Volunteer at the National Art School Gallery

About the National Art School

The National Art School is Australia’s leading art school with a progressive agenda for growth and a firm commitment to continuing studio-based education. The National Art School (NAS) is accredited through TEQSA and offers Bachelor of Fine Art, Masters and Doctorate courses in Photomedia, Painting, Sculpture, Ceramics, and Printmaking; and core subjects in Drawing and Art History and Theory. The School is at the forefront of learning, creativity and innovative practice utilising its independent identity and distinctive studio-based teaching model to deliver exceptional higher education and research, scholarship and professional practice. In 2019 the NSW Arts Minister announced a 45 year lease and ongoing funding to the National Art School as a State Significant Organisation (SSO) which has afforded ongoing certainty of tenure onsite and the foundation to build a successful independent art school.

 

The Volunteer Position

The National Art School welcomes enthusiastic volunteers with strong communication skills to support front-of-house activities in our NAS Galleries. Volunteers are required to undertake front-of-house duties.

As a volunteer you will have the opportunity to work in a small friendly team and learn more about the National Art School and the inner workings of a busy public art gallery.

Volunteers receive special curatorial walk-throughs of exhibitions, invitations to lectures and special events, complimentary publications and library borrowing benefits.

We ask volunteers to work a minimum of one three-hour shift each fortnight and commit to the program for 12 months. Volunteer work takes place Monday to Saturday between 11am and 5pm.

 

How to Apply

Please include the following in your application:

  • A covering letter addressing how your experience matches the volunteer requirements.
  • A resume citing your qualifications and outlining professional experience.

The National Art School is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

If you have any questions or if we can assist in making the application process more accessible for you, please call Juanita Hyde on 02 9339 8672 or email [email protected].

 

Please email your application to [email protected]

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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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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