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Introduction
News and features concerning the visual arts sector.
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February 1, 2010
ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES 2010 FUNDING DECISIONS
The Arts Council (An Chomhairle Ealaíon) has announced the allocation of its major grants for 2010. The Arts Council is the government agency for funding and developing the arts in the Republic of Ireland and this year it has distributed more than €49 million to 354 organisations in the arts sector. Organisations were officially informed of the outcome of their funding applications in correspondence distributed by the Arts Council on 29 January.
Budgetary cuts left the Arts Council with €9 million less to invest in the arts in 2010 than in 2009, and with result funding to the visual arts across the Council's three major grants programmes (Regularly Funded Organisations, Annual Funding and Annual Programming Grants) dropped from €5,063,157 in 2009 to €4,209,700 in 2010. 313 organisations in the arts sector saw a decrease in funding for 2010 compared to 2009 while some will cease to receive funding, 24 were offered the same level of funding as in 2009 and 10 received an increase in funding. Overall, 410 organisations applied for funding and despite the decrease in the value of allocations across art forms, the relativity of allocation between art forms supported by the Arts Council remains similar to previous years.
The Arts Council has stated that in the allocation of funding for 2010 it sought to ensure that organisations could continue to maintain a standard of excellence in the provision of services to audiences, while also maintaining a regional balance and an emphasis on supporting artists in the creation of new work. The Aosd·na cnuas, a stipend paid to qualifying Aosd·na members, has been maintained at the current level. In addition, the Arts Council has allocated 20% of its direct funding to projects and awards and reduced its overall administrative budget by 30% from its 2008 level.
www.artscouncil.ie
February 1, 2010
LAUNCH OF IMMA'S 2010 PROGRAMME
On 27 January 2010, Dr Martin Mansergh TD, Minister of State with responsibility for the Arts, officially launched the Irish Museum of Modern Art's programme for 2010. Highlights of the 2010 programme at IMMA in Kilmainham, Dublin 8 will include major solo exhibitions by Cuban-American artist Jorge Pardo, Irish artist Anne Tallentire, Belgian-born Francis Alys and Spanish painter Ferran GarcÌa Sevilla.
2010 will also feature an exhibition based on the work of American composer Morton Feldman and his circle, the exhibition of new donations to IMMA's Collection and a special exhibition promoting engagement in the visual arts by people with disabilities. A new initiative designed to enhance primary schools pupils' enjoyment of the museum's collection was also announced. IMMA's ongoing programme of free guided tours, lectures, workshops, talks and seminars is set to continue, as well as the museum's Artists Residency Programme and the National Programme which sees selected works from the IMMA Collection tour venues around the country.
The 'Altered Images' exhibition which allows groups and individuals with disabilities to access artworks through a variety of multi-sensory devices will also return to IMMA in 2010 following its presentation in Mayo and Tipperary in 2009.
www.imma.ie
January 25, 2010
BREAKING OF GROUND CEREMONY FOR BELFAST'S NEW £17.56M MAC CENTRE
Last Thursday, 21 January 2010, an official breaking of ground ceremony marking the start of construction work on Belfast's new £17.56 million MAC arts centre took place. The new six-storey arts centre will house two theatres, dance and rehearsal studios, a large exhibition space for visual art, a café and public access areas. Due to open in 2011, MAC has been designed to make a profound contribution to the cultural, as well as social and economic, development of Northern Ireland.
Speaking at the event, Rosemary Kelly OBE, Chairman, Arts Council of Northern Ireland extended her congratulations to the Board and staff of the ACNI, one of the main public funders of the centre, on taking a crucial step forward in the development of the new arts venue. She highlighted the important position that MAC will have both in the regeneration of Belfast and to the arts infrastructure in Northern Ireland as a whole.
The principal public funders for the MAC arts centre are the Northern Ireland Executive's Department for Culture, Arts and Leisure (£10.76 million), the Arts Council of Northern Ireland (£5.25 million), the Department for Social Development (£550,000) and Belfast City Council (£560,000).
www.artscouncil-ni.org
January 25, 2010
LAUNCH OF ROBERT BALLAGH MONOGRAPH
Last week the Gorry Gallery in Dublin hosted the launch of 'Monograph', a new limited-edition artist book by Robert Ballagh that chronicles his life and work from the beginning of his career in the 1960s to the present day. The monograph is published in two volumes and presented in a handmade solander case. Limited to an edition of 350, each copy is signed, numbered and dated by Ballagh and includes two texts, 'The Early Years' and 'Citizen Artist', by Ciaran Carty.
The publication is illustrated with 24 giclée prints hand produced by Bernard Ruijgrok at Piezografie Studio in Amsterdam using archival inks on acid free museum quality paper. The two volumes are handbound and the monograph is available to purchase for €2,500.
Robert Ballagh was born in Dublin in 1943 and studied as a commercial artist in DIT before being apprenticed to artist Micheal Farrell and pursuing a career as a fine artist and designer. Ballagh represented Ireland at the 1969 Biennale de Paris and has designed over 70 postage stamps, as well as the last series of banknotes to be published in Ireland prior to the introduction of the euro. He is a member of Aosdána and in 2006 the Royal Hibernian Academy held a major retrospective of his work to date.
www.gorrygallery.ie
January 25, 2010
RED STABLES' ARTISTS LAUNCH NEW WEBSITE
The Red Stables' Artists in St. Anne's Park, Raheny have launched a new website at to enhance communication and creative exchange between Red Stables' artists, past and present, and to provide a public platform for artists to profile current projects and work in progress. The website offers resident artists with an opportunity to develop a network of peers who have a shared experience of working in the studio spaces at The Red Stables and provides a platform to discuss and develop ideas within this network of support.
The Red Stables houses 9 artists' day studios, an Irish Artistsí Residential Studio and an International Residential Studio. The provision of these studios is part of Dublin City Council Arts Service Plan 2006-2009, and was developed in response to the critical lack of working spaces for artists working in Dublin today. The work spaces are managed by Dublin City Council Arts Office.
www.redstablesartists.com
January 20, 2010
PRESIDENT MARY McALEESE TO RE-OPEN LEWIS GLUCKSMAN GALLERY
President Mary McAleese will officially re-open the Lewis Glucksman Gallery in Cork to the public on Friday 22 January 2010 with the exhibition 'Thingamajig' marking the celebration of the gallery's 5th birthday and its re-opening following flood damage in November 2009.
The gallery at UCC suffered extensive flood damage to the basement level on the evening of Thursday 17 November 2009 and has been closed to the public since then to allow for the reinstatement of gallery facilities including the art store in which over 200 artworks were housed at the time of the flooding. Many of these works required emergency conservation and several that have been successfully conserved will be exhibited at the Glucksman's re-opening alongside information on the conservation process and a photographic slide show of the flooding damage and recovery operation.
In the past 5 years the Glucksman Gallery has established itself as a major cultural destination, with annual visitor numbers exceeding 70,000. The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism provided the Glucksman with a €75,000 grant for its recovery fund to enable the gallery to continue to provide access to the research, creation and exploration of the visual arts in Ireland. In addition, a number of fundraising projects will take place in 2010, including the production of a limited-edition print by Cork photographer Clare Keogh. Glucksman Director Fiona Kearney will present President McAleese with one of these prints at the launch on Friday.
www.glucksman.org
January 18, 2010
PROVISIONAL CUT TO 2010/2011 NORTHERN IRELAND ARTS BUDGET ANNOUNCED
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has announced that following the proposed budget announcement made on Monday 11 January 2010 by the Minister of Finance of a GBP367 million budget cut across the Northern Ireland Executive's government departments in April 2010, the Minister for Culture, Arts and Leisure, Nelson McCausland, has indicated that the ACNI should plan for a budget cut of approximately £1.1 million in 2010/11.
Based on the government's 3-year budget projections announced in 2008, the Arts Council of Northern Ireland had been expecting an increase of £1.55 million in funding in 2010/11. The ACNI's parent department, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), is set to lose £25.9 million, making it the second hardest hit of Northern Irelandís government departments in proportional terms.
The Chairman of the Arts Council, Rosemary Kelly OBE has said that the ACNI is disappointed at the prospect of the cut to the arts budget and the consequences that it will have on artists, arts organisations and venues in Northern Ireland. The ACNI has stated that it will continue to campaign on behalf of the arts sector in the remaining 6-week consultation period that remains before the budget for 2010/2011 are finalised.
www.artscouncil-ni.org
January 18, 2010
ARTS COUNCIL PUBLISHES RESEARCH ON WORKSPACES & ENGAGEMENT WITH ARCHITECTURE
The Arts Council of Ireland recently published two new research reports on visual artists' workspaces and public engagement with architecture.
In December 2007 the Arts Council commissioned 'A Review into Visual Artists' Workspaces' with a view to both assisting the Arts Council in its own approach to supporting the sector and to provide the Council with a platform to highlight the precarious position of visual artists' workspaces and advocate for greater provisions in this area. The report was completed by CHL Consulting Company Ltd in late 2009 and includes a survey of existing visual artists' workspaces; their ownership, management and facilities; issues and challenges facing artists' workspaces; a range of findings; and both national and international case studies.
The review is now available to download from:
www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/ReviewVisualArtsWorkspaces.pdf
In 2008 the Arts Council commissioned research into 'Public Engagement with Architecture in the Republic of Ireland'. This report was commissioned with the intention of advancing the commitments set out for architecture in Partnership for the Arts. Prepared and delivered by Mullan Consulting, the report includes a number of proposed options for enhancing support for public engagement with architecture which will be used to assist the Arts Council in identifying a number of ways in which it can contribute more significantly to public engagement with architecture in the future.
The report is now available to download from:
www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/ReportPublicEngagementArchitecture.pdf
January 18, 2010
IRISH ARTIST ESTABLISHES NEW GALLERY IN BERLIN
Irish artist John Power has become one of the founder members of Galerie Gruppe 11 in Berlin's Friedrichshain district along with fellow-artists Alexander Prokopiev (Russia) and Hendrik Voerkel (Germany). Galerie Gruppe 11 will open in Landsberger Allee at the end of April 2010. All three artists involved in establishing the new space belong to the Baumwollspinnerei group of artists based in Leipzig.
The Baumwollspinnerei, once the largest cotton mill in Europe, is famous as the base of various members of the Leipzig school of painting and galleries such as Eigen + Art. Galerie Gruppe 11 will exhibit the work of artists from Leipzig, Berlin and overseas. For further details please check the website which will be up and running at the end of February.
E: info@gruppe11.net
www.gruppe11.net
January 13, 2010
BUTLER GALLERY ANNOUNCES RELOCATION & REDEVELOPMENT
The Butler Gallery, in partnership with Kilkenny County Council and Kilkenny Borough Council, has announced the gallery's relocation to the Evan's Home on Barrack Lane, John Street, Kilkenny. Following a competitive process through Public Procurement the gallery has announced that Dublin based firm McCullough Mulvin Architects is to oversee the Butler Gallery's relocation to the Evan's Home.
The project will involve the partial conservation of the existing Evan's Home and the development of a new addition that will accommodate the Butler Gallery's permanent collection as well as space for temporary exhibitions and education facilities. A gallery dedicated to the display of works donated by the estate of the late Kilkenny artist Tony O'Malley is also planned. The first phase of the development has been made possible by a grant provided by the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism through ACCESS II funding 2007-2009 and the balance will be met by the Kilkenny County Council and Kilkenny Borough Council.
www.butlergallery.com
December 15, 2009
DCC ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF ARTS BURSARY AWARDS 2009
Dublin City Council Arts Office has announced the recipients of its Arts Bursary Awards 2009 in five categories including Visual Arts, Music, Dance, Drama and Literature. Dublin City Council Arts Bursary Awards aim to support recipients in advanced studies and in the development of professional skills and projects with awards of up to €4,000.
