Choosing the right art school

The right art school sets you on a course not only to make art but leave your mark on history. NAS opens its doors to show potential students what that looks like.
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Photo Zan Wimberley

Finding work as an artist will never be easy. ‘You are not going to see the “Artist Wanted” listing in the job adverts any more now than 20 years ago,’ admits Simon Cooper, Head of Studies at the National Art School (NAS).

But that summary is not as dismal as it sounds. Cooper said the NAS is now setting students up to find work in a much broader variety of contexts than in the past.

Rather than simply feeding students from art school studios to commercial galleries, NAS prepares its students for complex and multi-faceted portfolio careers.

‘Today artists can work in the strangest places,’ said Cooper. ‘We know that those traditional monocultures are less sustainable, but in truth, we also know that our student numbers are growing and our research tells us that those students continue to engage with practice.

‘Increasingly graduates build their practice into other aspects that support a broad spectrum of careers and professional activities in the arts and beyond.’

Most art schools today work hard on assisting people into those professional contexts, using their sponsorship partnerships and their alumni to demonstrate pathways, in and outside of the studio.

 

Photo Zan Wimberley

The centrality of the studio

This year, the National Art School’s Open Day on Saturday, 3 September is focused around the theme ‘Mark Art Make History’.

The phrase captures the resilience, legacy and passion that sits behind the walls of this former Darlinghurst gaol, what Cooper has described as a ‘studio community’.

Sydney art schools have been under pressure from Government recently, but it is the diversity of each art school that is important in charting their futures.

‘What we offer at NAS is the centrality of studio practice both physically, because there is a great studio footprint and we have some great workshops, but also philosophically within the program,’ Cooper explained.

That continued faith in artists to make work in a studio under the direction of more experienced artists has remained core at NAS since its origins in 1843.

‘That is what is cool about Open Day – you get a sense of that this amazing creative microcosm right in the city. The walls provide you with that sense of community.’

Alumnus Reg Mombassa aka Chris O’Doherty, is known internationally for both his artistic and musical exploits, including his distinctive designs for surf wear brand Mambo and as the artist behind the iconic Sydney Olympic Games imagery. He developed a strong creative network at NAS that set him up for his later years.  Renowned Australian rockband Mental As Anything, which Reg heads up, was formed at NAS in the 1970s.

Mombassa told ArtsHub: ‘We are not all academic and programmed to thrive at universities, but NAS provides an incredible foundation. A lot of the students may not end up being professional artists but go on to other creative areas. That time is lasting and will always feed your practice.’

Reg Mombassa values his drawing classes at NAS; supplied

Mombassa admits he used to work at the kitchen table, but warns that it was a terrible idea. He says that the quality of studio space provided by the NAS is one of the great career boosters. ‘It’s obvious, but it is really very important that studio space.’

Twice winner of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize and NAS graduate (2006), Leslie Rice, stressed the importance of drawing, commenting : ‘The reason I was there – the reason I’d recommend it was drawing.

‘If you want to be a boxer you have got to do push ups, but if you want to be a painter or a ceramicist or a photographer our push ups are drawings, so at the National Art School you do a lot of push ups.’

 

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Does the glove fit?

Cooper believes that there are two things you should do if you are interested in going to an art school: check out the Open Day and the graduate shows.

‘You get to see how stuff happens and where it happens, like what does a second or third year studio look like – where would I work?

‘You can really start to see the way places are run and the culture of the place and the program. Does it feel right? They are not abstract concerns; they are core. It is very hard to answer that from collateral or websites,’ said Cooper.

Register for NAS Open Day program of studio visits, portfolio advice, art markets, exhibitions and more.

That three-year Bachelor of Visual Arts will be the most formative professional years that an artist will go through, where they will develop their networks and discover their métier.

‘The thing about the centrality of the studio is you are thinking through making, so in a way you are slowing down time a bit and you are actually working through a proposition in this material form, and then you start to engage others into that process and that takes a little getting used to.

‘Art is a slow cooker kind-of-thing that you can’t hurry. Students need time especially at the beginning of that journey,’ said Cooper.

NAS has high contact hours in their courses, and the staff to student ratio is high so people aren’t alone trying to work it out for themselves, explained Cooper. 

‘It also gives it that rigour that is required. It is a very full time, immersive experience, and we want to maintain that,’ he added.

National Art School campus in Darlinghurst; Photo Christopher Philips

Make Art Make History

From Margaret Olley AC to last year’s representative of the Venice Biennale, Fiona Hall AO, NAS’s alumni is an impressive list of renowned and celebrated Australian artists and also includes key figures such as Sir William Dobell OBE, Ken Done AM, Max Dupain AC OBE, Reg Mombassa, John Olsen AO OBE to name a few.

NAS believes artists are the true storytellers of our times, as stated in their Open Day campaign, ‘You might not live forever, but you can create something that will.’

Cooper said that the history – that lineage and legacy – is vital to this art school.

‘It is important for us to engage with our alumni and our own history for the benefit of our students now so they can feel they are connected to a continuum. It is not just a “feel good” story, but one in which they can realise they have a place in history.’

‘It’s not about being polite or subservient to some dusty tradition; they are actually picking up on the energy and the excitement of work that might have been made here in the ‘70s, ‘80s or ‘90s – good work is good work – and that is what we are about,’ concluded Cooper.

Visit National Art School’s Open Day on Saturday, 3 September from 10am-4pm.

NAS is located Forbes Street, Darlinghurst (NSW).

#MakeArtMakeHistory

Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina