At Sydney College of the Arts, our galleries feature a vibrant program of exhibitions showcasing the work of Australian and international artists, designers, staff, students, and alumni.
Entry is completely free, and no booking is required. Discover our calendar of exhibitions below.
Curated by Cherine Fahd and Julie Rrap
Exhibition dates: Thursday, 5 March - Saturday, 11 April.
Please note that the exhibition will be closed on Saturday, 4 April.
SwitchÌýis an exhibition in which five artists and five writers collaborate by stepping into unfamiliar modes of practice. Artists write; writers make art. This displacement is intended to test what happens when practice is loosened from its usual forms. From this starting point, each pair develops their work through ongoing response: writing, making, or shifting approach as their dialogue unfolds.
In form, SwitchÌýdraws on the text-to-image logic of AI, replacing automated precision with slow, human interpretation. Together, the new works form an interconnected body in which language and image continually unsettle and reframe one another.
The exhibition brings together Debra Phillips and Anthony Gardner, Patrick Pound and Daniel Palmer, Julie Rrap and Anne Marsh, Cherine Fahd and George Alexander, and Karla Dickens and Daniel Browning, each recognised for their distinct contributions to Australian art and scholarship. By working beyond established roles, the project allows expertise to become unstable, opening space for doubt, risk, and new forms of attention.
Artists: Debra Phillips & Anthony Gardner; Patrick Pound & Daniel Palmer; Julie Rrap & Anne Marsh; Cherine Fahd & George Alexander; Karla Dickens & Daniel Browning.Ìý
George Alexander, Trying to lay down two temporalities. Sent from to Cherine Fahd for Switch. Pencil on paper, 2026.
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LinkCurated by Liam Garstang and Alex GawronskiÌý
Exhibition opening: Wednesday, 6 May, 6-8pm
Exhibition dates: 7 May - 13 June
Everything that exists is determined by its dimensionality. Everything has scale from the pyramids to the proverbial grain of sand, from a Richard Serra slab to a Bethan Huws coracle comprised of a single length of grass. Discrepancies between scales are usually ignored in our daily lives as everything we do is typically immured within predictable routines.
The question of dimension is not simply determined by macro/micro polarities either. The scale of something is also fundamentally a question of value. Typically, in our overwhelmingly capitalist culture, that which occupies most space is considered most valuable and important.
Nor is the dimension of something necessarily determined by its visibility. ÌýAn aroma, sound or action, is proportional. Whether something smells or sounds very good or very bad cause that smell or sound to occupy space in undeniable ways.
This exhibition focuses on the myriad implications of dimension and scale. It brings together a diversity of perspectives from the global to the parochial, the monumental to the miniscule, the unmissable to the frequently disregarded.
´¡°ù³Ù¾±²õ³Ù²õ:ÌýHany Armanious, Dean Cross, Alex Gawronski, Newell Harry, Biljana Jancic, Anna John, Andrew Lavery, Michelle Nikou, Jacky Redgate, Tina Stefanou
Read full exhibition statement hereÌý(pdf, 40KB)
Michelle Nikou, Space Sailor, 2021. Black cotton jacket, bronze casting 6 x 86 x 79 cm (variable)
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LinkThe SCA Alumni Fauvette Loureiro Memorial ScholarshipÌýis open now toÌýallÌýSydney College of the Arts alumni across two categories:
Drawing from the wealth of talent from SCA graduates, the Fauvette Scholarships have cemented a strong reputation for quality in contemporary art. The recipients and finalists include some of the most prominent contemporary artists in Australia.ÌýThese scholarships aim to support Sydney College of Arts (SCA) graduates to pursue a program of professional development through travel.
Applications Close: ÌýMonday 18 May 2026,Ìý5pm
Finalist Notification:ÌýLate June/Early July, 2026
Recipient Announcement: Wednesday 7 October 2026
Finalist Exhibition: 8 OctoberÌý– 7 November 2026, 6pmÌý–Ìý8pm
Further Queries: sca.enquiries@sydney.edu.au
Exhibition opening: Wednesday, 3 December 2025,Ìý6-9pm
Exhibition dates:Ìý4 December - 13 DecemberÌý
At the end of each academic year, we celebrate our graduating cohort and the culmination of their collective research and practice-based outcomes. We invite you to visit us at the Old Teachers' College to enjoy the work of our students.
The works of more than 100 graduates will be on display from our studio areas including screen arts, photography, painting, print media, sculpture, ceramics, glass, jewellery and object.
In parallel with the exhibition, an innovative online showcase of SCA New Contemporaries is available as a marker of our students' achievements.
