USC Art Gallery is a space of exchange where artists, ideas and community come together. Located at USC Sunshine Coast campus, the Gallery presents exhibitions of contemporary art, delivers programs and educational activities, and is responsible for developing and caring for the USC Art Collection—the largest public collection of art in the region.
USC Art Gallery first operated from the ground floor of the award winning Paul Thomas Library designed by John Mainwaring and Associates. In 2004, a purpose built space designed by Noel Robinson Architects opened. Facing north-east onto a courtyard, the Gallery featured double height ceilings, a copper sheathed facing wall and a simple skillion roof.
To cater for larger professional exhibitions and the growing university Art Collection, the Art Gallery was redeveloped by USC in 2020. Informed by industry standards for the display and care of contemporary art, the Gallery now consists of two exhibition spaces with a combined area of 300sqm, 80sqm of custom art storage, a reception area and curatorial staff offices.
The Gallery is co-located with a contemporary industry-modelled creative facility purpose-built for research, learning and teaching programs in the School of Business and Creative Industries. The facility houses a black-box theatre representing a cutting-edge theatre and performance incubator for the region. Across the building breezeway sits Queensland’s first MIT accredited maker space containing a suite of contemporary fabrication and design technologies. The upper level of the building hosts a collection of world-class recording studios representing a music research and learning environment like no other.
