Editing Culture of Sydney (section)

== Museums ==
{{Main|List of museums in Sydney}}
[[File:(1)Australian Museum.jpg|thumb|left|[[Australian Museum]]]]

Sydney has been home to many visual artists, from the lush pastoralism of [[Lloyd Rees]] depictions of Sydney Harbour to [[Jeffrey Smart]]'s portraits of bleak urban alienation, from the psychedelic visions of [[Brett Whiteley]] to a plethora of contemporary artists.

Sydney has a range of museums including those based on [[visual art]] such as the [[Museum of Contemporary Art Australia|Museum of Contemporary Art]], the [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]], [[Artspace Visual Arts Centre|Artspace]], [[White Rabbit Gallery]], [[CarriageWorks|Carriageworks]], and the [[Brett Whiteley Studio]];<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/visit/brett-whiteley-studio/|title=Brett Whiteley Studio &#124; Art Gallery of NSW|website=www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au}}</ref> science and technology such as the [[Powerhouse Museum]], [[Sydney Observatory]], [[Sydney Tramway Museum]], [[Australian National Maritime Museum]] and [[Australian Museum]]; and history such as the [[Museum of Sydney]] and [[Chau Chak Wing Museum]].

The [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]] (AGNSW), alongside major collections of Australian colonial and 20th-century art and some works by European masters, has the largest and most important collection of [[Indigenous Australian art|Aboriginal art]] anywhere in the world. The [[Archibald Prize]] for portraiture (Australia's most prestigious art prize), the [[Sulman Prize]] for subject/genre painting and the [[Wynne Prize]] for landscape painting are awarded each year by the trustees of the AGNSW.

The [[Museum of Contemporary Art Australia|Museum of Contemporary Art]] (MCA) at West Circular Quay is Australia's foremost contemporary art museum, featuring a mixture of exhibitions from the museum's permanent collection and visiting shows by major international artists. The [[Biennale of Sydney]] is an important festival dedicated to the contemporary visual arts, held bi-annually at the MCA and at various other venues around the city and often spilling into the streets. Another visual arts festival held at the MCA each spring is [[Primavera (Sydney art festival)|Primavera]], a festival focusing on young, up-and-coming Australian artists.

A huge wrap-around mural by renowned American artist [[Sol LeWitt]] can be seen in the foyer of [[Australia Square Tower]] on the corner of George, Bond and Pitt Streets. Outside the tower, facing George Street, there is a large abstract steel sculpture by American sculptor [[Alexander Calder]].

There are many commercial galleries focusing mainly on cutting-edge contemporary art all around the inner city suburbs of [[Woollahra]], [[Newtown, New South Wales|Newtown]], [[Surry Hills]], [[Paddington, New South Wales|Paddington]], [[Darlinghurst]], [[Camperdown, New South Wales|Camperdown]] etc.

[[Graffiti]] and [[street art]] thrive in Sydney. The Newtown, Surry Hills and [[Glebe, New South Wales|Glebe]] areas in particular have many innovative examples of [[Newtown area graffiti and street art|murals and other street art]].

A recent addition is Art Month Sydney, a month-long festival of the visual arts held throughout March and the annual Art & About Sydney Festival.

<gallery class="center"> 
File:Art Gallery of New South Wales 08.jpg|The [[Art Gallery of New South Wales]]
File:Museum of Sydney (1).jpg|The [[Museum of Sydney]]
File:Powerhouse entry.jpg|The entry to the [[Powerhouse Museum]]
</gallery>