Art among us

At UTS, art isn’t something that lives behind glass. It’s woven into the intellectual and civic life of the university, shaping how we think, learn and engage with the world.

This distinctive creative environment is made possible through the generosity of donors who have entrusted UTS with cultural works of lasting significance.   

Their gifts do more than build a collection. They sustain a living public resource that contributes to Australia’s cultural life, advances research, and sparks critical and creative thinking across our campuses and beyond.  

How art inspires life at UTS

Philanthropy plays a critical role in enabling the sustained impact of cultural gifts at UTS. Through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program and other giving pathways, donors gift significant artworks to the University’s collection.  

This collection is constantly circulating and evolving. Embedded across teaching spaces, public corridors and shared areas, artworks are deliberately situated within the rhythms of campus life where they invite reflection, dialogue and cultural exchange.  

Each piece is carefully conserved and meaningfully integrated into teaching and research.  

“We like to think of the UTS campus as a gallery in itself,” says Curator and Manager of the UTS Gallery & Art Collection, Stella McDonald.

“Art is embedded in everyday life here, creating opportunities for students and staff to encounter diverse perspectives and engage with the wider social world.”  

Creativity that transforms  

For students in particular, such everyday art encounters do more than just inspire a sense of wonder. Exhibitions and research-led programming sculpt the learning experience in fields as diverse as science, engineering and the creative industries, connecting students with expressions of creativity that can transform their world view.  

These include some of Australia’s most significant artworks, such as Tracey Moffatt’s powerful photographic series Up In The Sky (1997), a cinematic narrative of race, class and violence told across 25 photographic ‘frames’. UTS held several prints from the series for decades until an anonymous donor completed the full suite.  

Now on long-term display in the UTS Business School, Up In The Sky offers students and the broader UTS community an experience previously reserved for the most prestigious art collections in the world, including the Tate, London and the Museum of Modern Art, New York.  

The UTS collection also houses pieces that help students to visualise their own artistic aspirations. Acclaimed photographic artist Cherine Fahd, an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Design and Society, recently donated works from her personal archive. It was an act that resonated with many.

“Cherine’s gift has been displayed through exhibitions that place her work alongside that of former students, creating a visible lineage of learning and artistic growth that speaks powerfully to students considering their own futures,” Stella says.

A gift that leaves a lasting imprint

Beyond the impacts to university life, cultural giving also amplifies UTS’s position as a custodian of Australia’s cultural heritage. A role that is supported by philanthropic generosity.  

By contributing art to university spaces, donors make works of national and international importance accessible to the broader public, inspiring conversations about art and culture that will continue for years to come. 

“When a donor entrusts UTS with a work of art, it’s an act of profound generosity. It places the work into long-term custodianship so it can be cared for, shared and continue to speak to future generations,” says Stella.

Thank you to our cultural gifts donors for your belief in the power of art to nurture understanding, curiosity and connection, now and into the future.