The National Portrait Gallery welcomes the artistic and intellectual engagement of visitors with our collection and building through sketching and notetaking. However, in some instances restrictions on sketching and notetaking may be necessary.
NPG Collection
Visitors to the Gallery are welcome to sketch and take notes for personal purposes in public areas, including gallery spaces where the NPG Collection is displayed.
Permitted materials include:
- notebooks, sketchbooks, clipboards and other hand-held sketching equipment smaller than an A3 sheet of paper (42 x 29.7 cm); and
- pencils with gradings from HB to 2B.
Other materials are not permitted. These include, but are not limited to, paints, inks, markers, pens, pastels, chalks, charcoals, coloured pencils, erasers, fixatives, varnishes, easels and similar devices.
Visitors who are sketching or notetaking must maintain a safe distance from works of art, and should take care not to obscure works from other visitors. Visitors should not interfere with or cause concern for other visitors and must be mindful of congestion within the Gallery spaces.
To ensure the safety of works of art or visitors, Gallery staff may use their discretion to ask visitors to stop sketching or notetaking, or to move to a different position.
Visitors are solely responsible for obtaining all required copyright and First Nations cultural and intellectual permissions for any sketches or resulting works of art they make.
Exhibitions
Exhibitions and displays that include works on loan from other institutions or lenders may be subject to different conditions. As a condition of loan many lenders or insurers specify that writing implements may not be used in the exhibition, or near a loaned work of art. In these instances, the Gallery will respect the lenders’ instructions and ensure that all conditions of loan are met.
Where the Gallery has specific restrictions on sketching or notetaking regarding works of art or exhibitions, signage will be provided at an appropriate location, such as at the entrance to the Gallery, the entrance to an exhibition, in the gallery space or adjacent to a work of art. Wherever possible, advice will also be published in the relevant section of the Gallery’s website.
Gallery organised public programs or activities
National Portrait Gallery public programs and activities that are supervised by Gallery staff may include exceptions to these guidelines. All programs and activities are developed by Gallery staff to ensure the enjoyment and enrichment of visitors and participants, while maintaining the highest standards of compliance for the safety of works of art, visitors, staff, and the building, and meeting all conditions related to exhibitions and loans.
More information
For further information or if you have any queries related to these protocols please contact bookings@npg.gov.au
