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

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

Pitt Street, Sydney

Pitt Street is a major street in central Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The street runs through the entire city centre from Circular Quay in the north to Waterloo, although today's street is in two disjointed sections after a substantial stretch of it was removed to make way for Sydney's...

. In 1922 it was transferred to the old Darlinghurst Gaol

Darlinghurst Gaol

Darlinghurst Gaol was an Australian prison located in Darlinghurst, New South Wales. The site is bordered by Victoria, Burton and Forbes streets, with entrances on Forbes and Burton Streets.-History:...

 in Forbes Street, Darlinghurst

Darlinghurst, New South Wales

Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney...

. At this stage it was known as the East Sydney Technical College. In 1995 it was turned into the National Art School.

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

Painting

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...

, printmaking

Printmaking

Printmaking is the process of making artworks by printing, normally on paper. Printmaking normally covers only the process of creating prints with an element of originality, rather than just being a photographic reproduction of a painting. Except in the case of monotyping, the process is capable...

, photography

Photography

Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...

, sculpture

Sculpture

Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...

 and ceramics

Ceramic art

In art history, ceramics and ceramic art mean art objects such as figures, tiles, and tableware made from clay and other raw materials by the process of pottery. Some ceramic products are regarded as fine art, while others are regarded as decorative, industrial or applied art objects, or as...

. 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
  Alex Perry
  Alex Perry is an Australian fashion designer, particularly noted for his designs in womenswear. After graduating from East Sydney Technical College in 1984, Perry worked as a model agent representing Australian models for international modelling agencies. In 1992 Perry opened his first atelier...
  
  
• Geoffrey de Groen
  Geoffrey de Groen
  Geoffrey de Groen is an Australian artist known for his abstract works in oil and acrylics. De Groen's paintings are included in the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria, Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Queensland Art Gallery.-Family life and...
  
  
• James Gleeson
  James Gleeson
  James Timothy Gleeson was Australia's foremost artist. He was also a poet, critic, writer and curator. He played a significant role in the Australian art scene, including serving on the board of the National Gallery of Australia.-Early life:Gleeson was born in the Sydney district of Hornsby and he...
  
  
• Margaret Olley
  Margaret Olley
  Margaret Hannah Olley AC was an Australian painter. She was the subject of more than 90 solo exhibitions.Margaret Olley was born in Lismore, New South Wales. She attended Somerville House in Brisbane during her high school years...
  
  
• Bligh Twyford-Moore
• Tim Storrier
• John Coburn
  John Coburn
  John Coburn was an Australian painter. He is also known for his tapestries.Coburn served in the Navy during World War 2 and later enrolled at the National Art School.He won the Blake Prize for Religious Art twice....
  
  
• Ken Done
  Ken Done
  Ken Done, AM is an Australian artist best known for his design work. His simple, brightly coloured images of Australian landmarks have adorned a very popular range of clothing and homewares sold under the "Done Design" brand.-Early life:...
  
  
• Max Dupain
  Max Dupain
  Maxwell Spencer Dupain AC was a renowned Australian modernist photographer.-Early life:Dupain received his first camera as a gift in 1924, spurring his interest in photography He later joined the Photographic Society of NSW, and when he left school, he worked for Cecil Bostock in Sydney.-Early...
  
  
• Fiona Hall
• Reg Mombassa
  Reg Mombassa
  Reg Mombassa is the pseudonym of Chris O'Doherty, a New Zealand born artist and musician. Resident in Australia, he is as well known there for his musical exploits — founder and former member of the popular Australian band Mental As Anything and member of Dog Trumpet - as he is for his art...
  
  
• Wendy Sharpe
  Wendy Sharpe
  Wendy Sharpe is an Australian artist. Winner of the Sulman Prize in 1986 with Black Sun - Morning and Night and the Archibald Prize in 1996 with Self Portrait - as Diana of Erskineville, she has entered the Archibald Prize at least 6 times and been hung at least 3 times...
  
  
• Jeffrey Smart
  Jeffrey Smart
  Jeffrey Smart , is an expatriate Australian painter, who is known for his modernist depictions of urban landscapes.His first goal was to become an architect; however, he went on to become an art teacher after studying at Adelaide Teacher's College and the South Australian School of Art and Crafts...
  
  
• John Olsen
  John Olsen
  John Wayne Olsen, AO was Premier of South Australia between 28 November 1996 and 22 October 2001.-Parliament:Olsen was a member of the Liberal Party and Member of Parliament for more than 20 years...
  
  
• Cressida Campbell
  Cressida Campbell
  Cressida Campbell is an Australian artist.She was born in Sydney in 1960, and studied at East Sydney Technical College in 1978 and 1979....
  
