A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald reports that the National Art School has fought off a ‘secret bid’ by Western Sydney University ‘… to take over the National Art School’s heritage site and management in order to broaden its course offerings in the fine arts and develop a beachhead in the inner-city’.
NAS has been subject to uncertainty over the past couple of years with concerns about continuation of its location and mergers with Sydney College of the Arts and UNSW being mooted in 2016. The NSW Arts Minister, Don Harwin, has finally laid this speculation to rest by confirming that “an independent NAS continues to be the best way forward” and announcing a call for directors for the NAS Board to “to work alongside the government to achieve the school’s ambitions and secure its long-term future through the development and implementation of commercial, academic and philanthropic strategies”.