Newcastle Art Gallery

About the Gallery

Newcastle Art Gallery is the city’s major cultural institution for the visual arts. The Gallery offers access to art and culture through ambitious exhibitions and innovative programs. It is responsible for the curation and preservation of its nationally significant collection. The Gallery connects to diverse audiences locally and nationally, fostering a passion and curiosity for the visual arts.

Each year Newcastle Art Gallery presents 10 exhibitions that are structured around the rich cultural asset of the City’s collection. The Gallery has built a strong reputation for presenting nationally and internationally significant exhibitions.

Collection Strengths

Nationally recognised as the custodian of one of the finest public collections in Australia, Newcastle Art Gallery holds more than 7,000 works of art in its collection. The six main collecting areas of Ceramics, Painting, Photography, Prints & Drawings, Sculpture and Video & New Media include colonial and contemporary works from Australian and international artists.

On permanent display, visitors will discover Newcastle-born artist John Olsen’s ceiling painting ‘Sea sun of 5 bells (1964)’, as well as Brett Whiteley’s large sculptural work ‘Black Totem II (1993)’ situated out the front of the Gallery.

Programming Strengths

Newcastle Art Gallery presents over 250 programs and events across the year. Highlights include weekly free drop-in art classes for children, guided tours, school holiday programs, artist talks, as well as a monthly after-hours event Last Fridays.

The Gallery also presents bespoke events for each exhibition, as well as partnership events with local cultural organisations such as Catapult Dance, IGN Art Fair, Newcastle Music Festival and New Annual festival.

Exhibition Spaces

Newcastle Art Gallery has two main exhibition spaces, the Ground Floor (610m²) and the First Floor (670m²). Across the year an ever-changing program of exhibitions are presented across the two floors.

Newcastle Art Gallery’s outdoor Sculpture Garden is a place for visitors to relax and enjoy a selection of international and local artists’ sculptures in an outdoor setting. The garden has a total of seven sculptures from the collection by George Baldessin, Margel Hinder, Akio Makigawa, Clement Meadmore, Edward Milan, Vlase Nikoleski and Kathleen Shillam.