National Art School

The National Art School is an art school in Sydney, Australia. It is a Public Company Limited by Guarantee with a board of directors. It has Institutional Registration and Course Accreditation supported by the DET Higher Education Directorate.

History and description

Plan for conversion of Darlinghurst Gaol into the East Sydney Technical College published in The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 December 1921, p10 Acknowledgement: National Library of Australia

The school dates back to 1843, when it was connected to the Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts. It later moved to the School of Arts building in Pitt Street. In 1922 it was transferred to the old Darlinghurst Gaol in Forbes Street, Darlinghurst. At this stage it was known as the East Sydney Technical College. In 1995 it was turned into the National Art School.

Former Darlinghurst Gaol from the air, The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February 1936, p14 Acknowledgement: National Library of Australia

The school now has independent status, gained after a turbulent period that included protest and controversy, with many public and private disputes regarding the school's direction, status, rights and funding. The institute focuses on providing the three-year course accompanying the Bachelor of Fine Arts; it specialises in five key studio areas: painting, printmaking, photography, sculpture and ceramics. The school also offers a program for both Honours and Master of Fine Arts.

The school's staff are largely employed on a part-time system which allows them a stable income, while also enabling them to maintain a professional practice. This allows students to constantly be in contact with and learn from practising Australian artists.

The school makes drawing a compulsory subject for all three years of the course. The course is studio-based with low staff-to-student ratios.

The school houses the National Art School Gallery as well as the student gallery, the library stairwell gallery and a bronze casting facility, digital lab, wet lab, kilns, and printing facilities.

The school's students have won the Brett Whiteley traveling scholarship, the William Fletcher travelling scholarship, the Helen Lempiere, and many other awards and prizes.

The school also conducts its own traveling scholarship, the Fonas Storrier/Onslow Paris residency to the Cite Internationale Des Arts, which is administered through the Friends of the National Art School.

Notable alumni

• Alex Perry
• Geoffrey de Groen
• James Gleeson
• Margaret Olley
• Bligh Twyford-Moore
• Tim Storrier
• John Coburn
• Ken Done
• Max Dupain
• Fiona Hall
• Reg Mombassa
• Wendy Sharpe
• Jeffrey Smart
• John Olsen
• Cressida Campbell
• Rolf Harris
• Simon Cooper
• Bill Brown^{[disambiguation needed ]}
• Michael Taylor^{[disambiguation needed ]}
• Susan Norrie
• John Bloomfield^{[disambiguation needed ]}
• Robert Owen
• Peter Travis
• Margaret Tuckson
• Joshua Smith^{[disambiguation needed ]}
• Gary Jolley
• Elisabeth Cummings
• Alan Jones^{[disambiguation needed ]}
• Tim Kyle
• Todd Fuller
• Justin Balmain
• Alex Tayco
• Luke Sciberis
• Guy Maestri
• Mark Rowden
• Stuart D. Fleming
• Melanie Waugh
• Noel Thurgate
• Giles Alexander
• Ken Done
• Ben Dos Remidios
• Anita Keating
• Lucy Culliton
• Jumaadi
• Martin Sharp
• Ted Prior
• Angus Wood
• Arthur McIntyre
• Sydney Ball

External links

• Official website