The Lock-Up

The Lock-Up is a contemporary art space housed in the heritage-listed former Newcastle Police Station on Hunter Street in Newcastle, New South Wales. Built in 1861 and operating as a police station and lock-up until 1982, the building retains original cells, exercise yards and architectural features. Now operated as a multidisciplinary gallery and artist residency, it presents changing contemporary art exhibitions, public programs and heritage interpretation in central Newcastle.

Visitors can expect a heritage-listed 19th-century police station converted into a contemporary art gallery in central Newcastle. The site includes original holding cells, charge room, exercise yards and sandstone architecture alongside changing contemporary art exhibitions, installations and artist-in-residence projects. Spaces are intimate and atmospheric, combining heritage interpretation with multidisciplinary visual art, sound and performance. Visitors can explore gallery rooms, historic cells and outdoor yards at a self-paced or guided tour pace.

Constructed in 1861 as the Newcastle Police Station to a design by Colonial Architect James Barnet, the building served as the city's main police station and lock-up for over 120 years until 1982. It retains original cells, including a padded cell, and associated yards and offices, and is listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register as a rare surviving example of a 19th-century police station and lock-up complex.

Since reopening in 2007 as The Lock-Up, the site functions as a multidisciplinary contemporary art space and cultural hub for Newcastle. It supports contemporary visual arts practice through exhibitions, residencies and public programs, and preserves and interprets the city's policing and social history for visitors.