A Victorian-era stone building on Hunter Street that served as Newcastle's main police station and lock-up for over a century before being converted into a contemporary arts centre. The building's original cells, exercise yard, and charge room have been preserved as gallery spaces, creating an unusual setting for exhibitions and events. The current programming leans toward contemporary art, performance, and experimental work.
The Lock-Up is one of the anchors of the East End arts precinct that has developed along and around Hunter Street since the city centre began its post-industrial reinvention. Entry is free for most exhibitions. The building itself is worth seeing for the architecture alone — a solid colonial-era structure with a bleak institutional character that makes the art hung in it feel unexpectedly charged.