the works in the exhibition to engage in a critical and historical study of the art world and to investigate artists, artworks, worlds, and audiences from a range of cultural, political, historical and social perspectives and use these to inform their own artmaking practices.

In examining the works showcased in the exhibition as part of a collection, the students will gain an understanding of the value of the audience as a body of critical consumers and will appreciate their own role, as well as those of the critic, as audience members. The students’ investigation of the range of expressive forms, themes, and genres which the works encompass, will also serve to inform their artmaking.

Braving Time: Contemporary Art in Queer Australia 

Education Kit

This resource has been written in line with the Years 7-10 Visual arts Syllabus and the Higher School Certificate Visual arts Syllabus, as a guide to exploring the exhibition or as a pre- or post-visit resource. Tertiary students and the general public may also find the resource useful.

Teachers will be able to use this resource in conjunction with the works in the exhibition to engage in a critical and historical study of the art world and to investigate artists, artworks, worlds, and audiences from a range of cultural, political, historical and social perspectives and use these to inform their own artmaking practices.

In examining the works showcased in the exhibition as part of a collection, the students will gain an understanding of the value of the audience as a body of critical consumers and will appreciate their own role, as well as those of the critic, as audience members. The students’ investigation of the range of expressive forms, themes, and genres which the works encompass, will also serve to inform their artmaking.

John Olsen: Goya’s Dog

Education Kit

This resource been written in line with the Years 7-10 Visual arts Syllabus and the Higher School Certificate Visual arts Syllabus, as a guide to exploring the exhibition or as a pre/post-visit resource. Tertiary students and the general public may also find the resource useful.

Teachers will be able to use this resource in conjunction with the works in the exhibition to engage in a critical and historical study of the art world and to investigate artists, artworks, worlds, and audiences from a range of cultural, political, historical and social perspectives and use these to inform their own artmaking practices.

In examining the works showcased in the exhibition as part of a collection, the students will gain an understanding of the value of the audience as a body of critical consumers and will appreciate their own role, as well as those of the critic, as audience members. The students’ investigation of the range of expressive forms, themes, and genres which the works encompass, will also serve to inform their artmaking.

Sophie Cape, 'Self Portrait', 2008, oil on canvas, 30 x 30 cm, National Art School Collection, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by the artist, 2018, © the artist

National Art Part One

Learning Resource

This resource is predominantly aimed for use in Stage 6 Visual Arts but can also form the basis for inquiry for Stages 4-5. Through an analysis of a catalogue essay and a focus on the artists in the exhibition, the resource addresses the conceptual framework and explores the roles and relationships between artist, art work, world and audience.

Students will be able to use this resource in conjunction with the works in the exhibition to engage in a critical and historical study of the art world and to investigate artists, artworks, worlds and audiences from a range of cultural, political, historical and social perspectives and use these to inform their own artmaking practices.

In examining the works showcased in the exhibition as part of a collection, the students will gain an understanding of the value of the audience as a body of critical consumers and will appreciate their own role, as well as those of the critic, as audience members. The students’ investigation of the range of expressive forms, themes and genres which the works encompass, will also serve to inform their artmaking.

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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.
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
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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.
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.
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Pia van Gelder, 'sans PCB', 2021, performance, Collings Creative, image courtesy and © the artist
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