Learning Resources

National Art School Teacher Learning Resources

24th Dobell Drawing Prize

Education Kit

Journey through what drawing can be with the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize Education Kit. This resource is 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 can use this resource to engage students in a critical appreciation of contemporary drawing. The resource encourages students to consider a range of expressive forms, themes, and genres which will inform their own artmaking.

THE NEIGHBOUR AT THE GATE

Education Kit

Inspire your students with The Neighbour at the Gate, a powerful exhibition at the National Art School exploring themes of entangled legacies of exclusion and resilience, drawing vital parallels between the past and present, memory and nationhood through contemporary visual art. Our free Education Kit prepared by FLENK Collective is designed specifically for high school Visual Arts teachers, offering engaging, curriculum-aligned resources that deepen critical thinking, art analysis, and creative responses. Equip your classroom with tools to explore the intersection of art and society — download the kit and bring this compelling exhibition into your students’ learning experience.

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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Final call! This is your last chance to apply for our BFA degree for 2026.
 
Applications close 29 January.
 
Apply now 🔗 in bio.
Join us from 6–9pm on Thursday 22 January for the opening of SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art.

Featuring Ben Aitken, Howard Arkley, BAGL, BREAK, Andrew Browne, Daniel Crooks, Adam Cullen, Mikala Dwyer, Dale Frank, Shaun Gladwell, Brendan Huntley, Rhys John Kaye, Luke Kennedy, LAZY, Mim Libro, Fiona Lowry, Eddie Martin, MACH, Tony McGillick, Paul McNeil, TV Moore, Callum Morton, Tresor Murace, Sidney Nolan, POWER, Ben Quilty, Scott Redford, Reko Rennie, RUM, Leslie Rice, Joan Ross, Khaled Sabsabi, Tim Silver, SNAIL, SPICE, Bridget Stehli, Maya Stocks, Latai Taumoepeau & TAVEN

RSVP 🔗 in bio. 

Presented as part of @sydney_festival.

—
Sidney Nolan, ‘Untitled’, 1983, spray can enamel on canvas, Nolan Collection, managed by Canberra Museum and Gallery on behalf of the Australian Government
Marking 20 years of the National Art School Gallery, we are thrilled to share this year's program of ambitious group and solo exhibitions that foster critical appreciation and innovative art practice.
 
SEARCHERS: Graffiti and Contemporary Art
17 January – 11 April
Opening: Thurs 22 January, 6pm
Bringing together over thirty of Australia's most dynamic artists united by one charged medium: spray paint, presented as part of @sydney_festival.
 
QUEER CONTEMPORARY 
Liz Bradshaw: I didn't expect to live this long
13 February – 7 March
Opening: Thurs 12 February, 6pm
Experience a large-scale sculpture and installation by NAS alum Liz Bradshaw as part of @sydneymardigras.
 
Mitch Cairns: Artist's Mouth
1 May – 11 July
Opening: Thurs 30 April, 6pm
Presented with the @instituteofmodernart, the largest and most comprehensive exhibition by Sydney-based artist and NAS alum Mitch Cairns.
 
Margaret Olley: Australian Intimiste
31 July – 25 October
Opening: Thurs 30 July, 6pm
Celebrating the legacy of NAS alum and one of Australia's most beloved painters, Margaret Olley AC.
 
The Postgrad Show 
6–15 November
 
The Grad Show
4–13 December

Full program 🔗 in bio.
 
—
Howard Arkley, 'Triple fronted', 1987, synthetic polymer paint on canvas, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Mollie and Jim Gowing Bequest Fund 2014 © The Estate of Howard Arkley, courtesy Kalli Rolfe Contemporary Art, image © Art Gallery of New South Wales
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