Recipients were selected following an open call for applications from artists based in Dublin city. This year artist Tara Fitzgerald were selected for Arts Bursary Awards in the Visual Art category. Fitzgerald received €2,000 to assist her in her 3rd year of an Architecture degree at UCD, which she hopes will extend and inform her visual art practice.
Other bursaries were awarded to George Higgs and Brian Fleming for Music; Michelle Cahill for Dance; Robert Sinnott for Drama; and Claire Coughlan for Literature.
www.dublincity.ie/RecreationandCulture/ArtsOffice/Pages/TheArtsOffice.aspx
December 14, 2009
ACNI ANNOUNCES CONSTRUCTION OF NEW MAC ARTS CENTRE
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland last week announced that the construction of the new MAC arts centre is due to commence before Christmas. The £17.5 million arts facility will be based in Belfastís Cathedral Quarter and will house a large visual arts space, two theatres, dance and rehearsal studios, a café and public access areas over six storeys. Due to open in 2011, MAC has been designed to make a real contribution to the social, economic and cultural re-generation of Northern Ireland and is supported by £5.25 million in ACNI funding.
www.artscouncil-ni.org
December 14, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL STATEMENT ON BUDGET ALLOCATION
Commenting on the Arts Councilís Budget allocation of €69.15 million, the Chairman of the Arts Council, Pat Moylan said on 9 December 2009: 'The Arts Council recognises the enormous challenges facing the Government and the need to reduce public spending. The €69.15 million budgeted for the Arts Council in 2010, despite the pressure on public resources, underscores the commitment to the arts of the Government and especially the Minister for the Arts, Martin Cullen TD.
'We are grateful to Minister Cullen, and also to the many artists, arts organisations, TDs, members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Arts and to communities across Ireland who have in the course of recent months made public the value they place on the arts at this difficult time.
'The allocation does represent a significant reduction in funding, and, its impact, along with previous reductions, will be felt hard across the sector. However, as the countryís expert body on the arts, the Arts Council is best placed to invest this money wisely, and we will draw on our experience and redouble our efforts to ensure that people right across the country have access to the best of the arts in 2010.
'The Council will also be focusing on the key role the arts can play in stimulating job creation, cultural tourism and investment at this time. We know from research that the sector is already making a very significant contribution to the economy and employment. Irelandís consistently high level of achievement in the arts means that they represent our 'unique selling point' as a country.
'We want to send a clear message to the world that Ireland is a hub of creativity, innovation and flexible thinking, and a smart place to invest in the wider creative industries.'
www.artscouncil.ie
December 9, 2009
MINISTER CULLEN'S RESPONSE TO BUDGET 2010
Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism commented today on Budget 2010 saying that the importance of the arts, sport and tourism sectors to the country are 'reflected in the commitments contained in the Renewed Programme for Government and the funding secured under Budget 2010 for the Departmentís activities over the course of next year.'
Funding to the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism for 2010 is €501m. Within this, current funding is €369m, while capital expenditure is €132m. Funding to Arts, Culture and Film is €166m, funding for Sport and Recreation services is €115m and funding to Tourism Services is €155m.
Arts, Culture, Film
Minister Cullen said: 'At the Global Irish Economic Forum held in Farmleigh in September there was wide acknowledgement of the importance of culture in promoting Ireland abroad and developing a unique brand for the country in new markets. Most participants agreed that our unique and strong cultural identity provides the Government and the private sector with a strong competitive advantage abroad. Internationally, the creative economy is moving centre stage and creativity is seen as a crucial bedrock, underpinning our knowledge economy. I am pleased that significant funding to support the arts is secured for 2010. The overall allocation for the arts, culture and film area in 2010 is €166m as compared to €178m for 2009 - a 6% adjustment. Even in more stringent times, overall funding for the arts is up 14% on 2005 levels.'
Funding to the Arts Council, the state agency for the arts is €69.15m, a 6% reduction on the 2009 figure of €73.35m. Arts Council current funding is between 2006 and 2007 levels. Minister Cullen said: 'I am pleased to have secured this level of funding of over €69 million for the Arts Council which will continue to sustain the countryís main arts organisations, keep regional arts and theatre venues open - which are important to the social fabric of communities - and support local festivals and touring initiatives.'
The Minister added: 'Other key agencies like the Irish Film Board and Culture Ireland will continue to develop and support their sectors. Their budgets have been maintained at 2007 levels with the Irish Film Board allocated €19.31m and Culture Ireland, €4.083m. The important tax relief scheme, Section 481, for investment in film and TV production is maintained until at least 2012, underpinning the Governmentís commitment to the importance of our indigenous Irish film and audiovisual sector.'
Culture Ireland and Tourism Ireland have intensified joint planning on cross-promotions in the cultural tourism field. Initiatives for 2010 will include a programme of cultural projects and events for the World Expo in Shanghai from May to October. In January, Culture Ireland will lead its annual performing arts promotional mission to the United States, its priority market, promoting an expanded range of showcases by Irish music, dance and theatre artists/companies.
Capital funding for arts infrastructure has been consolidated in the Department and all major arts capital projects will be completed as will regional capital projects to which commitments have been made. Projects for completion in 2010 include Solas Picture House in Galway, the Model Niland in Sligo, Limerick City Art Gallery and Droichead Arts Centre, Dundalk.
Day-to-day funding for the national cultural institutions is maintained at or above 2007 levels and their capital funding is maintained at 2009 levels to ensure continued investment in high quality visitor experiences as part of an integrated cultural tourism drive. The aim for 2010 is to exceed the 3.2m visitor target at the cultural institutions.
Investment in regional and smaller museums like Marshís Library, Hunt Museum, Science Gallery, Print Museum, Foynes Flying Boat Museum and the James Joyce Centre will continue. The digitisation of the 1901 and 1911 Census will be completed. It is intended to name the preferred tenderer for the new National Concert Hall project shortly. Work is ongoing in assessing the GPO complex as a possible location for the Abbey, the National Theatre.
In 2010 the Department will also create a new National Opera Company.
The Artist Tax Exemption has been maintained with some adjustment only in respect of very high earners to reflect a more equitable apportionment of the tax burden.
Minister Cullen's full response to Budget 2010 with regards to the Arts, Sport and Tourism sector is available here:
www.arts-sport-tourism.gov.ie/publications/release.asp?ID=100729
December 9, 2009
CURATORS FOR VENICE ARCHITECTURE BIENNALE 2010 ANNOUNCED
Culture Ireland in partnership with the Arts Council has announced the appointment of the curators who will represent Ireland at the 2010 Architecture Biennale in Venice, Italy. Selected following an open call, the curating team will consist of Tom dePaor, Peter Maybury, Alice Casey and Cian Deegan, who will present an exhibition about the Irish architecture practice deBlacam and Meagher.
The Irish Architecture Foundation are Commissioners for the 2010 Architecture Biennale and the curators will work closely with them to develop an exhibition that will seek to develop an understanding of the cultural landscape of Ireland through the work of deBlacam and Meagher Architects over the past 33 years. The influence of the houses and places of work, commerce, education and worship that the practice has designed on Irish life in this time will also be explored.
www.architecturefoundation.ie
www.deblacamandmeagher.com
December 7, 2009
VAI RECOMMENDATIONS PUBLISHED IN INNOVATION TASKFORCE SUMMARY
In June this year Taoiseach Brian Cowen appointed an Innovation Taskforce to advise the Government on its strategy for positioning Ireland as an International Innovation Development Hub and to assist in making the Smart Economy a reality. In order to assist the Four Working Groups of the Taskforce, a call for submissions from interested parties was announced and Visual Artists Ireland submitted a document entitled 'Creative Ireland' in support of the cultural identity of Brand Ireland.
In the recently published 'Summary of Submissions to the Innovation Taskforce', some recommendations made by Visual Artists Ireland are referred to in Chapter 6: 'Sectoral Recommendations' as follows:
'Contribution of Design & Art to Innovation
Visual Artists Ireland and the Temple Bar Cultural Trust highlight the impact the arts could have on the creative processes inherent to innovation. Specifically, Visual Artists Ireland suggest the involvement of Artists in businesses in order to inject a creative dynamic to businesses. They and the Temple Bar Cultural Trust propose either the appointment of artists to state/company boards or the placement of artists within companies. Artists placed within companies would facilitate innovation through one on one mentoring. Furthermore artists could undertake projects within companies involving marketing, data collection or other activities.'
Individual submissions made to the Taskforce are available to view in full at:
www.innovationtaskforce.ie
www.visualartists.ie
December 2, 2009
FOUR NEW PUBLIC ART PIECES UNVEILED IN DERRY'S CLOONEY ESTATE
Four new pieces of permanent public art by Susan Hunter commissioned as part of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's £3.8milion Re-imaging Communities Programme have been unveiled in Derry's Clooney estate. The launch of the pieces marks the culmination of two years' work involving the artist and local residentsí groups of all ages representing both sides of the community living in the estate.
Inspired by the birds after which the roads in the Clooney estate are named, the commissioned works consist of three steel sculptures entitled 'Birds in Flight', 'The Nest' and 'Feathers', and one mosaic installation incorporating bronze casts of on the wall of the community centre. As part of the £44,500 'Flocking through the Streets' project territorial markings have also been removed from the area.
www.artscouncil-ni.org
November 30, 2009
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE ARTS DELEGATION MEETS WITH MINISTER MARTIN CULLEN
A delegation from the National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) met with Martin Cullen TD, Minister for the Arts, Sport and Tourism last week on Wednesday 25 November 2009 to discuss the impact that further cuts to arts funding would have on the sector in advance of the impending Budget 2010.
The delegation comprised of Tania Banotti of Theatre Forum, Sarah Glennie of the Irish Film Institute, Gerry Godley of the Improvised Music Company and Fiach Mac Conghail of the Abbey Theatre also called on Minister Cullen to bring the demands of the NCFA to the Cabinet. In support of the NCFA's campaign the delegation presented the Minister with a petition signed online by over 10,000 people in just two weeks. The National Campaign for the Arts is lobbying for the retention of Culture Ireland and the Irish Film Board, the maintenance of existing levels of arts funding for the Arts Council and continued full representation of the arts at senior cabinet level.
Also in support of the arts, the Wicklow Campaign for the Arts held a public meeting on 23 November led by Courthouse Arts Centre and Mermaid Arts Centre that highlighted the need for sustained support to artists and venues nationwide. The meeting was attended by artists, arts workers and advocates, supporters and audience members, as well as media and political figures, who discussed the threats posed to arts funding in Ireland and the role of the arts and culture in County Wicklow.
www.ncfa.ie
November 30, 2009
THE MODEL ANNOUNCES CALL FOR STUDIO APPLICATIONS
The Model in Sligo has announced a call for applications for its new studio facility which is scheduled to open in spring 2010 following the completion of the €5 million redevelopment of the Model Arts and Niland Centre which began in April this year.
Located in Sligo town, The Model is a multi-disciplinary arts organisation that is led by contemporary visual arts programming. As well as expanding its operations and programme by over a third, the extensive redevelopment programme of Future Model will provide additional facilities and storage space alongside purpose-built artists' studios. These eight studio spaces will be available to rent for periods of 12 months for between 12 and 36 months. Fees for the studios will be subsidised and will include 24-hour access plus broadband access as generally at a small additional cost. One studio is residential.
