Blacktown Art Prize

The Blacktown City Art Prize celebrated 20 years this year. Nepean Arts and Design Centre is thrilled that the exhibition included six of our current students- well done to:
Ann Babinard, Annette Bukovinsky, Justin Bishop, Napit Junmanee, Rebecca Kutnjak, Gloria McGrath, on their inclusion in this high standard exhibition.

The show also includes 6 NADC alumni: Linda Brescia, Jody Graham, Negin Chahoud, Jennifer Gabbay, Bron Newman, Mandy Schoner-Salter. Congratulations to all- we are very proud of you!

You still have until January 31, 2016 to see this vibrant show. You can find more details here:
 http://www.blacktown.nsw.gov.au/Discover_Blacktown/Venues_and_Facilities/Arts_Centre/Whats_On/2015/September/2015_Blacktown_City_Art_Prize

 If you would like to study visual art with the Best in the West, and start participating in the visual arts industry, visit our webpage, and find out more about the courses on offer at Nepean Arts and Design Centre in 2016.

http://wsi.tafensw.edu.au/courses-and-careers/visual-arts/

Enrol now in the Bachelor of Visual Arts

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The Bachelor of Visual Arts is a partnership program with Federation University. This means that students have the opportunity to study at Degree level at NADC, however the program is administered and issued by Federation University.

You can read more about the Federation University Bachelor of Visual Arts program here.

Did you know our  Diploma and Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts programs at NADC give you direct entry into the BVA?

NADC has an innovative pathways program to the Bachelor of Visual Arts, that allows candidates to achieve three qualifications over the course of three and a half years of full-time study, with an exit point at the conclusion of each qualification.

 If you hold the entry qualifications (the pink ones in the diagram above) you can submit your application to Fed Uni  straight away at the following link! For location of study please select Western Sydney Institute.

https://apply.federation.edu.au/

If you are at the beginning of your post-secondary study in visual arts, then your first step to your degree is to enrol in and complete the Diploma of Visual Arts at NADC and/ or the Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts.

 Please attend one of our information and enrolment sessions in January to gain entry into the Diploma of Visual Arts, and the Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts. You will need to bring a folio of 6-10 artworks you have made. 

 The info/ enrolment sessions are being held on January 20, and January 27, from 1pm-4pm.

 Location: Nepean College, Kingswood Campus, in Building P, Ground floor, Room 53. 

You can get info on how to find us here:
http://wsifineart.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/how-to-find-nepean-arts-and-design.html

 Meanwhile you can start your application online here:
http://wsi.tafensw.edu.au/courses-and-careers/visual-arts/

Here's to a creative 2016!

Confluence - Advanced Diploma exhibition

Students of Nepean Art and Design Centre at Kingswood TAFE have had a busy year honing their artistic talent in the Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts course and the results of their efforts will be unveiled at their end of year exhibition opening at the Trapezium Gallery on Wed November 4^th 2015 at 6pm.

Confluence is the culmination of two years' study across the art mediums of drawing, painting, photography, ceramics and printmaking - students have refined their skills and revealed their talents under the guidance of teachers and look forward to showing their major works - a nerve wracking but very necessary process on the road to professional artmaking, and entry to Bachelor of Visual Arts at NADC in 2016.

The exhibition will be opened by Paul Brinkman, Director - Blue Mountains Cultural Centre / Blue Mountains Theatre & Community Hub, and light refreshments and drinks are complimentary. 

(click to enlarge)

Exhibition dates: 30/10 – 11/11

Gallery hours: 9am-4pm weekdays

Opening night: Wed November 4^th, 6pm

Trapezium Gallery, P Block

TAFE NSW – Western Sydney Institute,

Nepean College (Kingswood Campus)

12 - 44 O’Connell St Kingswood - enter via gate 2

enq ph. 92089484

15 Degrees: an exhibition of works by students from the Bachelor of Visual Arts at Nepean Arts and Design Centre

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The final Arts Forum for the term  at NADC will be held on Wednesday, September 16 in the Trapezium Gallery. The Arts Forum will be a floor talk and an opening for the impressive current Trapezium Gallery show, 15 Degrees - works in progress by Bachelor of Visual Arts students at Nepean Arts and Design Centre.

 A sumptuous array of food will be served from 12.30pm, with the talk commencing as usual at 1pm (and running until 2pm).

Our special guest is Rilka Oakley, who is a curator at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre. Rilka will be in conversation with our BVA students about their work in the exhibition.

