Tropical Lab International Art Camp
A two-week international art camp in Singapore for a current National Art School MFA student
Application deadline Sunday November 24 2024
Residency dates Thursday 17 July – Friday 1 August 2025
Notification of outcome Thursday 5 December 2024
Residency
The nineteenth edition of the renowned TROPICAL LAB, an international art camp for art academies and institutes, will take place from 17 July to 1 August 2025 at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore.
TROPICAL LAB is an intensive and highly engaging fourteen-day event, bringing together more than 20 student-artists from various art colleges and institutions around the world. TROPICAL LAB is a real and imaginative space for student artists to research, experiment and collaborate to create contemporary artworks, regardless of medium, method and approach.
The event will include workshops, talks and seminars guided by established international and Singaporean artists culminating in an exhibition curated by LASALLE’s curatorial division, Institute of Contemporary Art Singapore at LASALLE.
The recipient of this Prize will receive:
- $1000 towards airfares & transfers
- Coverage of program registration fees
- LASALLE will cover accommodation and local travel costs in Singapore. All participants will reside at a hotel arranged by the College on a twin sharing basis.
- LASALLE will provide studio space, workshops, technical assistance as well as curatorial expertise.
Eligibility
- You must be a full time MFA1 student at the time of application, and a full time MFA2 student at the time of the residency.
- Applicant must be responsible for researching the relevant visa requirements for Singapore and preparation of these arrangements in advance.
- Participants are required to be in full attendance during this two-week period. This will include missing the first 2 weeks of S2 2025, which will be discussed with staff in advance.
Selection Criteria
The Residency will be awarded to an applicant who:
- Has displayed a high level of achievement and dedication to their practice throughout their MFA.
- Demonstrates clarity of purpose and a compelling rationale for their proposed residency.
- In the opinion of the judges, would benefit artistically from the experience at this stage of their studies.
Applications
- To be considered for selection, applicants must submit all parts of the online application form, together with required application materials, by the deadline.
- Eligible applications will be reviewed by a selection panel comprising suitable representatives of the National Art School.
Application Requirements
- A summary CV (of not more than two pages) in PDF format.
- Your most recent revised MFA Proposal (PDF format).
- A maximum of 10 images, presented in PDF format, with only one image per page. Each page should include the name of artist, title, date, medium, and dimensions. For moving image-based artists only, a high-quality video of up to two minutes presented as a single-track show reel. The panel reserves the right to not assess applications that do not include specified supporting material correctly formatted as outlined above.
- A 300 word travel proposal (PDF format): Please comment on your interest to participate in TROPICAL LAB and the ways in which you might benefit from the program, making reference to the 2025 theme: ‘Service’ (see Application Guidelines)
Referee
- All applicants are required to state the name, phone number and email address of one referee.
Conditions of Entry
- The successful applicant must abide by all the regulations of the award.
- The successful applicant is responsible for any additional costs associated with the residency.
- The selectors’ decision is final, and no correspondence will be entered into.
- The successful applicant must strictly agree to abide by the conditions of LASALLE.
- The selectors reserve the right to withhold the award if in their opinion the standard of applications is insufficient to warrant awarding.
- The selected applicant will be required to maintain communication with the Residency Coordinator during the residency.
Acquittal of Residency
Post-residency, the selected applicant will be required to:
- Take part in a lecture or panel discussion about the residency to students and alumni, to a PowerPoint presentation.
- Provide high-resolution photographs and a quote of approximately 100 words that can be used by NAS for promotional purposes and in publications including the Annual Report and Yearbook.
- Submit an approximately 500-word report no later than eight weeks post-residency regarding their residency and experience.
Please email [email protected], for any inquiries regarding the application process.
Read more about TROPICAL LAB on the LASALLE College of the Arts website.
CONTACT
Lily Fenwicke
International Residencies Coordinator
+61 2 9339 8717
[email protected]
We encourage all eligible candidates to apply, regardless of whether this is your first residency application. Please contact the International Residencies Coordinator to discuss any accessibility requirements or adjustments that can be made to your application process.
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
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