The deadline for the receipt of applications for studio space at The Model is Friday 5 February 2010. For further information contact:
The Model, Unit 6 Cleveragh Retail Park, Cleveragh, Sligo (temporary address)
T: 071 914 1405
E: emer.marron@modelart.ie
www.modelart.ie
November 24, 2009
LEWIS GLUCKSMAN GALLERY SUFFERS SEVERE FLOOD DAMAGE
Following the heavy rains of the past few days, UCC's Lewis Glucksman Gallery has announced that the gallery in Cork has suffered extensive flood damage to its basement.
The basement area of the gallery houses storage space, a major plant area and kitchens. The art store area of the basement housed a total of 148 artworks, the majority of which were on loan from University College Cork's Art Collection, with 11 artworks directly on loan from artists. The art in storage at the time of the flooding included works by artists including Hughie O'Donoghue, Louis le Brocquy and Martin Gale.
A recovery operation was initiated as soon as the gallery was alerted, with floodwater being pumped from the basement and ground floor to clear a safe passage to the art store so that gallery staff and a team of conservation experts could access the basement and respond to the damage.
The main exhibition spaces were not affected but the gallery will remain closed until further notice.
www.glucksman.org
November 24, 2009
ORLAITH ROSS RECEIVES CCoI / IAR EMERGING MAKER AWARD 2009
Ceramicist Orlaith Ross, a recent graduate of the National College of Art and Design, has been presented with the Crafts Council of Ireland / Irish Arts Review Emerging Maker Award 2009.
Now in its second year, the Crafts Council of Ireland / Irish Arts Review Emerging Maker Award was established to support and assist a new generation of talented and innovative craftspeople in the development of their career and creative craft-based practice. The award is open to newly-trained craftspeople.
As winner of the Crafts Council of Ireland / Irish Arts Review Emerging Maker Award, Ross receives a prize fund of €5,000 and a Profile Feature in the Winter 2009 edition of the Irish Arts Review. Her work is currently included in the 'Generation Show' at the National Craft Gallery in Kilkenny, where it is on show until 10 January 2010.
www.orlaithross.com
www.ccoi.ie
www.irishartsreview.com
November 24, 2009
PAINTING STOLEN FROM GROUP SHOW AT MARKREE CASTLE, SLIGO
During 'Shifting Fields', an exhibition of work by The NorthWest Artists Group that was on show at Markree Castle in Collooney, Co. Sligo from 24 October to 22 November 2009, a painting by exhibiting artist Marina Hamilton was stolen. It has been missing since 8 November 2009.
The painting is oil on canvas, measures approx. 12 x 12 inches and is framed in a box frame with a grey slip and thick black frame. Entitled 'Inseparable', the painting depicts two black and white horses, viewed side on and facing towards the right hand side of the painting, standing side by side in a field. Red underpainting is visible through the grass around the horses and the clouds behind.
In light of this theft, galleries, exhibiting venues, and auction houses are advised to be extra vigilant regarding security on their premises.
If anyone has any information as to the whereabouts of this painting or to see an image of the stolen work please contact Marina Hamilton on:
T: 086 8216335
November 18, 2009
WORK TO COMMENCE ON NEW EXHIBITION SPACE IN ENNIS, CO. CLARE
It has been announced that work is to begin on a project to create a new dedicated exhibition space for the Mid-West with the refurbishment of the old museum at the De Valera Library in Ennis, Co. Clare. The contract for the project was awarded last Tuesday, 17 November, and the venue is being developed by Clare County Council in an attempt to provide suitable gallery space for the county and promote public access to the arts.
It is estimated that the refurbishment and development project will cost in the region of €250,000, with funding being supplied through grant aid from the Arts Council, the Department of the Environment and Clare County Council. The existing building is a protected structure and its historical nature has been taken into account in the design of the new exhibition space which was developed by the Clare County Council Architectural Services team in conjunction with P. Coleman & Associates, ODM, John Cuddy & Partners and the Clare County Arts Officer. New humidity control and lighting systems and a multifunctional space have been designed specifically to enhance the existing ecclesiastical architectural features of the building and ensure the provision of quality exhibition space to museum standard.
It is anticipated that the new gallery will be completed in May 2010.
November 18, 2009
SCULPTURE IN THE PARKLANDS LANDSCAPE STRATEGY WINS CONSERVATION AWARD
The prestigious Irish Landscape Institute Design Award in the Heritage and Conservation category was presented to Dermot Foley of Dermot Foley Landscape Architects for the firm's Sculpture in the Parklands Landscape Strategy at a ceremony at Dublin Castle on 12 November 2009.
The Landscape Strategy for Sculpture in the Parklands will provide an important template for the development of the innovative land and environmental sculpture facility's programme at Lough Boora Parklands in Co. Offaly. It will also make the landscape accessible to the public. The strategy was described by the Irish Landscape Institute judges as being a 'sophisticated and imaginative project, which resolves a conflict between its two heritages - industry and ecology'. Sculpture in the Parklands has congratulated the team at Dermot Foley Landscape Architects and looks forward to working with them in the future.
Sculpture in the Parklands is also now live on YouTube. Information on Julian Wild and Alan Counihan's recent residencies at the sculpture park is now online and artist interviews and documentation of previous installations will be available in the coming months.
www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=5CD25D5A5F4B9328
www.sculptureintheparklands.com
November 16, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL PUBLISHES ASSESMENT OF ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE ARTS
The Arts Council recently published a report written by Indecon International Economic Consultants' Managing Partner, Dr Alan Gray, that suggests that the arts are a major contributor to the Irish economy that can drive both job creation and investment. The report commissioned by the Arts Council, 'Assessment of Economic Impact of the Arts in Ireland', suggests that both analysts and policymakers may be underestimating the economic impact of the arts sector.
The report found that currently Arts Council funding of €76 million to organisations countrywide supports more than 3,000 jobs, generates a turnover of €192 million and returns €54 million in the form of income, VAT and other taxes to the Exchequer. The Gross Added Value of the wider arts sector is calculated at €782 million, with a total expenditure of €1.8 billion, 26,519 jobs and tax revenue of €352 million. In the creative industries, where Gross Added Value is calculated at €5.5 billion, total employment is 96,000.
The findings of the report were described by Arts Council Chairman Pat Moylan on its publication as 'rigorous, evidenced-based and very welcome'. The author of the report, Dr Alan Gray, said that while he does not believe that the arts should be evaluated solely on economic grounds, the sector is both important and labour intensive while making a significant contribution to Exchequer revenues.
The full report of 'Assessment of Economic Impact of the Arts in Ireland' is now available to download from the Arts Council website at:
www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/Arts%20Council%20-%20Economic%20Impact%20-%20Final%20Report.pdf
November 16, 2009
NIALL de BUITLÉAR RECEIVES EMERGING VISUAL ARTIST AWARD 2009
Wexford Arts Centre in partnership with the Arts Department of Wexford County Council and the Arts Council has announced that Dublin-based visual artist Niall de Buitléar is the recipient of the fourth annual Emerging Visual Artist Award.
The Emerging Visual Artist Award was developed by Wexford Arts Centre in association with its partner organisations as an initiative to support emerging visual artists in Ireland with an award of €5,000 and a solo exhibition at Wexford Arts Centre. The award aims to recognise and support the development of committed emerging artists. Niall de Buitléar was selected by an independent selection panel from over 120 submissions received following a national open competition selection process. De Buitléar will create a new body of work from November 2009 to October 2010 which will be exhibited at Wexford Arts Centre in early 2011.
Niall de Buitléar was born in 1983 in Dublin. He is the current occupant of the Irish Artists' Residential Studio at the Red Stables in the St Anne's Park, Dublin and his work is primarily an exploration of sculptural form through accumulative, labour intensive processes. He generally works with pre-processed materials that have some other function or history of prior use. Niall de Buitléar has recently exhibited his work at G126, Galway and The LAB, Dublin.
www.nialldebuitlear.com
www.wexfordartscentre.ie
November 16, 2009
NORTHERN IRELAND 'ARTISTS TAKING THE LEAD' COMMISSION ANNOUNCED
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland recently announced that 'The NEST' by Brian Irvine & John McIlduff of Dumbworld has been selected as the Northern Ireland winner of an 'Artists taking the Lead' commission. The commission, worth £190,000, has been awarded as one of the major projects for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
Irvine & McIlduff's project was selected by an independent panel including Damian Smyth, Cian Smyth, Paul Seawright, Damien Gorman and Simon McWilliams, from a shortlist of five projects chosen from a total of 67 Northern Ireland entries submitted as a result of an open call announced earlier this year. Funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, 'The NEST' will gather objects and stories from people across Northern Ireland, filming their contributions and constructing a sculptural nest-like landscape in Belfast in 2012.
www.artiststakingthelead.org.uk/northernireland
November 16, 2009
KAZUYO SEJIMA ANNOUNCED AS CURATOR OF VENICE ARCHITECTURE
BIENNALE 2010
The Board of Directors of the Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, have announced the appointment of Kazuyo Sejima as Director of the Architecture Sector at the 12th International Architecture Exhibition in 2010. Kazuyo Sejima is the first woman to direct the Architecture Sector of the Biennale and will have specific responsibility for curating the 12th International Architecture Exhibition to be held in Venice in the Giardini and Arsenale between 29 August and 21 November 2010. The vernissage will take place on 26, 27 and 28 August 2010.
Kazuyo Sejima was born in Ibaraki, Japan in 1956 and opened her own studio in Tokyo in 1987. In 1995 she founded SANAA with Ryue Nishizawa, which has gone on to design such innovative works of architecture as the New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York; the Serpentine Pavilion, London; and the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, which won the Golden Lion in 2004 for the most significant work of the 9th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia.
In 2000 she was the curator of the Japanese Pavilion, 'City of Girls', at the 7th International Architecture Exhibition of the Biennale di Venezia.
www.labiennalechannel.org
November 4, 2009
CALL TO LOBBY HOUSE OF LORDS TO PRESERVE COMMON TRAVEL AREA
In response to the proposed Policing and Crime Bill, currently in the House of Lords, Visual Artists Ireland calls visual artists, VAI members and art workers in Northern Ireland to lobby Northern Ireland Lords to preserve the Common Travel Area in advance of the Third Reading of the Bill, scheduled for Wednesday 11 November 2009.
In July 2009, concerted lobbying managed to preserve the Common Travel Area when it was threatened by the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill, introduced in January 2009. This Bill proposed to introduce immigration checks on the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, meaning either identity checks for everyone moving between both jurisdictions, which is against the Good Friday Agreement, or racial profiling, which is illegal.
Now the Policing and Crime Bill threatens to do the same. Clause 97 of the current version of the Bill empowers customs and immigration officials to check travel documents of anyone entering the UK, which includes the land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The Bill is currently at Report Stage in the House of Lords, to conclude on Thursday 5 November, with the Third Reading on Wednesday 11 November 2009. The Liberal Democrats have tabled an amendment to exempt the Common Travel Area, but it will need support to succeed.
Please contact members of the House of Lords to ask that they support the amendment to Clause 97 of the Policing and Crime Bill put forward by Baroness Harris of Richmond and Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer (97A*).
Contact procedures for Lords are available at: http://www.parliament.uk/about/how/members/lords_contact.cfm
For a list of Northern Ireland Lords to lobby, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Northern_Ireland_members_of_the_House_of_Lords
November 2, 2009
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR THE ARTS LAUNCHES PETITION TO GOVERNMENT
The National Campaign for the Arts (NCFA) has organised a petition to Government to ensure that the arts are on national and local government agendas. The NCFA is calling for the following:
- Maintenance of current levels of funding to the Arts Council
- Retention of Culture Ireland, the agency for the promotion of Irish arts worldwide
- Retention of The Irish Film Board, development agency of the Irish film industry
- Retention of the Artists' Tax Exemption Scheme
- Commitment to retain the Arts portfolio at cabinet as part of a senior ministerial portfolio
This petition went live on Wednesday 28 October 2009. Already more than 3,100 people have signed the petition (as of 10am on Monday 2 November 2009).
