Sydney

Sydney Arts

Sydney’s creative life stretches from professional stages and artist-led rehearsal rooms to pottery wheels, print presses, choir circles and hands-on workshops. You can watch new theatre at Walsh Bay, dance in a studio at Dawes Point, learn an instrument in the CBD or spend an afternoon making jewellery, textiles or ceramics. The city’s wider network also reaches the Northern Beaches, the North Shore, the Inner West and the eastern suburbs, giving makers, performers, students and audiences plenty of ways to take part.

Whether you are developing a practice, looking for a class, joining a group or finding support for a project, these organisations offer distinct ways into Sydney’s arts community. Check each provider’s current arrangements before attending, particularly where booking, eligibility or access conditions apply.

🎶 Music & Singing

Big Music

Big Music combines a music school with rehearsal, recording and performance facilities. Children and adults can learn guitar, bass, drums, piano or singing, join band programs and use music-production services. Its Crows Nest base brings lessons and collaborative playing together, making it suitable for learners who want to develop both individual skills and ensemble experience.

Contact: 85 Alexander St, Crows Nest NSW.

Sydney School of Music and Fine Arts

This Sydney CBD music school provides one-to-one and group tuition in piano, violin, cello, singing, guitar, woodwind, brass and music theory. Its teaching is available for children, HSC students and adults, so learners can pursue a first instrument, structured study or support alongside school and examination work.

Contact: Sydney CBD.

Sydney Conservatorium Open Academy

The Open Academy is the Sydney Conservatorium’s community music program, with courses, workshops and individual instrumental and voice lessons. Its Play at the Con lessons take place at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, offering community musicians a way to learn within a specialist music setting.

Contact: Sydney CBD.

Sydney Street Choir

Sydney Street Choir uses group singing and public performance to bring people together. Alongside its choir activity, the organisation runs the Sydney Street Choir Sing Out program, creating another setting for collective singing and participation.

Contact: Sydney.

Spirit of Sydney Chorus

Spirit of Sydney Chorus is a community choir of women based on Sydney’s North Shore. People interested in singing with the group can make an enquiry about its vocal and ensemble activities.

Contact: North Shore, Sydney.

🩰 Dance

Sydney Dance Company

Sydney Dance Company offers public in-studio classes in ballet, contemporary, hip hop, jazz, tap and other styles alongside its professional contemporary dance practice. Adult classes are for people aged 16 and over, with levels from beginner to advanced. Online booking is required for classes.

Contact: Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road, Dawes Point NSW 2000. Classes: 61 2 9258 4818. Box office and general enquiries: 61 2 9221 4811.

The One Dance Studio

The One Dance Studio teaches children and adults at Mascot and Chatswood, with classes in hip hop, choreography, K-pop, popping and jazz. Its two-location program gives dancers a choice of styles and settings, whether they are beginning with a popular dance form or developing choreography and performance skills.

Contact: G02/6 Galloway Street, Mascot NSW 2020. 0450 236 132.

ReadyMade Works

ReadyMade Works is an artist-led venue for independent dance. It supports the making and showing of work through subsidised rehearsal-studio hire, regular classes, workshops, artist residencies and performances. Dancers and choreographers can engage with both the practical development of work and the wider independent dance community.

Contact: Sydney.

🎭 Theatre & Performance

Sydney Theatre Company

Sydney Theatre Company is a professional theatre company presenting work at The Wharf and other Sydney venues. Its public-facing contacts include theatre, venue-hire and box-office services, so audiences can engage with productions while artists, organisations and event planners can enquire about the company’s venue facilities.

Contact: Wharf 4/5, 15 Hickson Road, Walsh Bay NSW 2000. Box office and ticket enquiries: 02 9250 1777. General enquiries: 02 9250 1700. Venue bookings: 02 8665 4414.

Belvoir

Belvoir offers theatre education workshops for primary and secondary school groups. Sessions can be delivered at Belvoir, at a school or online, and explore theatre-making, performance, design, writing and script analysis. The program connects classroom groups with several parts of the theatre-making process rather than performance alone.

Contact: Surry Hills, Sydney. Education enquiries: +61 (2) 8396 6241.

Shopfront Arts Co-op

Shopfront Arts Co-op runs youth arts workshops and ensembles in drama, film, singing and technical theatre for young people aged 8 to 17. No previous experience is required for its workshops, allowing participants to try performance and behind-the-scenes roles while working across several creative forms.

Contact: 86–88 Carlton Pde, Carlton NSW 2218. 02 9588 3948.

🎨 Craft & Making

Pine Street Creative Arts Centre

Run by the City of Sydney, Pine Street Creative Arts Centre offers workshops for adults, young people and children in ceramics, printmaking, jewellery, drawing and painting. Its facilities include ceramics, printmaking and silver-jewellery studios, bringing practical materials and specialist spaces together in Chippendale.

