University Art School Cuts Affect Us All

University Art School Cuts Affect Us All

NAS Director and CEO Steven Alderton discusses the repercussions of proposed cuts, and in the wider context of Australian visual arts education.

This has been an extremely difficult year for the arts in Australia, with the creative industries hard hit by COVID-19 lockdowns and restrictions. But 2020 isn’t over yet. The Australian National University has announced proposed cuts to its highly respected School of Art and Design, while only last month Griffith University announced proposed cuts to the Queensland College of Art.

Like Griffith, where the cuts hit the college’s printmaking and jewellery studios, as well as photography and interactive media, ANU is targeting the furniture, jewellery and object studios, all craft and design disciplines that require specialist equipment and staff, as well as the animation and video program at a time when in-depth tertiary digital media education is crucial for Australia’s future creative professionals.

In July, the University of NSW announced the merger of its single-school UNSW Art and Design faculty into a six-school faculty with the Built Environment and Arts & Social Sciences faculties; the Art and Design faculty’s dean, Ross Harley, left that month.
Universities have suffered greatly during the pandemic this year, however the cuts to art schools are short-sighted and have been widely condemned. The loss of these facilities and the jobs of highly skilled lecturers and technicians cannot be regained and harms the Australian arts community and our international reputation.

After graduating from QCA in Brisbane 30 years ago, I became director of Sydney’s National Art School in 2017, one of only two remaining independent tertiary art schools in Australia. Our independence allows us to maintain intense, hands-on studio-based learning and expand our resources, such as the recent announcement of our new National Centre for Drawing.
According to UNESCO, creativity and innovation have become the true wealth of nations in the 21st century. In October 2020, Australia’s Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research said cultural and creative activity contributed $115.2 billion to Australia’s economy in 2017–18.

Reducing resources and staff at tertiary art schools further erodes Australia’s ability to support and strengthen the creativity, inspiration and innovation that is essential for our economy and society into the future, and to share our vibrant artistic culture with the world.

The most effective way to develop raw artistic talent is with a solid and independent foundation of education taught by experts with dedicated facilities. These proposed cuts are Australia’s loss, not just another blow for art students and teachers.

Steven Alderton is the Director and CEO of the National Art School in Sydney.

Image: NAS Director Steven Alderton and Head of Drawing Maryanne Coutts in front of Building 25, which will become the new Drawing Gallery in 2021, part of the National Centre for Drawing. Photo: Peter Morgan.
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Opening night: The Neighbour at the Gate 

Join us on Thursday 10 July for the opening night of The Neighbour at the Gate, a major exhibition at the National Art School Gallery, curated by a guest curatorium led by Clothilde Bullen (Wardandi Noongar and Badimaya Yamatji), with Micheal Do and Zali Morgan (Whadjuk Balladong and Wilman Noongar).

Bringing together newly commissioned works by leading Australian artists Jacky Cheng, Elham Eshraghian-Haakansson, Dennis Golding (Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay), Jenna Mayilema Lee (Gulumerridjin (Larrakia), Wardaman, KarraJarri), James Nguyen and James Tylor (Kaurna, Thura-Yura language region), the exhibition reckons with the echoes of immigration policies and the legacies of Colonialism in Australia, unravelling how these forces continue to shape First Nations and Asian Australian experiences and relationships.

Across various mediums and perspectives, The Neighbour at the Gate charts the entangled legacies of exclusion and resilience, drawing vital parallels between the past and present, memory and nationhood.

The Neighbour at the Gate has been made possible with the generous support of the NSW Government through its Blockbusters Funding initiative.

RSVP at the link in bio.
Burned trees build no homes. 

Today we acknowledge World Environment Day with this work by alum Una Foster, now in the National Art School Collection.
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Una Foster, ‘Burned Trees Build No Homes’, c.1945, commercial print on paper; image courtesy the artist and National Art School © Una Foster. From the National Art School Collection.
This end of financial year, support the next generation of artists through the National Art School’s Pathways Program.

Your donation will be vital in helping us build a more inclusive and vibrant arts community — creating crucial pathways for talented artists to become leading international artists, regardless of their background.

Support our EOFY campaign via the link in bio and help us to break down barriers to art education.
In June, we celebrate World Pride Month. Like many other culturally significant times, it’s a month that’s meaningful to our community and the Oxford precinct we are part of. 

In 2015, NAS alum Todd Fuller (@fuller_todd) sent members of the public black and white drawings depicting two men engaged in a passionate kiss. The participants were encouraged to respond to the image by colouring in the figures, with the resulting images compiled by Fuller into a mixed media video animation. 

Fuller gifted this work to the National Art School Collection, a collection that performs a major role within the National Art School as both a teaching resource and a historical record. Visit our website to find out more about the works in our collection.

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Todd Fuller, ‘The Unite Project - 3rd generation ‘, 2015, mixed media animation, colour and sound, 13.35 mins loop; image courtesy the artist and National Art School © Todd Fuller. From the National Art School Collection - Gift of Todd Fuller.
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