We do hope you can join us, to celebrate the achievements so far of our inaugural Bachelor of Visual Arts students, and appreciate the potential of their work yet to come.


The Bachelor of Visual Arts is a partnership program with Federation University. This means that students have the opportunity to continue their studies at Degree level at NADC, however the program is administered and issued by Federation University.
You can read more about the Federation University Bachelor of Visual Arts program here.

NADC has an innovative pathways program to the Bachelor of Visual Arts, that allows candidates to achieve three qualifications over the course of three and a half years of full-time study, with an exit point at the conclusion of each qualification.

NADC staff will be available to provide information at 2pm (after the Arts Forum) on the Bachelor of Visual Arts program, or call the section on ph 9208 9484 for further information.

If you hold the entry qualifications (the pink ones in the diagram above) you can submit your application to Fed Uni  straight away at the following link! For location of study please select Western Sydney Institute.

https://apply.federation.edu.au/

Emma creates her future

Emma Sputnik

 

 

Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts student Emma Sputnik is using her creative skills to create the kind of community she wants to live in. Emma was recently a finalist for the Camden and Wollondilly Small Business Awards, for her work in establishing the Picton Creative Traders Markets. This thriving local market for hand-made products is contributing to the local economy and providing income streams for local creatives.

This is what Emma has to say about how her studies at Nepean Arts and Design Centre have helped her achieve her goals:

"As a creative person, studying at visual arts at Nepean Arts and Design Centre, at TAFE's Western Sydney Institute has been instrumental to my career path as an events co-ordinator and emerging artist. From a humble beginning as a supermarket checkout operator, studying at a higher level has given me access to priceless skills, and knowledge without which I would have never found my current career path.

For all the skills acquired at TAFE, the most unseen aspect would be the generosity of teachers who tirelessly share their time, knowledge and personal  resources to inspire the hungry minds of students. The life long friendships and professional relationships forged through learning, combined with state of the art resources to practice technical skills make TAFE a priceless experience. I look forward to completing my Advanced Diploma at Nepean Arts and Design Centre this year, and can't wait to get stuck into the  Bachelor of Visual Arts degree next year!"

To find out more about the markets, which are also the site of another one of Emma's initiatives,  'The Universe' pop -up art gallery, visit the Picton Creative Traders Markets facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/pictonmarkets

"Illuminative" lights up the Trapezium Gallery!

Image by Sarah Emerson, Diploma of Visual Arts. Click for a larger image.

Diploma of Visual Arts  students are exhibiting their work in the Trapezium Gallery, Nepean Arts and Design Centre at WSI.

The ‘Illuminative’ exhibition features drawing, photography and ceramics work by full time and part time students currently enrolled in the Diploma of Visual Arts. The exhibition marks the mid-point of the student's course, and is a stunning record of how much they have achieved.

 Dr Leanne Hall, Director of the Penrith Regional Gallery &The Lewers Bequest, will open the exhibition at 12 noon on Thursday the 18^th of June 2015. Light refreshments will be served. Past students, friends and the public are welcome to attend.

There will be an opportunity to purchase student works at the exhibition.

Cath Barcan, Head Teacher of Visual Arts at NADC said the exhibition is a fantastic showcase of how much the students have achieved in such a short time, especially across a range of disciplines. I never cease to be surprised at the creativity and originality of our students.”

Many of the students live in the Blue Mountains area and represent the diversity of the community. Liz Smith from Lawson is taking a gap year from her career in community development work to pursue her love of art. She says “it’s never too late to go after your dreams and achieve your lifelong ambitions”.

This is great chance for the public to visit the exhibition and view or purchase the work of emerging local artists.

Directions on how to find NADC can be found below:
http://wsifineart.blogspot.com.au/2011/06/how-to-find-nepean-arts-and-design.html

Differences- an exhibition of graduating students from the Diploma of Visual Arts

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All are welcome to the opening event on Wednesday May 20, 6pm for 'Differences', an exhibition by graduating students from the Diploma of Visual Arts.We hope you can join us to support these talented artists.