Visual Artists Ireland encourages VAI members and others to support this campaign and to sign the petition as soon as possible. To sign the National Campaign for the Arts petition please go to:
www.petitiononline.com/ncfa/petition.html
October 28, 2009
PARTICIPATORY ARTS IN HEALTHCARE GOOD PRACTICE GUIDELINES PUBLISHED
The Waterford Healing Arts Trust and the Health Service Executive South (Cork) Arts + Health programme, with financial support from the Arts Council of Ireland, recently published Guidelines for Good Practice for Participatory Arts in Healthcare Contexts which were produced by the Centre for Medical Humanities at Durham University.
The Guidelines are designed to present clear, concise and user-friendly guidance to those working in the area of participatory arts in healthcare contexts. They are also intended as an aid to partnerships surrounding arts and health that can bring new challenges to artists, healthcare professionals, clients and those working in the health-related community and voluntary sector.
Developed through consultation with individuals and organisations working in an arts and health context, the Guidelines are now available on request from the Waterford Healing Arts Trust (WHAT) and the HSE South (Cork) Arts + Health programme and online from their websites. Feedback on the Guidelines is invited from artists and others working in the arts and health sector until 31 October 2009. The Guidelines will be reviewed accordingly in light of feedback received.
www.waterfordhealingarts.com
www.hse.ie/eng/services/news/Arts_Practice_in_Healthcare_-_New_Guidelines.html
October 23, 2009
UNVEILING OF FIRST PUBLIC ARTWORK FOR TITANIC QUARTER, BELFAST
The unveiling of the first public artwork for the Titanic Quarter in Belfast has been announced. 'Kit', a sculpture by Essex-based artist Tony Stallard, will be launched on 29 October 2009. Through an open submission competition, ArtSpark NI on behalf of Titanic Quarter Ltd and Arts & Business NI commissioned the piece as part of its Integrated Arts Strategy for the Abercorn Residential Complex ARC. Production of the artwork coincides with completion of phase 1 of the ARC development designed by Robinson McIlwaine.
'Kit' is Stallardís largest public artwork to date and the largest funding project for Arts & Business to date, produced by Titanic Quarter at a budget of £200,000. The site-specific light sculpture cast in bronze work will be sited in the public realm area facing the Abercorn Basin. The sculpture is designed to offer a sense of shared ownership while simultaneously being playful and light-hearted and will be ambiently lit with blue and white phosphorous lighting that suggests the adjacent marine environment and the searchlights of ships. The launch of the work will coincide with the Queen's Festival 2009.
October 19, 2009
NIALL DE BUITLÉAR AWARDED IRISH ARTISTS' RESIDENTIAL STUDIO AWARD
Dublin City Council has announced that Niall De Buitléar is the recipient of The Irish Artists' Residential Studio Award 2009-2010 at The Red Stables in St. Anne's Park, Dublin 3. The Irish Artists' Residential Studio Award is intended to support an emerging visual artist at a crucial stage of their professional practice and includes studio and living accommodation at nominal rent at Dublin City Council's Red Stables studio complex and inclusion in exhibition programme at The LAB, Foley Street, Dublin 1.
Niall De Buitléar was born in 1983 in Dublin where he currently lives and works. In 2008 he had solo exhibitions at G126, Galway and at The LAB, Dublin. He has also participated in the two-person exhibitions 'Histories Matter' at Wexford Arts Centre, 2009 and 'One Way or Another' at Queen Street Studios, 2007. His work has been featured in group exhibitions at Green On Red Gallery, Dublin; Lewis Glucksman Gallery, Cork; and the Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius. De Buitléar hopes to use his time in the Irish Residential Studio to develop a new body of work in sculpture and drawing. He intends to take advantage of the generous space by producing work on a larger scale than he has in the past and also plans to experiment with new materials and techniques.
www.nialldebuitlear.com
www.theredstables.ie
October 19, 2009
RE-OPENING OF THE ULSTER MUSEUM
The Ulster Museum in Belfast will re-open to the public this Thursday, 20 October 2009, at 11.30am, following the completion of a £17 million refurbishment, with a major retrospective of work by Sean Scully. Situated in Belfast's Botanic Gardens, the Ulster Museum opened in 1929 as a centre for collections of fine and applied art, as well as history and natural sciences. The refurbished museum features a suite of nine adjoining art galleries, a 25-metre high atrium with glass and steel walkways and new restaurant and learning zone facilities.
Entitled 'Constantinople or the Sensual Concealed: The Imagery of Sean Scully', the inaugural exhibition in the redeveloped Ulster Museum will run until February 2010. The exhibition of work by Sean Scully will chronicle his career from the early grid paintings of the 1970s through to the 'Wall of Light' series shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2006 and recent new work. Accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, the show has been organised in conjunction with the MKM - Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art in Duisburg, Germany and is curated by Susanne Kleine.
www.nmni.com/um
October 19, 2009
FIRE STATION ARTISTS' STUDIOS COMMISSION AT ISTANBUL BIENNIAL
A film by Polish artist Artur Zmijewski commissioned by Fire Station Artists' Studios in Dublin 1 is currently being screened in Turkey as part of the Istanbul Biennial from 12 September to 8 November 2009. 'Two Monuments' (2009) by Artur Zmijewski is the result of an invitation by Fire Station as part of its annual Studio Award (2008-2009) to develop a project in Dublin looking at the changing nature of Polish / Irish relationships and the labour market.
For 'Two Monuments', the artist worked with Polish and Irish unemployed men and women in Fire Station Artists' Studios. ëDemocraciesí (2009) by Zmijewski, also being shown at the Biennial, consists of a series of short films exploring the diversity of political uses of public space, and includes a short film documenting the annual 12th of July Parades in Belfast, shot by the artist during his residency.
www.iskv.org/bienal
www.firestation.ie
October 14, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL CHAIRPERSON SPEAKS OUT AGAINST PROPOSED FUNDING CUTS
The Chairman of the Arts Council, Ms Pat Moylan, has said it would be folly for the Government to treat the arts as some kind of luxury that would be easy to cut in a recession and has warned against ìthoughtless hackingî at the Arts Council's budget. Instead she said the arts should be embraced and its job creation potential exploited at a time of major unemployment.
Speaking to the Oireachtas Committee on the Arts, where her delegation included actor Brendan Gleeson and writer Colum McCann, both of whom were funded by the Arts Council in the early stages of their careers, Ms Moylan said if successful Irish artists were sports stars, they would be more feted in Ireland. Also with Ms Moylan was actor Gabriel Byrne, who accompanied the delegation as a show of his support for the Arts Council.
She warned that if cuts went ahead to the Arts Councilís budget, there was a danger that the inspirational role of the arts would be lost. 'There is no point crying over the spilt milk, let's hold on tightly to what we have. I believe that the arts provide a vital uplifting of the soul of the nation. I know it is something not apparent to everybody. They might not realise it ñ until it is gone that is. Until theatres go dark, until festivals are cancelled, until artists and actors join the interview queue for Dunnes Stores. Until we reverse the progress of probably the most successful sector in Irish life. Until we turn our faces toward the prospect of a cultural desert.'
Ms Moylan told the Committee: 'I would like to illustrate the folly of treating the arts as some leisure pastime for the middle classes - Something nice to-have but not need-to-have, in tough times, something that the state can save money on at the moment without too much negative consequence. I don't deride that point of view. I can understand how people carrying out an emergency exercise on the nationís finances might have seen it as an obvious and legitimate target and moved on. But it is a flawed analysis and a faulty conclusion,' Ms Moylan said.
'And I am saying this not only as a lover of the arts. I am saying it as a business woman. It simply makes bad business sense. The Arts Council supports 3,000 jobs (both directly and indirectly) with the €73 million allocation it receives from the taxpayer. In turn, those organisations pay €65 million in direct and indirect taxes each year.
'Artists, actors, musicians and all those in the broad arts family - work with a sense of vocation. Certainly they gain much personal satisfaction when their work goes well. But to follow this way of life they are prepared to submit to low earnings, periods of no earnings, to continuous assessment of their work and talent - much of it public, to insecurity of employment or the loneliness of working in front of a computer or canvas. There are no pension schemes, no lavish expenses, no sinecures. In other words there is no fat! Funding cuts go straight to the bone.'
Ms Moylan said of the Irish winners of Tony awards, Booker prizes and Nobel prizes for literature: ìThey are well regarded in Ireland. But can you imagine how treasured these people would be if they were Olympic Gold medallists, Golf major winners, Triple Crown champions. How we would clamour for more facilities in pools, tracks, pitches, stadia, coaching and training to ensure more success in the future. And quite right too. But in the arts world that is exactly what we have. Proven champions and winners.
'Their success says much about them as people. But it also declares to the world that a country which breeds and produces such illustrious achievement, such creative talent must itself have a lot to offer. Something to offer to cultural tourists, to inward investors, to companies seeking to locate enterprises, to other creative organisations needing the feed of art skills to serve their own creative work.
'Thoughtless hacking at the artistic foundation from which they emerged will reduce our chances of future champions of the arts. Where will the next Seamus Heaney come from, the next Anne Enright or indeed the next Brendan Gleeson, the next Gabriel Byrne? These are the names that act like a magnet when it comes to bringing tourists into this country. Culture Tourism is worth €2.1 billion annually to the economy - it can't be ignored.
Ms Moylan said the job potential of arts and culture, where another 10,000 jobs could be created, needed to be exploited. 'There is tremendous potential for growing jobs in the interface between the arts and other creative industries. Let me give you just one example - the field of video games and on-line games. That is a growth sector if ever there was one. But this sector needs narrative, actors' voices, visual artists, music etc. And there are other potential sources of creative and innovative enterprise starting or locating here in Ireland because of our reputation and the reality that we in Ireland are a creative people,' Ms Moylan told the Committee. The Arts Council, she said, will be targeting this collaboration with creative companies as an area that can be stimulated.
www.artscouncil.ie
October 14, 2009
DETAILS OF NEW ART FAIR 09 AT RDS ANNOUNCED
Details of the new Art Fair 09 RDS in Dublin 4 have been announced. The Royal Dublin Society has been showcasing visual art since its establishment in 1731, and following the discontinuation of Art Ireland, staged annually at the RDS for 8 years, the new project, Art Fair 09 RDS, will launch this year from 13 to 15 November 2009.
Art Fair 09 RDS will include work by past exhibitors and develop new aspects of the show which will draw on the legacy of Art Ireland. The show will including the last chance to see selected work by recent graduates and students from art colleges throughout the country at the annual RDS Student Art Awards Exhibition, as well as a series of lectures and presentations by artists, curators and personalities from the visual arts sector, including Mick O'Dea, Oliver Dowling and Valerie Connor, in the new Reading Area.
As well as featuring work from over 100 galleries, Art Fair 09 RDS will include the new ëArt on the Balconyí area, which will showcase work by emerging Irish artists Aideen Barry, Suzannah Vaughan, Sinead Curran and Elaine Hurley. Art Fair 09 RDS takes place in the RDS Main Hall from 13 to 15 November 2009. Tickets can be booked in advance by contacting:
T: 0818 719 300
www.ticketmaster.ie
www.rds.ie/artfair09
October 14, 2009
AN COSÁN GLAS LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE
An Cosán Glas, the annual environmental sculpture project established by artists from Falcarragh and Gortahork in Co. Donegal in 1995, has announced the launch of a new website documenting the project from its beginnings to this year's Donegal Culture Night on 25 September 2009 when the site was launched by Cllr. Jim Lynch, Mayor of Letterkenny.
