The Lock-Up

The Lock-Up is a public, multidisciplinary contemporary art gallery located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It operates as an independent, not-for-profit institution situated within a former police station and holding cells, a structure listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. The gallery is distinguished by its integration of preserved penal architecture into its exhibition spaces, hosting original installations that frequently engage with social and criminal justice themes.

The building functioned as a police station and holding cells for short-term prisoners from 1861 until its closure in 1982. Following the cessation of its penal operations, the site was repurposed in 1988 as the Hunter Heritage Centre, which accommodated both a museum and an art gallery. The space underwent a significant transformation when it was re-launched as The Lock-Up in September 2014, establishing itself as a dedicated multidisciplinary contemporary art gallery.

The institution typically presents six or seven exhibitions annually, prioritizing original installations and performative works. Its programming frequently addresses social and criminal justice issues, having featured thematic exhibitions on the climate crisis and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. The gallery also supports an artist-in-residence program and raises funds through an annual exhibition titled Collect.

While functioning as a non-collecting contemporary art space, The Lock-Up has presented notable exhibitions and residencies. Its 2018 exhibition, justiceINjustice, a collaboration between artists and lawyers focusing on miscarriages of justice, won an IMAGinE award from Museums and Galleries of New South Wales. Then director Jessi England also received the IMAGinE award for best director that same year. Exhibiting artists have included Blak Douglas, and Khaled Sabsabi, who participated in a residency and displayed work from September to November 2024. Performative exhibitions have also directly utilized the building's historical elements, such as one exploring the characters of Sue and Dyan, whose names are carved into a cell wall.

The gallery occupies a historic police station and holding cells listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register. The exhibition spaces incorporate the building's original penal architecture, including several cells, a padded cell, and an indoor exercise yard for prisoners. A considerable amount of graffiti created by former prisoners remains on the walls, all of which has been maintained in its original form following the building's conversion into an art gallery.

Located in Newcastle, New South Wales, The Lock-Up operates as an independent, not-for-profit gallery. It receives approximately 150,000 dollars in annual funding from Create NSW, supplemented by a patrons program. In 2023, the gallery secured a 400,000 dollar grant from Creative Australia, with funds scheduled to be provided over four years beginning in 2025.