National Art School

The National Art School (NAS), Sydney, Australia, occupies the site of the old Darlinghurst Gaol and until 1995 the East Sydney Technical College. With a prestigious alumni and diverse history, the school now has gained independent status. This was gained after a turbulent period which included protest, and controversy with many public and private disputes regarding the schools direction, status, rights and funding. The school is currently Directed by Anita Taylor, known for her involvement in the Jarvis drawing prize, International Centre for Research Drawing and Wimbledon school of art.

Remaining an institute focused on providing the three year course accompanying the Bachelor of Fine Arts the school specialises in five key studio areas which include Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture and Ceramics. The school also offers a well respected program for both Honours and Master of Fine Arts. The school also offers an honours degree and Masters degree.

The schools staff are largely employed on a part time system which allows them a steady stable income while also empowering them to maintain a professional practice which in turn allows the students to constantly be in contact with and learn from the practising artists who are driving the visual art scene of Sydney and most of Australia.

The school has a philosophy which also makes it unique to any other artistic institute in Australia following the example of humanist ideas and making drawing a compulsory subject for all three years of the course. The course is studio based with low staff to student ratios.

Art history is as a key part of the degree and like drawing is constant throughout every course.

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

The schools students are known for their active participation in the industry with winners of the Brett Whiteley traveling scholarship, the William Fletcher travelling scholarship, the Helen Lempiere, and many other awards and prizes often going to them.

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

Notable alumni

• Alex Perry
• Geoffrey de Groen
• James Gleeson
• Margaret Olley
• 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
• Michael Taylor
• Susan Norrie
• John Bloomfield
• Robert Owen
• Peter Travis
• Margaret Tuckson
• Joshua Smith
• Gary Jolley
• Elisabeth Cummings
• Alan Jones
• 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