It takes a village to raise a creative! Get an insight into the often-unseen work and supporters needed for the arts to thrive. The work of art documents the creative process, evoke states of creativity and inspiration, and shows us clues about the subject’s own work from the way artists portray them.

Enjoy, sit back, and relax with some of our favourites from the Gallery’s collection, where they find themselves expertly – and comfortably – captured by their artists.

Take a 30 minute tour of the Portrait Gallery exploring the collection and the building.

Pop on your colourful kit and join us in the Gallery to celebrate WorldPride. Reflect on your identity and make a colourful flag or fold an origami pocket heart. This is a free activity for families, friends, anyone and everyone!

What makes creative couples tick? These short videos reveal an intimate portrait of the Huxleys, a unique couple whose romantic and creative lives intersect with chemistry, hard work, tension and magic.

Our Social Media and Content Coordinator, Georgina, will be taking a look at Patricia Piccinini by Allissa Oughtred.

Spirits Shapeshifting blends watercolour and digital animation to bring vibrant beings to life amid botanical dreamscapes, atmospheric skies and kaleidoscopic visions.

Join us in the Gallery with award-winning artist, writer, composer and musician Matt Ottley for a screening of his latest work, The Tree of Ecstasy and Unbearable Sadness.

Join us as we celebrate science with a social conscious. We’ll be focusing on those in our collection who grabbed the opportunity to improve the quality of women’s health across the world.

We are beyond excited to invite our Circle of Friends members to an exclusive members-only preview of Portrait23: Identity.

Portraiture. Not as you know it. We invite you to stretch, push, resist and transcend portraiture’s conventional constraints.

Join us in the Gallery for a free 30-minute tour of Portrait23: Identity, as we stretch, push and transcend portraiture’s conventional constraints.

Take a 30 minute tour of the Portrait Gallery exploring the collection and the building.

Visit the Portrait Gallery after dark! We are keeping our doors open until 10:00pm to celebrate our latest exhibition Portrait23: Identity.

Join us for a special performance lecture commissioned for the Gallery's latest exhibition Portrait23: Identity.

Travel via lake cruise on the stunning Lake Burley Griffin to Canberra's premiere cultural destinations: The National Portrait Gallery and The National Museum of Australia.

Bring your little ones and join artist Kate Beynon as she activates her Fantastic Faces Space! Kate has created 200 cushions with 31 colourful designs that you can arrange with her on the felt walls to create imaginative faces.

Join us for a special performance lecture commissioned for the Gallery's latest exhibition Portrait23: Identity.

Unleash your creative side and show the world your unique style with a handmade paper doll!

Join curators Penny Grist and Rebecca Ray for a look at some of the amazing artists in Portrait23: Identity! It’s portraiture, but not as you know it.

Starting off 2023 with a bang is Curator, Collection and Research, Joanna Gilmour, who'll be taking you on a deep dive into portraits by painter, Judy Cassab.

Travel via lake cruise on the stunning Lake Burley Griffin to Canberra's premiere cultural destinations: The National Portrait Gallery and The National Museum of Australia.

Pop on your smock and sturdy shoes and join us for a peek into where artists work. Whether inside, outside or out and about, we’ll look at the places they wield their tools and create.

Join us in the Gallery as we explore Portrait23: Identity with audio descriptions for visitors who are blind or have low vision.

Little Darlings is for primary and secondary students, with four separate categories across Kindergarten to Year 12. Responding to the theme ‘identity’, students painted, drew, photographed, printed or combined all of these to make their portrait.

Australian portraiture of the mid-twentieth century was rich with the influence of European modernism, exemplified by the work of artists including Arthur Boyd, Judy Cassab and Clifton Pugh.

Travel via lake cruise on the stunning Lake Burley Griffin to Canberra's premiere cultural destinations: The National Portrait Gallery and The National Museum of Australia.

Pull up a virtual chair and join us as we look at four dazzling daughters from our permanent collection!

This autumn, join a Learning Facilitator to look at the portrait “The Family” by Charles Blackman to explore ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­colour, patterns and faces through movement, singing and crafty play.

This autumn, join a Learning Facilitator to look at the portrait “The Family” by Charles Blackman to explore ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­colour, patterns and faces through movement, singing and crafty play.