Wollongong's newest art school was launched last week as a group of local art teachers aim to fill "a giant gap" left after the closure of many arts courses at TAFE Illawarra more than five years ago.
The Regional Association for Visual Arts (RAVA) Education and Culture has signed a lease for art space at West Wollongong TAFE.
"The studios themselves are beautiful - they're very well designed, very airy, very well lit, with a huge amount of storage space," RAVA co-founder Ron Mathers said.
RAVA was developed in response to what Mr Mathers feels is a very real demand for "cultural sustainment" within the community.
"I think there's an innate need that people have to express themselves visually. It's about self-expression; self-awareness. It's very therapeutic," he said.
Beginning from this week, the school will run a number of day and evening classes including painting, drawing, composition and creative studies.
For Mr Mathers, the real victory is the ability to once again facilitate the once-popular night classes, which at one point saw in excess of 120 students attending each week.
"When the TAFE cuts came, the night classes in art were the first to go - and there was a real outcry," he said.
"While day classes are every bit as important, the night classes just help make it that little bit more accessible.
"It's about community accessibility - that's what RAVA is all about," he said.
Mr Mathers is confident that the community demand for art courses is still there.
"The important thing now is actually getting in touch with these people who used to be students, who would love to pick it up again.
"Lots of students used to come back year after year - this was a social and cultural hub. We want to try and bring that back," he said.

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