NAS Open Day 2023 – Create Your Future
The National Art School is Australia’s leading fine art school, with an unrivalled studio-based teaching model that has delivered a rich tradition of artistic practice and generations of world-renowned alumni for the past 100 years. Leading into the 21st Century, NAS provides a progressive and holistic art education, and invites you to join us on Open Day to discover our creative community.
Everyone is welcome at Open Day, from those considering art as a career to anyone simply curious about what happens behind the school’s historic sandstone walls.
It’s a busy and active day-long program offering plenty of opportunity to see what life is like for students at NAS, with art demonstrations in the studios, the chance to drop in on classes, and to enjoy shows in our exhibition spaces.
INFO SESSIONS
Bachelor of Fine Art Info Session
10:30am, 10:45am, 11:30am, 1:00pm, 2:30pm
BLACK THEATRE / RED THEATRE
No booking required
NAS lecturers talk through undergraduate study options and the admissions process. Followed by a Q&A with BFA students who can talk about the student experience.
Master of Fine Art Info Session
12:30pm
RED THEATRE
No booking required
NAS lecturers discuss postgraduate study options.
Doctor of Fine Art Info Session
3:00pm
RED THEATRE
No booking required
NAS lecturers discuss postgraduate study options.
Short Courses Info Session
10:30am, 1:00pm
SEMINAR ROOM – BUILDING 11
No booking required
Learn about our extensive range of open-entry short courses; from beginner to advanced levels; for ages 16 and above.
Course Enquiry Desk
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
CELL BLOCK THEATRE
No booking required
Meet the student services team and ask any questions you might have about NAS courses, admission, scholarships, and student life on campus.
One-on-One Advice Sessions
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
CELL BLOCK THEATRE
No booking required
Meet with a member of our faculty and find out more about studying at NAS and our admissions process including advice on preparing your portfolio.
EXHIBITIONS
Exhibition:
Radiance: the art of Elisabeth Cummings
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
NAS GALLERY
No booking required
Check out Radiance: the art of Elisabeth Cummings, an exhibition celebrating one of the School’s most esteemed and exceptional alumni. Open from 18 August – 21 October 2023, Mon-Sat, 11am-5pm.
Exhibition:
Shimmer
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
DRAWING GALLERY
No booking required
Visit the Drawing Gallery to experience our latest exhibition, Shimmer. Featuring new works by recent Masters of Fine Art graduates: Armando Chant, Anna Mould, and Stephanie Houghton.
Exhibition:
Forced Parameters
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
LIBRARY STAIRWELL GALLERY
No booking required
Visit the Library Stairwell Gallery’s latest exhibition Forced Parameters showcasing the work of 3rd year BFA Printmaking students. You’ll get the opportunity to discuss the work and the LSG experience with the exhibiting students.
Archives and Collection:
NAS Historic Collection
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
ARCHIVE AND COLLECTION – BUILDING 11
No booking required
The NAS Archive and Collection contains rare artworks from alumni and artefacts from the site’s 200-year history. Exciting new acquisitions will be on display on Open Day.
Guided Exhibition Tour
Radiance: the art of Elisabeth Cummings
11:00am, 2:00pm
NAS GALLERY
No booking required
Join Curator Vivienne Webb for a guided tour of Radiance: the art of Elisabeth Cummings.
Photomedia Studios:
Showreel
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
PHOTOMEDIA STUDIOS – BUILDING 1
No booking required
Explore the photomedia studios and watch a showreel of current students’ films.
Painting Department:
Student-led projects
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
ACROSS CAMPUS
No booking required
NAS is bringing painting alive with a number of student-led projects across campus.
National Art School:
Open Studios
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
ACROSS CAMPUS
No booking required
Go behind the scenes and see our students at work in their studios.
OPEN WORKSHOPS
Drawing Workshop:
Hands-on Life Drawing
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
MARGARET OLLEY BUILDING (NAS CHAPEL)
No booking required
Draw from a life model in the chapel, one of the School’s most beautiful historic buildings, and our new dedicated drawing studio.
Ceramics Workshop:
Fast Clay; Slow Clay
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
CERAMICS STUDIOS – BUILDING 24
No booking required
Watch lecturers and current BFA students creating work on the wheel and participate in hand-building your own clay artwork with NAS artist-educators.
Printmaking Workshop:
Screen-Printing
11:00am – 1:00pm
PRINTMAKING STUDIOS – BUILDING 16
No booking required
Play with screen-printing images provided by NAS staff and alumni onto fabric in this open access workshop. Students will demonstrate some basic techniques and then assist you to print your own tea towel or if you prefer a t-shirt, please bring one along!
Sculpture Workshop:
Stone Carving
10:30am – 2:00pm
SCULPTURE COURTYARD
No booking required
Join our Sculpture department for a stone carving workshop.
OPEN VISITS
NAS Workshop
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
WORKSHOP – BUILDING 11
No booking required
Drop into the workshop, a hive of activity for students working across artistic disciplines. Check out the tools and equipment and find out about support for students.
NAS Printlab
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
PRINTLAB – BUILDING 11
No booking required
Visit our professional print lab, the school’s high-quality commercial grade facility.
NAS Library
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
LIBRARY – BUILDING 14
No booking required
Visit the NAS Library which supports the School’s unique curriculum with a carefully curated, highly specialised collection. NAS Library staff are all subject specialists and super friendly. Come and say hi on Open Day.
NAS ArtBar & Kitchen
All Day – 10:00am to 4:00pm
NAS ARTBAR AND KITCHEN – BUILDING 2
No booking required
Kick back and take in the historic charm of the grounds.
You have the questions; we have the answers.
Curious to know what student life is like at NAS, or unsure about what the next steps are after high school? See us at our course enquiry desk, speak with our faculty in a one-on-one advice session or pop into our information sessions running across the day.
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.
Apr 11
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
Apr 10
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.
Apr 10
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
Apr 6
Passionate about collections and the arts? Join us as a Digitisation Volunteer!
The National Art School Archive and Collection team is looking for enthusiastic Digitisation Volunteers to help bring our art collection to life! Your work will play a key role in making art and history more accessible—by photographing and recording our collections, enhancing our museum database, and digitising our extensive archive of photographs. Through your efforts, every stored object and artwork in our collection will have a high-quality, searchable digital record for generations to come.
Apply at the link in bio.
Apr 2
Opening night: Gesture and Trace
Join us on Saturday 12 April for the opening night of Gesture and Trace, a collaborative exhibition with the Lu Xun Academy of Fine Arts (LAFA), Shenyang, China. Featuring 16 students and recent alumni from the National Art School (NAS) and LAFA’s Textiles and Chinese Ink Departments, this exhibition explores cross-cultural perspectives on drawing and material practices.
This exhibition is presented by the National Centre for Drawing, in conjunction with Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025.
Purchase your tickets to the symposium at the link in bio.
Apr 1