An Cosán Glas was set up by Deirdre Brennan, Annjo Carr and Seamus Kennedy in the Baile Chonaill Estate Gardens in Falcarragh to promote the visual arts in the Donegal Gaeltacht. Each year the group of core and invited artists create a sculpture trail in the area between Errigal Mountain and Tory island on the north west coast of Co. Donegal during the Earagail Arts Festival. Since 2004 the project has focused on 'Loinnir', a series of night time exhibitions of giant illuminated sculptures in the sand dunes on Magheraroarty Beach.
The new website features images from each of the 15 sculpture trails to date, details of participating artists and information on Saothair Ealaíon, An Cosán Glas' education programme for primary and secondary school students in Irish-speaking areas of Donegal.
www.cosanglas.com
October 12, 2009
ARTIST IN THE COMMUNITY SCHEME PUBLICATION LAUNCH
Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, has announced that it is to host a reception to celebrate the publication of 'Artist in the Community Scheme: Four Essays' in partnership with the Arts Council and in association with Tallaght Community Arts on 5 November 2009. The launch reception will take place at RUA RED, South Dublin Arts Centre in Tallaght from 4 to 6pm.
'Artist in the Community Scheme: Four Essays' is a co-publication by Create and the Arts Council that outlines how the Artist in the Community Scheme has become a key mechanism through which collaborative arts is understood as a vibrant and dynamic contemporary art practice since its inception.
The book will feature a collection of four essays by artists Rhona Byrne, Susan Gogan, Declan Gorman and Ríonach Ní Néill documenting work produced through the Artist in the Community Scheme, which Create manages on behalf of the Arts Council. The book will be of interest to individual artists across all art forms, community groups, local arts officers, arts institutions and those in the wider collaborative art sector.
To book your place at the launch on 5 November contact:
E: communications@create-ireland.ie
www.create-ireland.ie
www.artscouncil.ie
October 12, 2009
VAI PROMOTES NORTHERN IRELAND SERVICES ON BROWN&BRI BELFAST KIOSKS
Brown&Bri are now managing advertising spaces on five new telephone kiosks in central Belfast which have been transformed into designated arts and cultural information points. Visual Artists Ireland is currently utilising the Kiosks to promote our services and programmes for artists in Northern Ireland.
Brown&Bri is a curatorial model with an emphasis on the development of new work and collaborative practice. The duo work with individuals, organisations, collectives and institutions to curate and deliver artistic projects, and they are also hoping to curate the kiosks in Belfast once a year as art spaces for 2D work. Although primarily working in the visual arts, Brown&Bri are interested in all forms of creative problem solving and communication.
Bookings are still being taken for advertising spaces on the Kiosks, and details are available from:
E: brownandbri@googlemail.com
October 7, 2009
LAUNCH OF BRIAN O'DOHERTY / PATRICK IRELAND PUBLICATION ANNOUNCED
The book 'Brian O'Doherty/Patrick Ireland: Between Categories' by Brenda Moore-McCann will be published by Lund Humphries in late November 2009 and launched by Enrique Juncosa at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in early December 2009.
This will be the first book published on the complex figure of Brian O'Doherty, who renounced his name following the Bloody Sunday killings in Northern Ireland in 1972 and was known as Patrick Ireland for 36 years, until 2008. Covering all aspects of the career of both artistic personae, using artworks and writings from the 1960s to the present, the publication will provide contexts for the multiple layers of O'Doherty/Ireland's work and artistic identity.
'Brian O'Doherty/Patrick Ireland: Between Categories' (hardback, 270 x 228 mm. 208 pages with 120 colour and 30 b&w illustrations, ISBN 978-1-84822-014-0), can be ordered now for the special online price of £31.50 from:
www.lundhumphries.com
October 7, 2009
SCULPTOR EAMONN O'DOHERTY SHORTLISTED FOR WOLSEY ARTWORK COMMISSION
Irish sculptor Eamonn O'Doherty has been shortlisted from an international call for submissions for the competition 'A Wolsey Artwork for Ipswich' which closed on 18 September 2009. The brief for this major public art commission supported by Ipswich Borough Council is for a sculpture of Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, one of the most influential figures in Tudor England, which will be located in his native Suffolk, England. A final decision on the competition will be made in December 2009 and the £100,000 work is to be completed in 2010.
O'Doherty also has an exhibition of small work opening on 8 October 2009 in the United Arts Club, 3 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2. The exhibition of drawings, paintings and small sculptures runs until 26 October 2009.
October 5, 2009
DAVID CREEDON NOMINATED FOR DEUTSCHE BORSE PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE 2010
Irish photographer David Creedon has been nominated for the prestigious Deutsche Borse Photography Prize 2010. The Deutsche Borse Photography Prize is awarded annually by The Photographers' Gallery in London to the contemporary photographer of any nationality who is judged to have made the most significant contribution to the medium of photography in Europe in the previous year.
Each year The Photographers' Gallery invites European photography experts and professionals to form the Academy that nominates living photographers for the Deutsche Borse Photography Prize. Four nominees are selected to exhibit their work at The Photographers' Gallery by an international jury, and from these one photographer is chosen to receive the £30,000 award, with the other three finalists each receiving £3,000.
David Creedon was born in Cork and his work has been described as conceptual documentary photography. Recent projects include 'Ghosts of the Faithful Departed', 'Una Corda' and 'Variations on Pianoforte', and he has exhibited widely in Ireland, America, and Great Britain. Creedon's work has also been chosen for the 'official selection' at the International Photography Awards in New York in October 2009.
www.davidcreedon.com
www.photonet.org.uk/index.php?pid=8
October 5, 2009
THE MODEL RECEIVES MAJOR FUNDING BOOST FOR REDEVELOPMENT
On 1 October 2009, The Model in Sligo announced that it has been awarded €2.4 million from the EU/Border Midlands Western Regional Assembly, providing a major boost to funding for its ambitious redevelopment programme. The BMW Fund is allocated from an advance payment of the EU Structural Funds to Ireland, representing a continuation of the Assemblyís commitment to the development of Sligo under the National Spatial Strategy framework and prioritised in the BMW Regional Operational Programme 2007-2013.
Construction on the redevelopment of the Model Arts and Niland Gallery stared in April this year and it is due for completion at the end of 2009, with the centre's re-opening scheduled for spring 2010. The project will see The Model expand in size by over a third in an attempt to realise its potential and consolidate its position as a flagship cultural centre in Ireland. The Future Model will deliver high-level incubation spaces for creative industries, a purpose built performance space and artists' studios. Meanwhile the existing building will house a new gallery and exhibition space, a restaurant and additional education spaces. The total estimated cost of the project comes in at €5 million.
Speaking on the announcement of the €2.4 million award, The Model's Director, Seamus Kealy, and Chair, Bernadette O'Shea, welcomed the allocation of funding to The Future Model and expressed their gratitude, describing the award as an investment in the economic, social and cultural development of Sligo. It is estimated the award will also contribute to the creation of an additional 23 construction jobs.
www.modelart.ie/futuremodel.htm
October 5, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES 2nd ROUND ARITST IN THE COMMUNITY SCHEME 2009 DECISIONS
Last week the Arts Council announces the decisions on the 2nd Round of the Artist in the Community Scheme 2009. The Arts Council offers grants to enable artists working in all artforms and communities of place/interest to work together on projects twice a year. The Artist in the Community Scheme is managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, and this round sees 13 visual artists receiving Artist in the Community Awards.
The artists and communities awarded Phase 1: Research + Development Awards were Laura Fitzgerald and Respond Housing Association; Jessica Foley, St. George's Hill Primary School, The Market Studios and local fruit market vendors and traders; Adam Burthom and Carrick on Shannon Car Boot Sale; Marie Brett, Cork University Hospital Maternity Unit and Ballyphehane & Togher Community Art & Craft Initiative; Monica de Bath and Bord na Móna workers; John Byrne and The Religious/Theologians; Carol Kavanagh and Fourwinds Lithuanian School; and Cathy Henderson and Education Unit Wheatfield Prison.
Successful visual arts applicants for Phase 2: Project Realisation Awards were Joanna McGlynn and White Oaks Rehabilitation Centre residents; Alan Bulfin and Comhairle na nÓg/Galway Arts Centre; Aileen Lambert and St. Kevin's Family Resource Centre; Jay Koh and Irish Chinese Culture & Sports Association; and Fiona Whelan and Rialto Youth Project.
www.artscouncil.ie
www.create-ireland.ie
September 30, 2009
CENTRE CULTUREL IRELANDAIS BRINGS IRISH VISUAL ART TO PARIS
The Centre Culturel Irlandais at the Irish College in Paris continues to play an ongoing role in the international promotion and support of the Irish visual arts sector with a full programme of exhibitions and events this autumn that includes work by over 25 Irish artists. The Centre Culturel Irlandais exhibits a wide range of art forms, including visual art, film, literature and music, with a programme developed by the Centre's Director, Sheila Pratschke.
With the support of Culture Ireland, the next three months will see the Centre Culturel Irlandais host 'Gax Killer', an interactive kinetic sculpture by Malachi Farrell in the courtyard space from 18 September to 15 November, and for the first time the Centre will be included on the official route through the Latin Quarter for the Nuit Blanche on 3/4 October 2009, when countless galleries, museums and cultural centres in the city will open their doors free of charge to visitors through the night.
From 28 to 31 October 2009, the Centre will preview the first screening in France of AIB Art Prize-winners Anne Cleary and Denis Connollyís most recent video installation, 'Moving Dublin' (2009), before hosting 'Into Irish Drawing', a showcase of contemporary drawing featuring work by artists including Gary Coyle, Timothy Emlyn Jones, Brian Fay, Mark Francis, David Godbold, Anita Groener, Katie Holten, Alice Maher, Niamh McCann, Eoin McHugh and Bea McMahon. The exhibition will be on show from 6 November to 18 December 2009.
For full details of the Centre Culturel Irlandais' upcoming programme please visit:
www.centreculturelirlandais.com
September 30, 2009
CRISTINA BUNELLO RECEIVES CAVANACOR GALLERY AWARD 2009
The Cavanacor Gallery in Lifford, Co. Donegal, has announced that Cristina Bunello is the recipient of this year's Peter O'Kane Solo Exhibition at Cavanacor Gallery Award. The award was presented at the opening of the Royal Dublin Society Student Art Awards 2009.
For the second year, Cavanacor Gallery has offered The Peter O'Kane Solo Exhibition Award as part of the RDS Student Art Awards' ethos of recognising excellence in emerging Irish artists and supporting them in the development of their careers. The Award provides the chosen artist with a solo exhibition at the Cavanacor Gallery, curated by the Gallery Director, in summer 2010, as well as mentoring the artist on the selection, display and promotion of their work in the art world.
Cristina Bunello recently graduated from the National College of Art and Design with a BA in Painting. Her work often features young girls, and in her paintings the images are used as a tool to probe questions of reality and perception. Her work was recently included in the exhibitions 'NEU! New Emerging Undergraduates' at Monster Truck Gallery & Studios and 'InDecision' at Broadstone XL.
www.cavanacorgallery.ie
September 28, 2009
SCULPTOR EDWARD DELANEY RHA DIES AGED 79
The death of sculptor Edward Delaney RHA last Tuesday, 22 September 2009, has been followed by many tributes from members of the Irish art world. Delaney died peacefully after a long illness and was buried following a Funeral Mass at Crossboyne Church in Crossboyne, Co. Mayo on Friday 25 September.
