National Art School Open Day

If art is your passion, the teachers and students of the National Art School want to meet you – and help you turn that passion into a practice.

The National Art School Open Day is a chance to explore the historic campus, designed by royal engineer George Barney and the colonial architect Mortimer Lewis, talk to the lecturers about your practice and your application to the school, visit the artist studios, and ask questions of former and current students.

Each department will be running activities and workshops on the day – from ceramics and sculpture to drawing and painting, photomedia, printmaking, and art history and theory. 

There will also be an art market selling artisan jewellery, ceramics, prints and more, and a live mural painting at the National Art School's dedicated student wall.

Unlike the university-run art schools, admission to the National Art School is by interview and portfolio; individuality is embraced, and students are encouraged to find and develop their own voice. 

The results speak for themselves, with NAS alumni including Reg Mombassa, Margaret Olley​, Martin Sharp and John Olsen.

A curated exhibition of work by recent graduates will be accompanied by a panel in which three of the exhibited artists talk about their experience at NAS and building a professional career in art.