Newington Armory at Sydney Olympic Park is an extraordinary 52 hectare heritage-listed site dotted with over 100 historic buildings. Set on the southern banks of the Parramatta River and flanked to the east by Newington Nature Reserve, the former the Royal Australian Navy Armament Depot, Newington (RANAD) is currently being re-invented as a programmed cultural precinct focusing on the environment, history and the arts.
Artists at the Armory is a multi-discipline program providing a studio-based working environment that is available for weekly hires, licences of 3 to 12 months and residencies of 1-3 months. Nominal fees will be charged for short-term hirers and longer-term licensees, while invited artists-in-residence will have access to the facilities in return for participation in our programs.
Our shared studio spaces have been established with the disciplines of painting, sculpture, printmaking, ceramics and writing (in any literary or research genre) primarily in mind. Cross-disciplinary practice and other practices able to use facilities designed for these artforms are also welcome.
Building 24 was adapted for re-use in 2005, and is now an open plan visual arts facility comprising 19 studios (5 painting, 6 sculpture, 4 printmaking and 4 ceramics). The venue is equipped with work benches, seating, studio lighting, ventilation and exhaust infrastructure, clean up areas, easels, shelving and a variety of specialised fittings and equipment items including a kiln, an aquatint cupboard and a chemical workroom. Natural lighting to the facility has been enhanced by the careful adaptation of original doors and windows and the replacement of translucent skylights.
Buildings 50 (woodwork) and 233 (metalwork) are equipped with a range of manual and power tools including saws, drills, grinders, sanders and MIG and oxyacetylene welding equipment.
Supporting the studio and workshop facilities is the Building 126 cottage, now an artists’ common room, which includes kitchen facilities and an office with an internet connected computer and telephone. This facility enables artists to exchange ideas and information and provides a space for doing ‘desk work’. A writer’s studio is also available in Building 126.
Invited artists-in-residence are also able to apply to live at the Armory site during their residency in a well-equipped, refurbished 3 bedroom Federation cottage (Building 123).
An Access and Use Agreement will define the conditions under which the studio facilities will be made available to all artists, and the stated values of the Sydney Olympic Park Arts and Cultural Strategy will guide all decisions regarding the use and access of these facilities. Weekly hires can be booked for up to 4 consecutive weeks. Holders of longer term licences (3-12 months) will have the opportunity to apply for a licence renewal towards the end of their licence period.
Artists at the Armory is a continuous program. As a result, there are no application closing dates or set start and end dates for hires, licences or residencies. Simply download and complete an application form appropriate to your intended program and return it to the address on the form.
For more information please contact Tony Nesbitt, Manager – Arts Programming at arts@sydneyolympicpark.com.au or 02 9714 7110.
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Artist-in-Residence application (PDF 2MB)