The $30,000 Dobell drawing prize is known for pushing the boundaries among Australian artists. This year is no different, with the 58 finalists in the biennial prize both going back to first principles and stretching our understanding of what constitutes this most fundamental of art forms.
Image: Madeleine Joy Dawes, Rebuild (partial) 2018, pen on cotton paper. 150 x 150 cm. Courtesy the artist.
Looking for exhibitions to view this weekend? Here are some current exhibitions with National Art School staff and alumni:
1) NAS Alum Mitch Cairns has a solo exhibition ‘Restless Legs` at @artgalleryofnsw until 9 June 2025. Books, chimneys and a lyre are among the motifs featured in this electric show.
2) Former NAS Head of Postgraduate Studies Ian Greig opens his solo exhibition ‘Within the Light of Thing’ at @arthousegallery this Saturday 3 May. Join Ian for his Artist Talk at 2pm to learn more about his new stylistic development.
3) NAS Head of Painting Stephen Little has a solo exhibition ‘The Harbinger Suite: Reliquaries‘ at @maiswright.gallery. The exhibition continues until 3 May 2025.
4) NAS Painting Lecturer Gemma Smith is displaying ‘Compression dissolve’ in The Intelligence of Painting exhibition at @mca_australia until 20 July 2025. ‘The Intelligence of Painting’ presents paintings from 14 Australian women artists of multiple generations.
Image credit 1: Mitch Cairns ‘9–5’ 2024, oil on linen, 124.5 x 104.5 cm, collection of the artist © Mitch Cairns, courtesy The Commercial, Sydney, photo: The Commercial
Image credit 2: Ian Greig ‘Bundjalung Country’ 2025, oil on linen, 168 x 168 cm. Courtesy the artist and the Arthouse Gallery © the artist
Image credit 3: Stephen Little, installation view of ‘The Harbinger Suite: Reliquaries’, 2025. Courtesy the artist and MAIS WRIGHT © the artist, photograph: Robin Hearfield
Image credit 4: Gemma Smith, Compression dissolve, 2024, installation view The Intelligence of Painting, Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, 2025, acrylic on canvas, courtesy the artist and Sullivan + Strumpf © the artist, photograph: Hamish McIntosh
May 1
We are pleased to announce two international residency opportunities for our alumni and staff community for 2026: The Onslow Storrier NAS Residency La Cité Internationale Des Arts, Paris and The British School at Rome.
These residencies offer a unique chance to immerse yourself in the vibrant art scenes of two iconic European cities, Paris and Rome, and further develop your artistic practice in an enriching cultural environment.
Application Deadline: Sunday 29 June 2025
Learn more and apply at the link in bio.
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Sophia Lee Georgas BSR Open Studio, 2023, image courtesy and © The British School at Rome; Harry de Vries BSR Open Studio, 2024, image courtesy and © The British School at Rome
Apr 28
Thank you to everyone who has come through to see the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize for its first week. The exhibition is now open until Saturday 21 June 2025. Please note we are open this Saturday and closed for the observed Easter holidays.
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Good Friday CLOSED 18 April 2025
Easter Saturday OPEN Sat 19 April 2025, 11am – 5pm
Easter Sunday CLOSED Sun 20 April 2025
Easter Monday CLOSED Mon 21 April 2025
Anzac Day CLOSED Fri 25 April 2025
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Installation view, 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, National Art School Gallery, Sydney, 2025, image courtesy the artists and National Art School © the artists, photograph: Peter Morgan
Apr 17
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.
Apr 15
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
