Kerrie Coles

The History of Newcastle Art Space – NAS

Extract from the publication – Artists and Artisans

The Community Arts Centre - Andrew Finnie Pub. 2016

In 1999 I had the privilege of working with Catherine Croll, the Director of the Community Arts Centre, and I was fortunate to also rent studio 25 at the Centre. This gave me the opportunity to pursue my own artistic career and to be a part of the very diverse artistic community who were renting studio spaces at the Centre. Kate had a wonderful vision for the Centre. Having already created a theatre space, The Blackbox Theatre, she wanted to begin a new project - the creation of an artist run gallery. I was given the responsibility of making this happen. The Theatre had multiple uses but was not suitable for exhibiting artworks.

A Gallery Committee was formed in 2000 and it set about devising ways to raise funds for the project. The first Gallery Committee members were all tenants, or spouses of tenants, of the NCAC: Lili-Ann Berg, Trish King, Braddon & Shelly Snape, Helen Thomas & Steve Thomas, Fiona Dewis and myself, a dedicated group who volunteered their time and expertise.

The first major initiative was an art auction. This was a marvellous event in which all moneys raised were to go to the building fund for the gallery and, as a result, many Newcastle artists generously donated their works to be auctioned. Many of the artists donating works had studios at the NCAC but donations also came from artists in and around Newcastle and the Hunter Valley - Fine Art lecturers from the University and the TAFE as well as artists from the broader community.

The artists were all passionate about having an artist run space within the NCAC that would give emerging and established artists the opportunity to exhibit their works. The auction raised an astounding $17,000.00, a sum that allowed the NCAC to move forward and create NAS - the Newcastle Art Space Gallery.

The 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. The committee members and other tenants of the NCAC all worked together and gave a hand painting walls and helping in any way they could to get the gallery finished for its opening in November 2000. Because so many artists had contributed and helped to raise the funds, they had real ownership of it and saw it as a community asset and an important and integral part of the NCAC.

Having headed the Committee since its inception I became the inaugural Director of this new and important artist run gallery in Newcastle. NAS emerged because there was a real need for spaces where artists could submit a proposal to the Committee in the hope that they might have an exhibition in the gallery.

It was also important to the artistic community and the community as a whole. I remember a very young man, just out of High School, turning up to the gallery foyer one day and placing some works around for me to look at. He asked if I would consider him for an exhibition, and I said yes - his name was James Drinkwater. There have been so many others like James that have been given a leg-up by NAS and, in so doing, been given the confidence to go on and build a career as an artist.

The Newcastle Emerging Art Prize is a testament to all the hard work, fundraising and sponsorship in which the Newcastle Art Space Committee and the management of the Newcastle Community Arts Centre has been involved over the past 15yrs. I can only pay tribute to all the wonderful people who have been involved in the Gallery Committee over this time. It exists on a purely voluntary basis and it is constantly changing and being revitalised with new members who take over the roles and keep the gallery going.

It will be difficult to replace NAS, a gallery that the community raised the funds to create, and run by such competent and passionate volunteers. But I have every faith that a new and appropriate venue will be found in Newcastle and it will continue to go from strength to strength.