Born in Claremorris, Co. Mayo in 1930, Edward Delaney is best known for the large-scale public monuments to Irish patriots Wolfe Tone and Thomas Davis that were commissioned by the Irish government and are now located in St. Stephen's Green and College Green in Dublin 2. Delaney, a member of Aosd·na, studied at the National College of Art and Design and in Germany during the 1950s. Going on to represent Ireland in the Paris Biennale in 1959 and 1961 and at the World Fair in New York in 1965, he also participated in the establishment of the Project Arts Centre in Dublin in the 1970s.
Delaney initially worked in bronze before later experimenting with stainless steel, and his work is widely represented in both public and private collections throughout the country. The open-air sculpture park near his home in Carraroe, Co. Galway features a large body of his work, and his work can also be seen at St. Michael the Archangel church in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway and on the UCD campus at Belfield in Dublin 4.
Speaking following the announcement of his death, Mary Cloake, Director of the Arts Council, described Edward Delaney as 'an outstanding sculptor, a pioneer in situating work in the public domain'.
September 23, 2009
CLAREMORRIS OPEN EXHIBITION AWARDS 2009
The Claremorris Open Exhibition 2009 was officially opened on Saturday 5 September 2009 by Cllr. Gerard Mannix Flynn and exhibition curator and adjudicator Tom Morton awarded prizes to Joint First Prize Winners Laurence Kavanagh (London) for his installation 'Volta' and David O'Kane (Donegal) for his video 'Palabras'. The winner of the Emerging Artist Award was Lisa Fingleton (Kerry) for her video installation 'Outside I'm Singing'.
Tom Morton is curator of Hayward Art Gallery, in London's Southbank Centre, co-curator of the next British Art Show and contributing editor of Frieze art magazine). The Claremorris Open Exhibition runs until Saturday 26 September 2009.
www.coearts.org
www.davidokane.com
September 23, 2009
2009 IRISH CONTEMPORARY CERAMIC AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Six awards were presented to ceramicists as part of the 2009 Irish Contemporary Ceramic Awards at The Hallward in Dublin 2 at the opening of the exhibition 'Ceramics at The Hallward' on Thursday 17 September 2009. From an open call that received over 300 submissions, 45 artists were selected to exhibit in the exhibition of around 80 works, and from these a panel of judges selected the six award winners.
The Hallward Award was won by Nuala O'Donovan who completed her MA at the Crawford College in Cork in 2008. This year OíDonovan was also the recipient of the RDS National Craft Competition and the Crafts Council - Emerging Maker Award. The Ceramics Ireland Award was won by SinÈad Glynn for Best Innovative Work, while Alison Kay scooped the Etain Hickey Award and Peter Surginor received the Zozimus Gallery Award For Vision. Also recognised for their work on the night were Grainne Watts, Deign Yard Award winner, and The Crafts Council of Ireland Award recipient for Excellence in Making, Jim Turner.
Award-winners work is on show at The Hallward until 10 October 2009.
www.hallwardgallery.com
September 21, 2009
COW HOUSE RESIDENCY AWARD-WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Cow House Studios, in partnership with Wexford Arts Centre, has announced that the recipient of the 2009 International Artist in Residence and Exhibition is Canadian artist Julie Lequin. Cow House Studios has also awarded two residencies to London-based artist Aoife Collins and William Rueck from America. All three artists are in residence at Cow House Studios near Rathnure, Co. Wexford, for ten weeks from 14 September to 22 November 2009. As part of her award Julie Lequin will exhibit her work at Wexford Arts Centre in January 2010.
Cow House Studios is a progressive artist space set in the rural farmland of Co. Wexford. Each year Cow House Studios awards three 10-week residencies, two of which are open to both Irish and international artists, and one residency in collaboration with the Wexford Arts Centre, where an international artist exhibits following their residency. The residency programme at Cow House Studios is intended to offer a valuable support structure for emerging and mid career artists.
www.cowhousestudios.com
September 21, 2009
MARTIN CULLEN TD SPEAKS IN SUPPORT OF CULTURAL AND CREATIVE SECTOR
Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism today (Saturday 19 September 2009) said that ìthe Irish imagination is one of our greatest assets and that creative ideas are the lifeblood of innovation and economic success.î The Minister was speaking at the Global Irish Economic Forum in Farmleigh, Dublin. The Minister also said that new research has shown that the cultural and creative sector is one of the most dynamic areas of the Irish economy, with a total economic impact last year of Ä11.8 billion.
Speaking on the theme, ëPromoting Brand Ireland through our global cultural profileí, the Minister said: 'As other elements of Irelandís international reputation and success have been challenged in the last year, Irish culture has come into focus as one of our most important national assets and selling points in building brand Ireland. The celebrations this year of Seamus Heaneyís 70th and Brian Frielís 80th birthdays and U2's technologically groundbreaking 360 tour are reminders of Irelandís position as a world leader in this field.'
The Minister said that the global association of Ireland with creativity and imagination has the potential to support the Governmentís Smart Economy strategy; reinforce the branding of Ireland as the 'Innovation Island'; position the country as a global creative hub and an attractive destination for foreign direct investment; and drive the dynamic growth area of cultural tourism.
According to a new research document, the 'Economic Impact of the Cultural Sector' by DKM Economic Consultants, the cultural and creative sectors are in themselves a major sector of the economy in terms of both output and employment (defining the cultural sector as arts and cultural heritage, and the creative sector as audiovisual, film, music, publishing, architecture, design and advertising).
- Taking into account economic multipliers, the ìvalue addedî dependent on the cultural and creative sectors in 2008 was Ä11.8 billion, or the equivalent of 7.6% of total GNP;
- Employment dependent on the cultural and creative sectors combined in 2008 was 170,000 or 8.7% of total employment in the economy;
- This represents a return on direct exchequer expenditure of Ä330m.
The Minister also said that the link between the cultural and tourism brands is ìparticularly powerful.î Tourism Ireland have identified ìsightseers and culture seekersî as the best international tourist prospects, currently accounting for almost 60% of all holidaymakers to the island of Ireland. There is also strong growth potential. Of the 115m potential visitors to Ireland in the ten largest markets, 75m have a strong interest in sightseeing and culture, and for 33m of those, it is their core holiday motivation. A total of 73,000 Irish jobs are at least partly dependent on overseas cultural tourism to Ireland (DKM).
Also according to the DKM study, projected growth for the sector is also above trend:
- The cultural and creative sectors are globally among the fastest growing, representing 7% of global GDP and growing at 10% per annum;
- Cultural tourism is expected to grow at 15% per annum;
- The culture-related sectors are thus projected to grow at two to three times the rate for the economy as a whole and will be one of the key growth areas for Ireland in the next decade.
Additionally, the Minister also referenced a newly-published report by the Ireland Funds, 'The Global Irish Making a Difference Together: a comparative review of international diaspora strategies', which comments that 'Culture is the great ëGateway to Irelandí, has a powerful role to play in connecting with the global Irish and should be part of all our strategies. Our culture provides us with a significant competitive advantage.'
Minister Cullen said that the global profile of 'Irish cultural icons, past and present, indelibly associates Ireland with world-class achievement in creativity and the arts and that each generation is producing great artists who renew and refresh the historic strength of the offer.'
He said that, 'When world leaders refer to Ireland, it is often through a quote from W B Yeats, Oscar Wilde or Seamus Heaney.' It is important that we should, 'never take for granted the world-class success and recognition of Irish artists and creative entrepreneurs.'
'The Government has a clear strategy for promoting Irish arts and culture internationally and we established Culture Ireland four years ago to take on this challenge. Since then the agency has promoted and supported over 1,350 Irish cultural initiatives and events in 74 countries. In theatre and dance alone in 2008, live international audiences of over 530,000 experienced Culture-Ireland funded productions world wide.'
The Minister also acknowledged the ongoing work of the Irish Film Board. In the last month, seven new Irish feature films supported and promoted by the Irish Film Board were selected for screening in competition at the 2009 Toronto Film Festival.
The Minister also acknowledged the Arts Council - which is funded by the taxpayer through the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism - and the role it plays in providing the core funding to Irish artists and companies, which enables them to create the work which is subsequently promoted and presented worldwide. It also supports artists to undertake international training, research and development, and works with Culture Ireland on major international arts projects such as the Venice Art and Architecture Biennales.
September 14, 2009
NEW GALLERY OF PHOTOGRAPHY EXTENSION OPENED BY MINISTER MARTIN CULLEN
The new roof-level extension to the Gallery of Photography in Temple Bar's Meeting House Square in Dublin 2 was formally opened last Wednesday, 9 September 2009, by Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
The new extension, known as 'The Light Room', was designed by OíDonnell & Tuomey Architects as a flexible multi-purpose space suited to a range of activities, from site-specific exhibitions to education workshops and projects. Established in 1978, the Gallery of Photography engages with new and existing audiences through a range of initiatives including artistic programmes, outreach work, photography training courses and the provision of darkroom facilities.
The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism provided €437,500 in capital funding to the Gallery of Photography to facilitate the development of The Light Room as part of the ACCESS programme.
www.galleryofphotography.ie
September 9, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL TO ARGUE FOR A CONTINUATION OF ARTISTS' TAX EXEMPTION
In a statement issued on Monday 7 September 2009, the Arts Council has said that it is to argue for the continuation of the Artists' Tax Exemption Scheme. The Arts Council has reported that it will make a strong case to Government for the retention of the tax exemption scheme, the discontinuation of which was recommended by the Taxation Commission's report, also published on Monday.
Ms Pat Moylan, Chairman of the Arts Council, was quoted as saying that the Arts Councilís unequivocal advice to the Minister for Finance and the Government will be that the tax exemption scheme should be retained in its entirety. Outlining the issues that the Arts Council has with the Commission's recommendation 8.98, Ms Moylan emphasised the detrimental effects that the removal of the Artists' Tax Exemption could have on artists who would be directly affected by an abolition of the scheme and on the country's global cultural profile.
Ms Moylan's comments may be read in full on the Arts Council's website.
www.artscouncil.ie/en/news/news.aspx?article=4df23294-2946-4a53-9cfa-88fd732fc887
September 7, 2009
VAI CONDEMNS ATTACK ON ARTISTS' TAX EXEMPTION ON CREATIVE WORKS
In the Taxation Commission report published today we see another attack on the Artists Tax Exemption Scheme. In the recommendation 8.98 the Commission has called for a complete abolition of the tax exemption. The fact that individual artists are one of the most economically deprived groups that punch above their own weight in their contribution to Irish society has been ignored.
In our recent survey, 'The Social Economic and Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland' (published June 2009), Visual Artists Ireland shows that many of Ireland's visual artists live below the poverty line. We have outlined that 67% of visual artists earn less than €10,000 from their creative works each year. A further 24% earn between €10,000 and €25,000. They are therefore dependent on additional supports to make ends meet. Our report shows that 33% of artists earn less than €10,000 in total earnings. A further 34% earn between €10,000 and €25,000. These total earnings are comprised of income from creative work, and part time or casual labour earnings that are subject to the normal levels of taxation. But, as with most sectors of the economy, opportunities for supplementing creative earnings are diminishing. Therefore, with these current recommendations we will see more and more visual artists being made to take advantage of the social welfare system to allow them to make ends meet.
