The National Art School’s annual Open Day is a highlight of the year, giving visitors the chance to explore Australia’s leading independent fine art school.

NAS Open Day 2021 is scheduled for Saturday 13 November from 10am – 4pm.

Usually Open Day takes place in September on the heritage-listed Darlinghurst campus, however this year it has been rescheduled to due to lockdown.

While we hope to welcome visitors in person in November, in September NAS will launch Open Day Online with all the information on hand for prospective students or anyone interested in finding out what NAS offers, from the Bachelor of Fine Art, Master of Fine Art and Doctor of Fine Art tertiary degrees to the extensive year-round program of short courses to major public exhibitions and more.

Open Day Online allows visitors to chat with staff, see what current students are working on, watch information sessions about the BFA, MFA and DFA degrees, learn how to apply to study at NAS, and get a taste of life on campus with Art Forum talks, our weekly lecture program for students featuring invited guests speaking about their curatorial, artistic and research projects. In 2021 speakers have included Justine Youssef, Richard Bell, Wendy Sharpe, Shireen Taweel and Guy Warren.

“Open Day Online means wherever you are in the world, you can get an understanding of NAS’s unique, studio-based practice model of learning, taught by successful, practicing artists, and appreciate why, year after year, student satisfaction is so high for our courses,” said NAS Director and CEO Steven Alderton.

When COVID-19 hit in 2020, NAS quickly adapted to the challenges of education during the pandemic and was one of the first tertiary institutions in Sydney to bring students back on campus after lockdown, enabling them to continue their courses with a minimum of disruption. Practical classes continued with social distancing and students regained access to their studios with safety and hygiene protocols in place, in addition to online support from a custom-designed academic portal and NAS teachers. Face-to-face teaching time was maintained at pre-COVID levels.

In 2020 the school also launched NAS Studio Sessions on Instagram during lockdown, building an online community for students, staff and alumni to support each other and share their practice while working at home. Students have continued to post here since returning to campus last year, and during the current Sydney lockdown, see #NASStudioSessions.

If visitors are permitted back on the NAS campus by 30 October, Open Day will go ahead with public health and safety protocols in place, as it did in 2020. All visitors will register on entry, masks will be compulsory for all spaces, indoors and outdoors, and appropriate social distancing and hygiene measures will be maintained.

In 2022 the School will celebrate 100 years of teaching students in the beautiful sandstone buildings of the former Darlinghurst Gaol, as well as 200 years since construction of the Gaol began in 1822. We look forward to welcoming everyone to NAS Open Day and Open Day Online.