  
• Rolf Harris
  Rolf Harris
  Rolf Harris, CBE, AM is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, painter and television personality.Born in Perth, Western Australia, Harris was a champion swimmer before studying art. He moved to England in 1952, where he started to appear on television programmes on which he drew the...
  
  
• Simon Cooper
  Simon Cooper
  Major-General Sir Simon Christie Cooper GCVO was Major-General commanding the Household Division and General Officer Commanding London District and later Master of the Household of the Royal Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom...
  
  
• Bill Brown
  Bill Brown
  Bill Brown may refer to:*Bill Brown , Australian cricketer*Bill Brown , Australian Senator*Bill Brown , Scottish football player...
  
  
• Michael Taylor
  Michael Taylor
  Michael Taylor may refer to:*Michael Taylor *Michael Taylor *Michael R. Taylor, former Monsanto's Vice President, adviser to the Food and Drug Administration...
  
  
• Susan Norrie
• John Bloomfield
  John Bloomfield
  General Sir John Bloomfield GCB was Master Gunner, St James's Park, the most senior Ceremonial Post in the Royal Artillery after the Sovereign.-Military career:...
  
  
• Robert Owen
  Robert Owen
  Robert Owen was a Welsh social reformer and one of the founders of utopian socialism and the cooperative movement.Owen's philosophy was based on three intellectual pillars:...
  
  
• Peter Travis
  Peter Travis
  Peter W. Travis is Chair of the Department of English and Henry Winkley Professor of Anglo-Saxon and English Language and Literature at Dartmouth College. Travis received his Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and is now a medieval scholar specializing in the works of Chaucer, most notably The...
  
  
• Margaret Tuckson
• Joshua Smith
  Joshua Smith
  Joshua Smith was an Australian artist who won the Archibald Prize in 1944 with his portrait of Hon Sol Rosevear, MHR, Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, but is more well known as being the subject of the previous years controversial Archibald Prize win, by artist William...
  
  
• Gary Jolley
• Elisabeth Cummings
  Elisabeth Cummings
  Elisabeth Cummings born in 1934 in Brisbane, is now one of Australia's most respected living artists and was listed in Australian Art Collector in 2002 as one of the 50 most collectable...
  
  
• Alan Jones
  Alan Jones
  Alan Jones may refer to:* Alan Jones , Ulster architect* Alan Jones , cinematographer active 1984–1996, see Love Is All There Is* Alan Jones , Welsh cricketer...
  
  
• Tim Kyle
• Todd Fuller
  Todd Fuller
  Todd Douglas Fuller is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Golden State Warriors with the 11th overall pick of the 1996 NBA Draft. He played in five NBA seasons from 1996-2001 for the Warriors, Utah Jazz, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat averaging 3.7 ppg...
  
  
• Justin Balmain
• Alex Tayco
• Luke Sciberis
• Guy Maestri
  Guy Maestri
  Guy Maestri is an Australian contemporary artist who won the 2009 Archibald Prize for a portrait of Australian singer and musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu....
  
  
• Mark Rowden
  Mark Rowden
  Mark Rowden was born in Margate, England in 1979. He left school to study full time at a local art college. Finishing this course after a year he then moved to Sydney, Australia, in the late-1990s...
  
  
• Stuart D. Fleming
• Melanie Waugh
• Noel Thurgate
• Giles Alexander
• Ken Done
  Ken Done
  Ken Done, AM is an Australian artist best known for his design work. His simple, brightly coloured images of Australian landmarks have adorned a very popular range of clothing and homewares sold under the "Done Design" brand.-Early life:...
  
  
• Ben Dos Remidios
• Anita Keating
• Lucy Culliton
• Jumaadi
• Martin Sharp
  Martin Sharp
  Martin Sharp is an Australian artist, underground cartoonist, songwriter and film-maker. Sharp has made contributions to Australian and international culture since the early 60s, and is hailed as Australia's foremost pop artist...
  
  
• Ted Prior
  Ted Prior (writer)
  Ted Prior is an Australian children's author, best known for his works on the children's series of Grug books.-Biography:Ted Prior previously worked as a police officer before studying at the National Art School in Sydney. In 1969, he earned a Diploma in Painting. From 1971 to 1974 he taught at the...
  
  
• Angus Wood
• Arthur McIntyre
  Arthur McIntyre (artist)
  Arthur McIntyre was an Australian artist and art critic. He was born in Katoomba, New South Wales. McIntyre's early inspiration as an artist was the popular Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio program Argonauts Club...
  
  
• Sydney Ball