Visual artists are also unique in that their primary purpose in creating artistic work is not so as to gain financial reward. The ethos that drives visual artists to make art is not economic. The act of creating is not motivated by profit and artists do not normally tailor their 'product' to an economic consumer. Visual artists also create on a continuous basis without any guarantee of financial success. Financially speaking this is a very high-risk strategy and the value of an artists' work (economic or otherwise) may take many years to be recognised. The value therefore of what visual artists contribute is of immense worth. It is also worth noting that no consideration is made for the fact that visual artists are a part of the indigenous economy. Visual artists do no repatriate funds outside of the country. In fact, it is quite the opposite. By their very nature, visual artists who may utilise the Tax Exemption Scheme contribute these savings directly back into the Irish economy. The Tax Exemption Scheme is one of a small number of incentives that artists have to continue to remain in Ireland and to make work.
It has been noted that the largest subsidy to the cultural life of Ireland comes not from governments, corporations or other patrons, but from the artists themselves, through their unpaid or underpaid labour. Artists need the every incentive to continue to create. The withdrawal of the scheme would have an adverse effect not only on individual artists but on the arts sector as a whole and more especially on the public's engagement with, and enjoyment of the arts in Ireland. In order to maintain a cultural climate we need to invest in our artists, we need to value and recognise what artists contribute and we need to create a sympathetic climate in which the arts can flourish. By abolishing Tax Exempt status for artists the government would remove one of the key incentives for artists to live, work and produce art in Ireland.
Ireland's image abroad is consistently sold on its cultural heritage. The regeneration of our country as an attractive location for inward investment places great emphasis on the attractiveness of this cultural heritage. The Artists' Tax Exemption Scheme has created an image of Ireland abroad as a liberal, forward-thinking country proud and confident of its own culture and one that values its creative practitioners. If the scheme were to be abolished not only would it be a blow to the artists who avail of the scheme but it would send out a signal internationally indicating a changing attitude of the Irish state to the value it places on the arts in Ireland.
In the short term the removal of the Artists' Tax Exemption scheme may seem an attractive proposition to Government. Visual Artists Ireland believes, however, that the benefit derived from the removal of the scheme would be far outweighed by the problems it would create in the long term. There is always pressure on artists to become more self sufficient and not to rely so heavily on direct public subsidy in the production of their work. The Tax Exemption scheme is an indirect way of encouraging and facilitating the production of new work by creative artists without the need for direct grant aid. The removal of the Tax Exemption scheme would lead to further reliance on direct public subsidy for funding of the arts and place greater pressure on an already overstretched Arts Council, as well as placing yet more people on to the live register.
September 7, 2009
LAURA FITZGERALD SELECTED FOR PUBLIC ART COMMISSION, LAOIS
The principal, staff and board of management of Presentation Primary School on Station Road, Portarlington, Co. Laois, under the Department of Education & Science, have announced that the PerCent for Art Scheme public art commission of €27,500 for a new public artwork for the school has been awarded to emerging artist Laura Fitzgerald.
Originally from Inch, Co. Kerry, Laura Fitzgerald graduated from NCAD in 2007 and has participated in numerous group shows nationally. This summer she completed a residency with Waterford Healing Arts Trust, resulting in her recent solo show ëOnce Upon A Timeí at the WHAT Centre for Arts & Health, Waterford Regional Hospital and Index Gallery, Central Library, Lady Lane, Waterford. Her practice examines notions of memory and relationships between individuals through a research process based in drawing.
Fitzgerald was awarded the commission for the Presentation Primary School work for her project proposal which considers themes central to the ethos of the school; namely science, learning, growth, education, spirituality, creativity and the schoolís place within the wider community of Portarlington. The artist will spend some time collecting and documenting memories from the school's teachers, pupils and staff before completing the series of interior wall pieces and three interior sculptures that will form the outcome of the commissioned project. It is intended that the commissioned artworks will be installed before the end of 2009.
August 31, 2009
VISUAL ANNOUNCES DETAILS OF OFFICIAL OPENING NIGHT
VISUAL Centre for Contemporary Art & the George Bernard Shaw Theatre in Carlow has announced the details of the new arts centre's official opening night which will take place on Thursday 24 September 2009.
Opening with a new performance by Amanda Coogan from 6pm onwards, VISUAL will celebrate its official launch with an inaugural exhibition programme including artists Joseph Albers, Polly Apfelbaum, Brian Connolly, Maud Cotter, Yingmei Duan, Richard Gorman, Neva Elliott, Cecil King, Alastair MacLennan, Tadhg McSweeney, Eilís O'Connell, Declan Rooney, Patrick Scott, Sean Shanahan, Sean Scully, Charles Tyrrell, Ciarán Walsh and Michael Warren. Daphne Wright will present a work commissioned by Visualise/Carlow Arts Office in addition to a new public art work commissioned under the PerCent for Art scheme by Eileen McDonagh.
For those who intend on travelling from Dublin to Carlow for the launch event, a bus will run from outside the Hugh Lane Gallery on Parnell Square on 24 September (departing at 6.15pm) to arrive at VISUAL at 7.30pm approx., with late return back to Dublin (departing at approx. 10.30pm). Fare: €5 return.
For further information please contact VISUAL at:
E: info@visualcarlow.ie
www.visualcarlow.ie
August 24, 2009
NEW PUBLIC ARTWORK FOR ORMEAU ROAD RAILWAY BRIDGE
A new public artwork on the Ormeau Road Railway Bridge in Belfast will be launched this Thursday, 27 August 2009. Commissioned as part of the Re-imaging Communities Projects, managed by Belfast City Council and funded by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, the unveiling of the new artwork marks the culmination of a 10-month project led by artist Patricia Lavery.
The project aimed to produce an iconic representation of the many different cultures of people living in the area surrounding the Ormeau Road Railway Bridge and the workshop process saw a mixture of groups from Chinese, African-Caribbean, Protestant, Catholic and Irish Language communities taking part in the project. It is also hoped that the piece will define the gateway to the Ormeau Road and link this area with the Gasworks site and City Centre.
The Re-imaging Communities Programme is an initiative created by the Shared Communities Consortium to enable communities to improve their physical environment through public art and celebrate identity in a positive and creative way.
The launch of the commissioned piece will be held at Lárionad An Droichid, An Droichead's Cultural Centre on Cooke Street, with a site visit of the art piece followed by a reception in Lárionad an Droichid at 11am.
www.androichead.com
www.belfastcity.gov.uk/re-image
August 24, 2009
ULSTER MUSEUM TO RE-OPEN WITH SEAN SCULLY RETROSPECTIVE
The Ulster Museum in Belfast has announced that it is to re-open following its GBP17 million refurbishment with a major retrospective of work by Sean Scully. Entitled 'Constantinople or the Sensual Concealed: The Imagery of Sean Scully', the exhibition will run from late October 2009 to February 2010.
Situated in Belfast's Botanic Gardens, the Ulster Museum opened in 1929 as a centre for collections of fine and applied art, as well as history and natural sciences. The refurbished museum is set to re-open to the public on 22 October this year with a suite of nine adjoining art galleries, a 25-metre high atrium with glass and steel walkways and new restaurant and learning zone facilities. Central to the Ulster Museum's redevelopment is its ambition to host landmark international exhibitions and establish Belfast as a leading arts and cultural venue.
The exhibition of work by Sean Scully will chronicle his career from the early grid paintings of the 1970s through to the 'Wall of Light' series shown at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2006 and recent new work. Accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue, the show has been organised in conjunction with the MKM ñ Centre for Modern and Contemporary Art in Duisburg, Germany and is curated by Susanne Kleine.
www.nmni.com/um
August 19, 2009
FIRE STATION ARTISTS' STUDIOS & GERTRUDE STUDIOS EXCHANGE RESIDENCY 2009
Fire Station Artists' Studios has announced that as part of the Fire Station Artistsí Studios & Gertrude Studios Exchange Residency 2009, Irish visual artist Jesse Jones was awarded a studio and bursary of $1,500 earlier in the year.
As part of an exchange residency between Fire Station and Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces in Melbourne, Australia, Jesse travelled to Gertrude in June 2009 for 8 weeks where she worked on a film project for the Istanbul Biennale. This partnership between Fire Station and Gertrude began in 2008 and the first artist awarded the residency was Alicia Frankovich, who received a studio and bursary for 8 weeks at Fire Station Artistsí Studios in Dublin.
This residency exchange has been developed as part of a partnership to develop international opportunities for both Australian and Irish artists. Pallas Projects have committed to partnering with Fire Station for 2010 by offering an exhibition for the selected Australian exchange artist in February 2010.
www.firestation.ie
August 17, 2009
CLAREMORRIS OPEN EXHIBITION 2009 DETAILS ANNOUNCED
Claremorris Arts Committee has announced the names of the artists selected from over 200 submissions and proposals who will be exhibiting as part of this year's Claremorris Open Exhibition from 5 to 26 September 2009.
The Claremorris Open Exhibition has been taking place in Co. Mayo for over thirty years, and this year 37 participants were selected from an open call by Tom Morton, Curator at the Hayward Galleries Project Space and co-curator of the next British Art Show. He has curated numerous international exhibitions and is also Contributing Editor of Frieze magazine. As well as selecting the exhibiting artists for COE 2009 Morton will be curating the exhibition, selecting prizewinners and presenting awards totalling €8,000 in September.
The artists chosen to exhibit at COE 2009 are Olive Barrett, Cecilia Bullo, Peter Cabocky, Kieran Carey, Judy Carroll Deeley, Elizabeth Cleary, David Cochrane, Monica Collins, Loretto Cooney, Colm Desmond, Lisa Fingleton, Karen Forde, Michael Fortune, Edel Gelston, Steph Goodger, Fiona Hackett, Marie Hannon, David Kavanagh, Laurence Kavanagh, Monika Laskowska, Chris Leach, Mara Sola LÛpez, Gus Lynott, Selma Makela, Laura McMorrow, Margo McNulty, Nicos Nicolaou, Sarah O'Brien, Maureen O'Connor, David O'Kane, Magnhild Opdol, Tom Ranahan, Catherine Roberts, David Theobald, Saskia Vermeullen, Ian Wieczorek and Ann Wingfield.
www.coearts.org
August 17, 2009
RIVERBANK ARTS CENTRE RE-LAUNCHES
Following a period of reflection, extensive examination and refurbishment, Riverbank Arts Centre in Newbridge, Co. Kildare has been re-launched under new management.
Along with the fresh energy and programme of visual arts events that accompanies the new staff team at Riverbank comes the commissioning of two new artworks for the foyer of Riverbank. The works, 'My Butterfly Home' by Sinead McGeeney, an installation of 100 Perspex butterflies fluttering from the front door to the rear stairwell, and a series of prints by Niamh Moran entitled 'Dream Series' in the café space at the centre, have recently been installed.
The autumn visual arts programme at Riverbank Arts Centre will begin with 'Experiments in the Persistence of Vision', an exhibition of mixed media work including photography, projection and digital video by Kildare-based artist Oonagh OíBrien, which will be on show from 1 to 30 September 2009.
www.riverbank.ie
August 17, 2009
ACNI SHORTLIST FOR LONDON 2012 COMMISSIONS ANNOUNCED
On Friday 14 August 2009 the Arts Council of Northern Ireland in association with the Arts Council England and London 2012 announced the shortlist for Artists Taking the Lead, a series of 12 major commissions being awarded throughout the UK as part of the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.