Me, Myself and I - 101 self-portraits from our 2014 show

Thanks to all who came along to the closing of our final Me, Myself and I show the other night. Along with the closing of the show we launched our latest book, with images drawn from the 2014 show. The book is available to purchase from Blurb.com, and is printed 'on demand'. This means the books are only printed as ordered, and we do not make a profit - what you see is the cost price. The hardcover version is approx $64 (inc GST) - the softcover version (available shortly) will be approx $53 (inc GST) Getting together and ordering with a few friends may help you save on shipping, and if you keep your eye out Blurb offers regular discount codes. See below for a preview, and a link to purchase, or use this link to go directly to Blurb. The ebook will be available shortly - we've had a technical glitch with one of the pages and the cover and are working to resolve it. The good news is the ebook will be FREE!

http://www.blurb.com/b/6157032-me-myself-i-2014

Me, Myself, & i 2014 by NADC | Make Your Own Book

Stephen Hall's residency in Taiwan

Bachelor of Visual Arts lecturer Stephen Hall has recently returned from an art residency in Taiwan. Here is a local television story of his visit, plus a report from Stephen himself below.

Yunlin County is a coffee bean and oyster/seafood producing region in Taiwan that is trying to boost the community's art and cultural knowledge and experience. One way is the annual exhibition "Yunlin Art Together" showing the work of Taiwanese artists along side international artists, this time from Japan, China, Malaysia, Korea, Australia, USA and Spain. I was suggested to the organizers by a Taiwan/Australian artist I taught drawing years ago. Yunlin Cultural Department provided food and accommodation for nearly a week while the artists were taken around the county seeing sights and being introduced to various parts of the community. I was made one of two representatives for the International artists, which meant I had to make speeches and do presentations. This included being a guest speaker opening The Taiwan Artists Association exhibition, doing a half hour presentation about my work to 500 students and faculty members at the National Formosa University, and made a speech to school children.
I had requested to borrow a studio and go a week earlier to do some work, which I did and was lent the little disused studio in Taisi, a small remote oyster farming township where the TV segment is filmed. A newspaper article for a Taiwan Newspaper was also done about my stay and the work I was doing there. I have invitations to go back. I also met a Chinese artist who has given me an open invitation to go and stay and work in Beijing. All food for thought...

Me, Myself and I invitation

This year Me, Myself and I will have a closing event and book launch, join us to celebrate the final self-portrait show, and our 10th anniversary of this annual exhibition.

Me, Myself and I 10th anniversary - Entry Deadline extended

Thanks so much for all the entries that have come in for our final Me, Myself and I show. If you missed the deadline, or would like to submit additional work, the good news is that additional entries will be accepted up until Monday April 20th. If you're bringing work in on this day bring it straight to the gallery. If you drop it off during the holidays there will either be a box near the gallery entrance, or upstairs in (or outside) P1.50.

Remember all entries must be either A4 in size and portrait format (preferably on paper), or comprised of multiple A4 panels in portrait orientation taped together at the rear (and submitted folded to A4 size). This year we are encouraging all alumni to enter too, as it's going to be our final show!

Richard Curtis

Visual Arts Staff Show floor talks this Wednesday

The Visual Arts Staff Show is currently on display in the Trapezium Gallery until The 8th of April.
Join us on April 1 for an Easter Egg hunt round P Block, and or from 1pm-2pm in the Gallery itself for  floor talks by the artists.

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Jody Graham's exhibition

NADC Visual Arts graduate Jody Graham is having an exhibition of work at Lost Bear Gallery in Katoomba.

Sydney Drawn  is an exhibition of over 50 drawings inspired by Sydney Streets and buildings.

The exhibition opening is at at  2 - 4pm  on Saturday 7 March 2015, and will run until the 30th March 2015. Make sure you get along to see some of Jody's wonderful work.

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Start your Bachelor of Visual Arts this year- It's O Week this week!

 photo by Stuart Marshall

This is a call for any TAFE graduates who are interested in doing the Bachelor of Visual Arts starting 25th March 2015 at Nepean Arts and Design Centre. The BVA is a partnership program with Federation University. This means you study here at NADC, but your qualification is awarded by Fed Uni. If you hold a Diploma of Visual Arts, and an Advanced Diploma of Visual Arts, you may well  be eligible for direct entry into this course. If you hold these entry pre-requisites, you would complete your BVA in three semesters.

Offered in partnership with Federation University, the Degree is very hands-on with small classes and individual feedback from tutors, who are all established artists. The face to face contact is two days per week, (Wednesdays and Thursdays) . You will also do another 12 hours per week of your studio work in a studio space at TAFE or at your home studio, and therefore, the course is considered full-time.

We have an information session for the BAVA in Room P129, Nepean College at 11am on February 26. If you are successful, you can stay on for the course orientation at 1pm! If you think you might be interested phone Cath Barcan on 02 9208 9325 to book in, or email BVA co-ordinator Di Holdsworth at dianne.holdsworth@tafensw.edu.au