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Penrith School of Arts, Castlereagh Street c1910

Penrith School of Arts, Castlereagh Street c1910

From the collections of the

State Library of New South Wales

[d1_07469 / GPO1 07469]

(Mitchell Library)

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The School of Arts movement

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Penrith

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Penrith School of Arts hall

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State Library of New South Wales

The School of Arts movement

During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, about 140 schools of arts or mechanics' institutes were established in Sydney by volunteers. They were independent community organisations, assisted by a small government subsidy, and they thrived as centres of local community life. Today, their legacy in Sydney is more than just the surviving buildings. Out of these humble voluntary operations developed the local public library, the modern community or neighbourhood centre, and formal systems of adult and technical education.

Schools of Arts

Penrith

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Far western suburb lying on the eastern bank of the Nepean River at the foot of the Blue Mountains, named by Governor Macquarie after a town in England's Lake District. Developing rapidly in the 1970s, it is now one of the major commercial centres in the Greater Western Sydney area.

Penrith School of Arts hall

Community hall opened in 1910.

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