Open your art! Join NAS for Open Day 2021 to see behind the scenes

Open your art! Join NAS for Open Day 2021 to see behind the scenes

2021-08-25

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.

Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’

‘Chaosophy’ is now open until Saturday 8 March
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday
Building 25 Project Space
Free admission, all welcome

Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.

View

Feb 14

Open

NAS Library is proud to launch their 2025 Library Stairwell Gallery programming with this years LSG show for Queer Contemporary, ‘Subtexts’, opening this Thursday 13 February.

‘Subtexts’ unites four artists whose work demonstrates the complexities of queer identity, each considering their own personal relationship with queerness. The show offers alternative narratives and styles that challenge notions of queer uniformity, opting to explore the undertones and implications of queerness as a dislocated front.

‘Subtexts’ asks of the ambiguous term; Are we united by virtue of our difference, or rather the unique positions it presents us?

Featuring works by
@professional__disoppointment
@sarah_r_serfati
@theolathouras
@ziggywoodartist

View

Feb 9

Open

Three generations of queer artists make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance in ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’, as part of Mardi Gras 2025.

Through their individual aesthetics and distinct voices, together the artists disrupt histories, languages, conventional silences and institutional spaces, using and queering language to propose alternate perspectives on and interpretations of identity and ways of being.

Opening night Thursday 13 February, with special guests Swamp Daisies.

RSVP at link in the bio.
—
Sam Chan, ‘Transfiguration’, 2024, Chillagoe White Pearl marble, mild steel, incense, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt)

Ali Tahayori, ’The four elements: fire, earth, water, air (detail)’, 2022, hand cut mirrors plaster on wood, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Daniel Kukec Photography

nikita lelu, ’I drip into a bath and drift’, 2024, glazed mid-fire paperclay, underglaze, terra sigillata, silver, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt Photography)

Magic Young, ‘Evulva’, 2024, nylon, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt)

View

Feb 6

Open

Three generations of queer artists make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance in ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’, as part of Mardi Gras 2025. Through their individual aesthetics and distinct voices, together the artists disrupt histories, languages, conventional silences and institutional spaces, using and queering language to propose alternate perspectives on and interpretations of identity and ways of being. Opening night Thursday 13 February, with special guests Swamp Daisies. RSVP at link in the bio.
—
Sam Chan, ‘Transfiguration’, 2024, Chillagoe White Pearl marble, mild steel, incense, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt) Ali Tahayori, ’The four elements: fire, earth, water, air (detail)’, 2022, hand cut mirrors plaster on wood, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Daniel Kukec Photography nikita lelu, ’I drip into a bath and drift’, 2024, glazed mid-fire paperclay, underglaze, terra sigillata, silver, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt Photography) Magic Young, ‘Evulva’, 2024, nylon, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Jennifer Leahy (Silversalt)

We’re looking for an Exhibitions Project Officer!

The role has a focus on major Indigenous exhibition projects currently in development for the National Art School as well as touring programs. The role assists with the delivery and coordination of Gallery programs, talks, and other events in the gallery spaces.

You have a background in visual art, art history, curatorship and gallery experience. You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, along with strong organisational and project management experience.

Note this is an Identified Role and is open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only, in accordance with Section 14(D) of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977 NSW.

Application deadline extended to Sunday 9 February.

Apply at the link in bio.
—
Ronan Pirozzi, `Serpentine`, 2023; `Trajectory`, 2023; `Desolate`, 2023; installation view, undo the day, NAS Gallery, Sydney, 2024, oil on welded steel, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Zan Wimberley

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Feb 2

Open

We’re looking for an Exhibitions Project Officer! The role has a focus on major Indigenous exhibition projects currently in development for the National Art School as well as touring programs. The role assists with the delivery and coordination of Gallery programs, talks, and other events in the gallery spaces. You have a background in visual art, art history, curatorship and gallery experience. You have excellent interpersonal and communication skills, along with strong organisational and project management experience. Note this is an Identified Role and is open to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander applicants only, in accordance with Section 14(D) of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act, 1977 NSW. Application deadline extended to Sunday 9 February. Apply at the link in bio.
—
Ronan Pirozzi, 'Serpentine', 2023; 'Trajectory', 2023; 'Desolate', 2023; installation view, undo the day, NAS Gallery, Sydney, 2024, oil on welded steel, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Zan Wimberley

The National Art School has today announced respected Australian academic, writer and curator Dr Kristen Sharp as the next Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Kristen joins the National Art School with extensive experience in the fields of contemporary art and tertiary education having spent six years as Associate Dean Discipline, Art in the School of Art at RMIT University, and previously 9 years as Academic Lead Art History and Theory at RMIT. She will commence her new role at the National Art School on 24th February 2025.

Read the full media release at the link in bio.

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Jan 30

Open

The National Art School has today announced respected Australian academic, writer and curator Dr Kristen Sharp as the next Director and Chief Executive Officer. Kristen joins the National Art School with extensive experience in the fields of contemporary art and tertiary education having spent six years as Associate Dean Discipline, Art in the School of Art at RMIT University, and previously 9 years as Academic Lead Art History and Theory at RMIT. She will commence her new role at the National Art School on 24th February 2025. Read the full media release at the link in bio.

Opening Night — ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’

Join us Thursday 13 February for the opening night of ‘Queer Contemporary: Chaosophy’, an exhibition that brings together three generations of queer artists who make and break language across the intersections of art, activism, poetry and performance; as part of Mardi Gras 2025.

Curated by Dr Liz Bradshaw, with work by artists Kika Kereru Baker, Daniel Browning, Sam Chan, Blake Griffiths, Frankie L.A, nikita lelu, r e a, Victoria Spence, Jake Starr, Ali Tahayori, Magic Young and Justine Youssef.

With special guests Swamp Daisies.

RSVP at link in the bio.
—
r e a, ’GARI (language) (detail)’, 2024-25, courtesy and © the artist

Justine Youssef, ‘Somewhat Eternal (detail)’, 2023, installation view, ACE, Adelaide, 2024, three channel synchronised video, embroidered faux mink blankets, Burnet Rose (Rosa spinosissima) hydrosol, Damask Rose (Rosa x damascena) hydrosol, Lebanese Cedar (Cedrus libani) hydrosol, Blessed Milk Thistle (Silybum marianum) hydrosol, silver charms, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Sam Roberts

Kika Baker, `Pendulum`, 2024, plaster, ink, copper, found plastic, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Kika Baker

Blake Griffiths, ’Inhibitive Thoughts; stripping of the bark (detail)’, 2020, eucalyptus dyed woollen blanket, cotton, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Document Photography

Jake Starr, `A Weak & Panicked Animal`, 2024, installation view, Syrup Contemporary, Sydney, 2024, digital video, 4K, screen, construction fence, child safety straps, aluminium bench, lego, power cords, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Damien Dillon

Frankie L.A, `Pieces of`, 2024, worn machine made Persian rug, house paint, burnt wood, image courtesy and © the artist, photograph: Frankie L.A

View

Jan 24

Open

Open your art! Join NAS for Open Day 2021 to see behind the scenes