Contact: 64 Pine Street, Chippendale NSW 2008. 02 9265 9333.

The Pottery Shed

The Pottery Shed teaches hand-building, wheel throwing, glazing and surface decoration through classes and workshops. Beginner, intermediate and advanced makers are catered for, with private sessions available for adults and children. The Surry Hills studio suits people wanting to build confidence with clay or concentrate on a particular ceramic process.

Contact: 656 Crown Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010.

Print Paint Pot

Print Paint Pot runs pottery classes and private group workshops in its Artarmon studio spaces. Sessions include wheel work and hand-building, giving participants two different approaches to shaping clay and making functional or sculptural pieces.

Contact: 4/53 Dickson Avenue, Artarmon NSW 2064.

Clae Works

Clae Works is a community clay studio in Sydney’s Northern Beaches, offering pottery classes, memberships, private lessons, children’s classes and visiting-artist workshops. It also provides kiln firings and a glaze lab, supporting makers who need access to ceramic finishing and firing facilities as well as teaching.

Contact: Northern Beaches, Sydney.

SquarePeg Studios

SquarePeg Studios is a jewellery and metalsmithing school with artists’ studios. Its long-form courses run from beginner to advanced, while specialist workshops allow makers to focus on particular jewellery skills and techniques in a dedicated metals environment.

Contact: Sydney.

Sydney Creative

Sydney Creative runs beginner-friendly workshops in sewing, painting, jewellery-making, candle-making and home fragrance. Classes take place at its Redfern studio and include materials and equipment, so participants can concentrate on learning processes and making a finished object during the session.

Contact: 140 Regent St, Redfern NSW 2016.

🖌️ Visual Art, Printmaking & Digital Making

The Making Centre, UNSW School of Art & Design

The Making Centre at UNSW provides workshops and studios for textiles, jewellery, ceramics, metal, wood, printmaking, visual media and digital fabrication. Its facilities support a broad range of material and digital practices, with access arrangements managed through the university’s Making Centre.

Contact: Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd, Paddington NSW 2021.

Willoughby Arts Centre

Willoughby Arts Centre teaches traditional and experimental printmaking through courses and workshops. Professional printing presses are available to students, giving participants the opportunity to work with printmaking equipment while developing techniques in a structured arts-centre setting.

Contact: Willoughby, Sydney.

Jenny Robinson Print Studio

Led by master printmaker Jenny Robinson, this open-access print atelier focuses on printmaking techniques and large-format press work. The studio also offers workshops and residencies for professional printmakers, providing a setting for artists to extend their practice and work at a larger scale.

Contact: Sydney.

The Print Room

The Print Room is a screen-printing and dyeing studio offering custom print runs, hands-on workshops for all ages, shibori work, mobile live-event printing and independent studio hire. It brings together commissioned production and practical participation, with options for individuals, groups and creative projects.

Contact: Sydney.

Sydney Art School

Sydney Art School teaches printmaking for beginner and intermediate learners at its Hornsby and Baulkham Hills locations. Courses cover relief and intaglio approaches, including monoprints, drypoint, collagraphs and non-acid etching, giving students a varied introduction to plate, surface and print processes.

Contact: 63 Hunter St, Hornsby NSW 2077. 1300 278 252.

📚 Writing, Screen & Arts Development

Writing NSW

Writing NSW supports writers from aspiring to established stages through courses, seminars, workshops, writing groups and mentorships. It also offers manuscript assessments, information and advice, allowing writers to seek practical feedback, build skills and connect with other people working with words.

Contact: Sydney and NSW.

Sydney Writers' Festival

Sydney Writers’ Festival is a literary producer with year-round events and education programs. Its student sessions at Carriageworks include craft-of-writing discussions for Years 11 and 12, connecting young writers with conversations about developing literary work.

Contact: Sydney.

Screen NSW

Screen NSW is the NSW Government screen agency supporting screen practitioners and crew development. Its Attachment Register connects emerging and mid-career screen practitioners with productions, while its crew program provides training and placements for eligible applicants. These programs are designed for people building screen experience and professional connections.

Contact: Sydney and NSW.

Performing Lines

Performing Lines works with independent artists from concept through to premiere and touring. Its Sydney office supports artist and producer development initiatives, including NSW-focused programs, giving independent practitioners a producer-led context for developing and presenting performing-arts work.

Contact: Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh NSW 2015. 02-9319-0066.

Sydney’s creative choices are practical as well as presentational: sing with a community choir, develop a dance vocabulary, learn to throw clay, pull a print, write with guided feedback or build a project with professional support. Audiences can also follow the work of companies and artist-led organisations while makers and performers find spaces to practise, collaborate and share.

If you are a local artist, maker, teacher, company, group, creative business or arts-support provider, you are warmly invited to add or update your listing so Sydney’s changing creative activity is easier for people to discover.

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