40+ years, 40+ stories

Established in 1983 as the Newcastle Community Arts Centre (NCAC), Newcastle Art Space (NAS) is a vital contributor to the rich cultural life of Newcastle and the Hunter. For more than 40 years we have worked to facilitate, showcase and develop creativity across a spectrum of arts activity. Prior to our current location within the leafy campus of the Newcastle TAFE NSW Campus, our organisation was first established in the old Teachers’ College premises at the corner of Union Street and Parkway Avenue, Cooks Hill. It later relocated to the old St Aloysius Catholic Girls School building on Parry Street in Newcastle West which was purchased by Newcastle City Council as a bicentennial gift for the community to utilise as a Community Arts Centre in 1988. During this period the Community Arts Centre provided spaces for many artists, and facilities for arts organisations including artist studios, a designated theatre, darkroom, workshop and casual access spaces. In 2000 a designated exhibition space was proposed by NCAC Director Catherine Croll, and a Gallery Committee was formed to raise funds for the project. The first major initiative was an art auction. Artwork was donated by NCAC studio artists as well as many other artists from Newcastle and the Hunter region - including Fine Art lecturers from the University of Newcastle and the TAFE – all passionate about having an artist run space that would give emerging and established artists the opportunity to exhibit their work. The auction raised $17,000, allowing the NCAC to move forward and create Newcastle Art Space or NAS. Architect Brian Suters offered his expertise and designed the gallery space with an innovative moveable wall to give us an adaptable space. The construction of the gallery was carried out by Steve Thomas who donated his time, with help from the committee members and other NCAC tenants who painted walls and helped finalise the gallery for its opening in November 2000. In 2014 the City of Newcastle sold the Parry Street building to the Catholic Dioceses of Maitland-Newcastle, the NCAC negotiated a lease to stay until 2017. Newcastle Art Space then relocated to the O Block, an old painters and decorator’s shed on the TAFE NSW Newcastle Campus at Tighes Hill, where we continue to provide professional opportunities for emerging and established Hunter region artists.