Opening and Recipient Announcement:ÌýWednesday, 8 October,Ìý6pm – 8pmÌý
Exhibition:ÌýThursday, 9 October – Saturday, 8 November
TheÌýSCA Alumni Fauvette Loureiro Memorial ScholarshipsÌýsupport Sydney College of Arts graduates to pursue a program of professional development through travel.
Drawing from the wealth of talent from SCA graduates, the scholarships have cemented a strong reputation for quality in contemporary art. The recipients and finalists include some of the most prominent contemporary artists in Australia.Ìý
The judging panel for this year's SCA Alumni Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Scholarship includes Julie Rrap (SCA Co-Director), Talia Linz (Senior Curator, Artspace), and Marley Dawson (2023 Fauvette Recipient, Mid-Career/Established).
2025 Recipients:
Jesse Hogan (Mid-Career/Established, $30,000)
Kate McGuinness (Emerging, $10,000)
Mid-Career/EstablishedÌýFinalists:Ìý
Barbara Campbell, Cybele Cox, Jesse Hogan, Lucas Davidson, Tim Silver
EmergingÌýFinalists:
Jennifer van Ratingen, Kate McGuinness, Remi Siciliano, SophieÌýPenkethman-Young
Tully Arnot, 'Epiphytes' (detail), 2022. Multi-sensory virtual reality artwork. Created for the Mordant Family VR Commission, a partnership between ACMI and the Mordant Family.
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LinkCurated by Robyn Backen and John TonkinÌý
Exhibition opening: Wednesday, 6 August, 6-8pm
Exhibition dates: 7 August - 6 SeptemberÌý
What Lies Beneath, curated by collaborative team Robyn Backen and John Tonkin, showcases works that engage with physical and virtual spaces. The exhibition addresses renewed interest in the concept of immersion and technologies such as VR by focusing on artists who have long explored immersive experiences through a range of practices.ÌýWhat Lies BeneathÌýengages with perception and brings attention to acts of seeing, listening and moving the body. Spoken language and the recollection of memory are other common elements. The audience is encouraged to wander both physically and virtually through different multisensory somatic spaces imagined by seven Australian artists.
Artists: Ben Joseph Andrews & Emma Roberts, Tully Arnot, Robyn Backen, Denis Beaubois, Gail Priest and John Tonkin.
Curated byÌýStuartÌýBailey
Exhibition opening: Wednesday, 7 May, 6pm - 8pm
Exhibition dates: 8 May - 7 June, 2025
Malevolent Strains is inspired by the strident approach of extreme music genres such as Black Metal, Grindcore, Death Metal, Doom and Thrash. The exhibiting artists reflect on the music, performance tropes and visual language of these subcultures from the perspective of fans.
Rage, frustration, terror, hopelessness and melancholy have renewed relevance in the contemporary moment, yet the messages embodied in these genres can be cloaked, full of irony, or even denied. Artworks in Malevolent Strains tackle the breadth and complexity of expression in extreme music as well as its social and political resonance through images, objects and, importantly, a schedule of live performance.
´¡°ù³Ù¾±²õ³Ù²õ:ÌýJoschua Yesni Arnaut, Justin Andrews, Stuart Bailey, Andriana Carney, MarcoÌýFusinato, Tony Garifalakis, Bridget Stehli, Maya Stocks and Karina Utomo
Curated by Liam Garstang
Exhibition Dates: 13 March - 12 April 2025
Curated by Liam Garstang and featuring the work of SCA staff and alumni,ÌýDreamzÌýinvites you to navigate a conceptual and spatial labyrinth, which blurs realities and fantasies, revealing intricate dreamscapes.
Artists: Lionel Bawden, Liam Garstang, David Haines, Jan Guy, Madeleine Kelly, Audrey Newton, Julie Rrap, Tim Silver and Justin Trendall.
Read the catalogue essay (pdf, 140KB)
Black boxes and InterlopersÌýby Alanna Irwin
Lionel Bawden, Fantasy Disorder (Isle Of The Little Death), 2014. Single bed mattress, foam, polyurethane, resin, acrylic paint, wood, lichen, epoxy, 60 x 92 x 180cm. Photo: Michael Myers. Courtesy the artist and Artereal Gallery, Sydney.
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Banner image: Kate McGuinness,ÌýNorth Land,Ìý2025. SCA Alumni Fauvette Loureiro Memorial Scholarship 2025 (Emerging Category Recipient). Photo: Document Photography. Courtesy: Sydney College of the Arts, The University of Sydney.Ìý
Phone: +61 2 8627 8965
Email: sca.gallery@sydney.edu.au
Address: Old Teachers College
The University of Sydney, NSW, 2006
