City of Newcastle will transform Laman Street into a temporary sculpture park and street party on Friday 27 February to celebrate the once-in-a-lifetime expansion of the Newcastle Art Gallery.
The Gallery will take art to the street for one night only as it kicks off a three-day celebration of the reopening, and the launch of its major exhibition Iconic Loved Unexpected on 28 February.
Exterior of the expanded Newcastle Art Gallery building at First Night First Look event, 26 September 2025. Photo: Lachlan Matheson.
CEO Jeremy Bath said the reopening of Newcastle Art Gallery represents a landmark moment for City of Newcastle and the city's cultural landscape.
"This will mark the completion of the largest capital works project and most significant commitment to cultural infrastructure in City of Newcastle's history, a feat achieved on the back of more than 16 years of fundraising and perseverance," Mr Bath said.
"Featuring a total of 13 galleries and an additional 1,600 square metres of exhibition space, the Gallery will be the largest public art institution in New South Wales outside Sydney.
"We are proud to have supported Newcastle Art Gallery to become a striking celebration of art for our city, state and country, and a fitting home for our nationally significant $145 million collection.
"We look forward to welcoming the community into the expanded Gallery next February as we launch a new era of cultural tourism in Newcastle."
The expansion sympathetically builds on the original Gallery's brutalist architecture to more than double its footprint on the corner of Laman and Darby streets.
It includes a secure international standard loading dock, a new café, retail shop, multi-purpose program space and learning studio.
Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton OAM said the redevelopment enables the Gallery to present long-term displays of its world-class permanent collection for the first time, alongside ambitious Australian and international exhibitions.
"February's full reopening will mark a transformative moment for the Gallery. With the expansion nearing completion, we are preparing to share more of our collection - one of the country's most significant public art collections - with a level of ambition and visibility that reflects its importance," Ms Morton said.
"The reimagined Gallery allows us to present more of our works, collaborate with leading artists nationwide and host major Australian and international exhibitions that were previously beyond our reach.
"Iconic, Loved, Unexpected has been curated to celebrate this milestone and to signal what comes next. As we open our doors on 28 February 2026, we look forward to welcoming visitors from across Australia and abroad into this exciting new chapter."
Celebrations for the reopening commence on Friday 27 February with Friday Night Sounds, a free after-hours street party that will transform Laman Street into a temporary sculpture park created by local artists from the Gallery's collection. The precinct will come alive with interactive family spaces, roving performances, live music and DJs, food trucks, a pop-up bar and lighting installations. Inside, visitors will have the opportunity to preview the Iconic, Loved, Unexpected exhibition through a series of events activating the gallery spaces.
The opening weekend will also feature a dynamic program of artist talks, a collaborative community artmaking project and live performances spanning music, dance, poetry and performance art, offering an immersive and celebratory welcome into the new building.
The Iconic, Loved, Unexpected exhibition will span two levels of the gallery, bringing together icons, favourites and unexpected gems, including never-before and rarely seen works.
More than 500 works by local, national and international artists from the early nineteenth century to today will be showcased, including artists with strong local ties such as Joseph Lycett, William Dobell, Margaret Olley, John Olsen, Nell and Lottie Consalvo; leading First Nations artists Emily Kam Kngwarray, Sally Gabori, Tracey Moffatt, Archie Moore and Albert Namatjira; and global figures from Auguste Rodin to avant-garde ceramicist Kazuo Yagi.
Visit https://newcastleartgallery.nsw.gov.au/ to stay up to date with the Newcastle Art Gallery expansion project and full reopening program.
The expansion project is supported by $5 million from the Australian Government under the Regional Recovery Partnerships and $5 million from the New South Wales Government under the Regional Recovery Package, as well as $12.5 million from the Newcastle Art Gallery Foundation made possible through the Valerie and John Ryan bequest, Margaret Olley Trust, and community fundraising over many years. A further $500,000 is currently being sought through the Foundation's public fundraising campaign.
