The Lock-Up is a public art gallery in

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle, also commonly referred to as Greater Newcastle ( ; ), is a large Metropolitan area, metropolitan area and the second-most-populous such area of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the cities of City of Newcastle, Newcastle and Ci ...

, Australia. The gallery is located in a former police station and holding cells, which is listed on the

New South Wales State Heritage Register The New South Wales State Heritage Register, also known as NSW State Heritage Register, is a heritage list of places in the state of New South Wales, Australia, that are protected by New South Wales legislation, generally covered by the Heritag ...

History

From 1861 until 1982, the building used for The Lock-Up operated as a

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

and

holding cell A prison cell (also known as a jail cell) is a small room in a prison or police station where a prisoner is held. Cells greatly vary by their furnishings, hygienic services, and cleanliness, both across countries and based on the level of punishm ...

s for short-term prisoners. After the police station closed, the site became the Hunter Heritage Centre in 1988, which included a museum and an art gallery. The space was re-launched as The Lock-Up in September 2014, as a dedicated multidisciplinary contemporary art gallery. The building is listed on the

Description and governance

The exhibition spaces include several cells, a padded cell, an indoor exercise yard for prisoners, and a considerable amount of

graffiti Graffiti (singular ''graffiti'', or ''graffito'' only in graffiti archeology) is writing or drawings made on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from simple written "monikers" to elabor ...

created by prisoners, all of which have been maintained in their original form following its conversion into an art gallery. The Lock-Up is a not-for-profit independent gallery. The gallery receives around $150,000 funding a year from

Create NSW Create NSW is a government agency of the Government of New South Wales, that falls within the Enterprise, Investment and Trade cluster. The agency was created on 1 April 2017 from an amalgamation of Arts NSW (ANSW) and Screen NSW. Create NSW i ...

, and receives additional support from a patrons program. In 2023, they received a $400,000 grant from

Creative Australia Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announc ...

, with funds to be provided over four years beginning in 2025. Funds are also raised via an annual exhibition titled Collect. Alexandra Pedley is director of The Lock-Up.

Exhibitions and programs

The gallery typically runs about six or seven shows a year, usually with original installations, and also supports an artist-in-residence program. Art at the gallery has often been social and criminal justice themed, including on issues such as the

climate crisis ''Climate crisis'' is a term that is used to describe global warming and climate change and their effects. This term and the term ''climate emergency'' have been used to emphasize the threat of global warming to Earth's natural environment an ...

and the

Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was a royal commission announced in November 2012 and established in 2013 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and repo ...

. Performative exhibitions have featured at the gallery, including one which incorporated the original graffiti by exploring the characters of "Sue and Dyan", whose names are carved into the walls of one of the cells. Their 2018 exhibition, justiceINjustice, a collaboration between artists and lawyers which focused on

miscarriage of justice A miscarriage of justice occurs when an unfair outcome occurs in a criminal or civil proceeding, such as the conviction and punishment of a person for a crime they did not commit. Miscarriages are also known as wrongful convictions. Innocent ...

, won an IMAGinE award from the Museums and Galleries of NSW. Then director Jessi England also received the IMAGinE award for best director that same year. Notable artists exhibited at The Lock-Up include

Blak Douglas __NOTOC__ Blak Douglas, formerly known as Adam Douglas Hill, is an Aboriginal Australian artist and musician. he is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Early life and education He is a Dhungatti man, with Irish, Scots, English, and German anc ...

, and

Khaled Sabsabi Khaled Sabsabi (born 1965) is a Lebanese Australians, Lebanese-born Australian artist based in Sydney, especially known for his video installations. His work, executed in many different media, often incorporates themes of Islam and Arab identi ...

, who was artist-in-residence and displayed work at the gallery from September to November 2024.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lock-Up, The 2014 establishments in Australia Art museums and galleries established in 2014 Art museums and galleries in New South Wales Buildings and structures in Newcastle, New South Wales Contemporary art galleries in Australia Defunct police stations in New South Wales Tourist attractions in Newcastle, New South Wales