National Art School

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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 and diverse history, the school now has gained independent status. However, this has not come without great commitment, protest, and controversy with many public and private disputes regarding the schools direction, status, rights and funding.

Remaining an institute focused on providing the three year course accompanying the bachelor of fine arts the school specialises in five key studios which include Painting, Printmaking, Photography, Sculpture and Ceramics. The school also offers a well respected program for both honours and masters of fine arts.

The school also boasts a prestigious Alumni of important figures in the history of Australian art, but also in many other fields, these include James Gleeson, Margaret Olley, Tim Storrier, John Coburn, Ken Done, Max Dupain, Fiona Hall, Alan Jones, Reg Mambossa, Wendy Sharpe, Jeffrey Smart, John Olson and Cressida Campbell.

One of the school's strongest features is its staff who 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 term 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. This trains their students in three areas with later opportunities for autonouse drawing (or self-directed) and also allows a strong base for the students to learn from in there desired disciplines. The school also believes in a strong understanding of art history as a key part of the degree believing that one must learn from the past to strive for the future. These are two key factors contributing to why the national art school offers a very different fine arts education compared with other institutes which deliver a similar degree. Although many also consider it the equivalent of a university, its logistics render it more similar to a school, with an intensive five day a week timetable which is driven by the pursuit of artistic exploration and excellence.