Adelaide Central School Of Art

Adelaide Central School of Art has such a brilliant reputation.
I am due to be a student there this year, and it is only due to their flexibility, helpfulness and access to FEE-​HELP (Hecs) that I am able to follow one of my primary passions — visual art.
I have tried to study at UniSA twice, but their inflexible study times and minimum workload requirements made it impossible. However, I decided that I really needed to have some direction in art and I’ve always wanted professional mentoring in traditional mediums including drawing and oil painting. ACSA provides that and even when I asked tentatively if they had any places left for the 2012 Bachelor course, they accepted me (Supposed to have applied in November 2011). The Receptionist was incredibly lovely, helpful and passionate about art and we talked about it for ages.
This is one of the only places that do night time classes and on the 6^th of Feb, I’ll be starting 7pm classes in drawing and oils.
This place is a safe haven for the artistically inclined.

This art school is one of just a handful of institutions offering accredited tertiary level Fine Art degrees available in South Australia. They also do a bunch of short courses and master classes.
The important thing to know is that Central School offers the most technical and traditional artistic training available in the state. By that I do not mean that there is no conceptual consideration, but simply that if you want to learn the core skills of painting and drawing this is the place for you. Perspective, technique and colour mixing are taught in detail as they aim to provide solid foundation skills for their students. Most of the lecturers are also practising artists which provides an additional level of understanding.
Traditionally this was a full fee paying institution so was reserved solely for well off students, however now the partnership with Flinders has changed that.

More than just an art school. Central, situated presently on Osmond Terrace in Norwood, but likely soon to move (as to where they apparently have not yet decided) houses both a gallery and an independently owned art supplies store.
The gallery is well respected in the South Australian contemporary art scene and shows the work of local and national artists throughout the year as well as hosting graduate exhibitions and group shows of emerging artists.
Until recently, the gallery was hosting an exhibition entitled «Flourish» featuring the work of Central’s instructors and former students. The next show on the calendar entitled «Emergence» will display the work of this years graduates. Although I have only seen a few examples of the work to be on show, it appears that there is certainly some talent this year and it will be well worth checking out.
As well as offering full length degree programmes, Central also offers a number of short courses and hosts interesting workshops from time to time. Prior to commencing my studies there, I took the painting short course which proved very useful in developing basic painting skills. The workshops are often directed at specific areas, and are often suited to more the experienced, whereas the short courses are often suited to begginers.
The full length of study at Central can prove to be very expensive, although, Central’s recent affiliation with Flinders University has now made HELP Loans available with respect to study fees.