The shortlisted projects for the Northern Ireland commission are 'The Nest' by Brian Irvine/John McIlduff (DUMB), 'Thaw' by Rita Duffy, 'Inspire Poetry 2012' by Verbal Arts Centre and Northern Ireland poets, 'The Big Deep Breath' by Paul Hutchinson and 'Rural Sports Exploration' by Helen Sharp and the Northern Irish Contemporary Arts Collective. Each shortlisted artist will receive a development grant of up to £2,000 to develop their proposals for presentation to the panel in late September and the final commission will be announced in October 2009.
The panel for the commission comprised of Paul Seawright (visual artist), Damien Gorman (playwright), Simon McWilliams (visual artist), Damien Smyth (Head of Drama & Literature, ACNI) and Cian Smyth (London 2012 Creative Programmer for Northern Ireland).
August 12, 2009
TBG&S AWARDS 14 NEW STUDIO AWARDS TO VISUAL ARTISTS
Temple Bar Gallery & Studios has welcomed 14 new artists to the organisation over the 2009-2010 period as part of TBG&S's annual awards for three-year Membership Studios and Project Studios of up to one year.
Three Membership Studios for a three-year period were awarded to artists David Godbold, Seamus Nolan and Sarah Pierce. Project Studios offer artists the opportunity to work on a specific project for shorter timeframes of up to one year. In 2009, one-year Project Studios were allocated to nine artists including Declan Clarke, Colin Crotty, Cora Cummins, Anita Delaney, Damien Flood, Stephen Gunning, Atsushi Kaga and Fiona McDonald, and three Project Studios for shorter periods were awarded to artists Niall de Buitlear, Seoidin O'Sullivan and Holly Pereira.
www.templebargallery.com
August 10, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES NEW DEADLINE FOR BURSARY AWARDS
The Arts Council has announced that the deadline for the next round of Bursary awards has been extended. Originally set for 5 November 2009, the new deadline is 21 January 2010. The Arts Council has advised that revised application forms and guidelines will be available in the near future.
The Arts Council's Bursary Award is focused on individual artists. The primary purpose of the Bursary Award is to support professional artists in developing their art. It aims to provide artists with the time, resources and freedom to think, research, reflect and develop their practice.
www.artscouncil.ie
August 10, 2009
ACNI PUBLISHES ANNUAL REVIEW 2008-2009
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has compiled and published its Annual Review 2008/09. The review of the year in the arts in Northern Ireland is published as a calendar-style review of the ACNI's combined Exchequer and National Lottery-funded activities for the financial year 2008-2009. The Annual Review is available to download as a PDF from:
www.artscouncil-ni.org/departs/all/report/annual/acni_annualreview2008_2009.pdf
August 10, 2009
KCAT CELEBRATES 10th ANNIVERSARY
KCAT (Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent) Art & Study Centre in Callan, Co. Kilkenny, has celebrated its 10th anniversary with a weekend of celebrations coinciding with the launch of the 2009 Kilkenny Arts Festival.
KCAT Art & Study Centre was established in 1999 after a pilot phase under the EU Horizon Programme as an open access Arts and Life Long Learning initiative promoted by the Camphill Communities. Over the years KCAT has built a new centre that delivers full and part time art and theatre courses and a studio programme that provides workspace to artists with learning disabilities and other disadvantages as well as professional arts practitioners. KCAT is strongly involved in the arts community both locally and internationally, with links to similar projects in Europe, Japan and Australia.
To mark the 10th anniversary of KCAT, Kilkenny Collective for Arts Talent hosted 'K-Ten', an evening of music and fireworks at the Abbey Meadow in Callan on Saturday 8 August 2009, where they also launched 'Art & Inclusion ñ The Story of KCAT', a research project exploring the relevance of inclusive arts practice and arts education as part of lifelong learning. 'Decade', an exhibition of work by studio members, runs at KCAT from 8 to 16 August 2009.
www.kcatkcat.blogspot.com
June 3, 2009
ANNE CLEARY & DENIS CONNOLLY AWARDED 2009 AIB PRIZE
At a reception at AIB Bankcentre in Dublin on 3 June 2009, AIB's Group Chief Executive, Eugene Sheehy, announced that Anne Cleary and Denis Connolly are this year's winner of the AIB Prize. Cleary & Connolly were nominated by Limerick City Gallery of Art for the prize, which aims to identify and support emerging Irish artists of exceptional talent.
Born in Ireland, in Tullamore and Dun Laoghaire respectively, this collaborative team of Cleary & Connolly studied Architecture in Dublin before moving to Paris in the early 1990s where they continue to live and work. Their work explores new technologies, often focusing on audience engagement with contemporary art practice. Outreach and community involvement are central to their practice, and the AIB Prize provides them with E20,000 to assist in the publication of a catalogue and to facilitate the production of new work for an exhibition in the Limerick City Gallery of Art, Limerick.
The three runners-up for this year's prize, who each received an award of E1,500, were Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh (Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo), Sonia Shiel (Temple Bar Gallery & Studios, Dublin) and Louise Manifold (Galway Arts Centre, Galway).
July 27, 2009
PATRICK BARRY SELECTED FOR DUNGARVAN PLAZA COMMISSION
Dungarvan Town Council, in association with Glanbia, has announced that the commission of a new artwork at the Plaza in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford has been awarded to sculptor Patrick Barry.
A national competition managed by Waterford County Arts Office was launched earlier in the year to select an appropriate work for the area on the approach to Dungarvan Shopping Centre which is on the site of a former creamery. The four shortlisted proposals went on public view in the Old Market House Arts Centre in Dungarvan during April and May 2009 and the public were invited to give their comments.
Patrick Barry, a sculptor from Belgooly, Co. Cork, was awarded the commission for his figurative limestone piece entitled 'Daily Balance'. The work depicts a man with a churn and its selection has been welcomed by Dungarvan Town Council representative Cllr. Teresa Wright and Liam Herlihy, Chairman of Glanbia. It is envisaged that the commissioned piece will be installed before the end of 2009.
July 20, 2009
KILDARE CO CO LAUNCHES NEW 3-YEAR ARTS STRATEGY DOCUMENTS
Kildare County Council recently launched three significant three-year arts policy and strategy documents in ¡ras Chill Dara, Naas, Co. Kildare. The documents are intended as companion documents to 'Making Inroads: An Arts Development Plan 2006-2011'. Cllr. Colm Purcell, Mayor of Co. Kildare, formally launched the documents with Lucina Russell, Arts Officer for Kildare County Council, acting as MC at the launch event.
The three documents include 'The Arts in Health Strategy', written by Nicola Dunne, Arts in Health Specialist; 'The Public Art Policy' prepared by Rina Whyte, Public Art Coordinator; and 'The Youth Arts Strategy', drafted by Eoghan Doyle, Assistant County Arts Officer. Collectively, the documents emphasise the importance of partnership between the three areas of Health, Public Policy and Youth Arts.
Copies of the strategy and policy documents are available on request from the Arts Service, Riverbank Arts Centre, in local libraries and online. For more information contact:
T: 045 448328
E: arts@kildarecoco.ie
www.kildare.ie/artsservices
July 20, 2009
VAI PUBLISHES SURVEY ON THE STATUS OF THE VISUAL ARTIST IN IRELAND
Visual Artists Ireland has published the results of a survey carried out by Visual Artists Ireland in December 2008 entitled 'The Social, Economic & Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland'.
Visual artists in Ireland today are thriving in terms of creative output. However, visual artists also represent some of the lowest paid members of society and in the current climate, some might feel their occupation is threatened or under attack ñ yet they continue to succeed to make work. Rather than try to merely prove these statements emotively, Visual Artists Ireland carried out a survey in December 2008 entitled 'The Social, Economic and Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland'.
A PDF version (approximately 17MB) of the survey is available from Visual Artists Ireland for the price of €10.00 (dispatched by email or by CD, P&P not included). Turnaround time on PDF orders is approximately 5 days. To order a PDF direct from VAI contact:
E: info@visualartists.ie
The survey has also been published online using lulu.com and is available to purchase as either a printed document or PDF at:
www.lulu.com/content/paperback-book/the-social-economic-fiscal-status-of-visual-artists-in-ireland/7378935
The printed version is 101 pages, 14.81 x 20.99 cm, perfect binding, white interior paper (60# weight), full-colour interior ink, white exterior paper (100# weight), full-colour exterior ink.
www.visualartists.ie
July 15, 2009
ELLA BURKE RECEIVES IMOCA 2009 GRADUATE RESIDENCY AWARD
The Irish Museum of Contemporary Art (IMOCA) has announced that Ella Burke is the recipient of the 2009 Graduate Residency Award. The four other artists shortlisted for the 2009 award were Niamh Ferris, Lyndsey McDougall, Jason Deans and Siobhan McGibbon.
The IMOCA Graduate Residency Award, now in its 2nd year, includes a one-year work studio residency at Moxie Studios in Dublin 8 and a solo exhibition facilitated and sponsored by IMOCA in 2010. Entry for the award was open to art students graduating with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from art courses in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Ella Burke graduated in 2009 with a BA in Visual Arts Practice from IADT. Her practice is centred on the investigation of the human decisive system and theories on causality through the inflation of public and personal space, and she is also a member of Deysed collaborative group.
www.ellaburke.blogspot.com
www.imoca.ie/residency.html
July 15, 2009
ARTWORK STOLEN FROM NCAD DURING DEGREE SHOW 2009
During the NCAD Degree Show (5 to 14 June 2009) a sculpture by Dublin based artist Cecilia Bullo was stolen from a store room in the Sculpture Department of the Granary Building at the National College of Art and Design at 100 Thomas Street, Dublin 8.
The piece was stored in a room near the exhibiting BA area of the department while the artist was exhibiting as part of the MA Fine Art Degree show in the Digital Depot. The piece is made of white porcelain and it measures 1.20m in length. It is the cast from a branch/walking stick which is part of an ongoing project based on Antonin Artaud.
In light of this theft, galleries, exhibiting venues, and auction houses are advised to be extra vigilant regarding security on their premises.
If anyone has any information as to the whereabouts of this sculpture, they should contact Garda Jackie Carolan at Kevin Street Garda Station on:
T: 01 6669400
To view the stolen piece or contact the artist please go to:
www.ceciliabullo.com
July 13, 2009
NEW PUBLICART.IE SITE GOES LIVE
Last week the new PublicArt.ie website went live with a special online artwork, 'Dreamships', by artist Aideen Barry, commissioned by the editors of the site to celebrate the launch. An initiative of the Arts Council, supported by the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism, PublicArt.ie is an online resource for and about public art practices in Ireland. It aims to be a useful resource for artists, commissioners, government departments and agencies, and the public.
PublicArt.ie hosts a number of resources including a Public Art Directory, information and advice on public art commissioning and funding, a 'Critical Contexts' section, and a blog. The 'Experiences' section features conversations with artists about their involvement in various public art projects, as well as texts by Alan Phelan, Annette Moloney, Ian Wilson, Ruairí Ó Cuív and Aisling Prior. Other features include a library resource of further reading and an artist books section that lists a number of publications that have been made from or in response to public art projects in Ireland.
Designed and developed by Roomthree Design, PublicArt.ie is edited by Sarah Searson and Cliodhna Shaffrey, and is managed by Jennifer Brady.
www.publicart.ie
July 6, 2009
EALAÍN NA GAELTACHTA AUDIT OF GAELTACHT ARTS
Ealaín na Gaeltachta has announced that it is to undertake a comprehensive audit of artists and arts provision in the Gaeltacht with a view to assessing the current state of the arts in the Gaeltacht and gathering information for future planning.
Ealaín na Gaeltachta, a partnership between The Arts Council and Údarás na Gaeltachta, will be collecting information on the infrastructure, activities and services for the arts in the Gaeltacht which will form the basis for a new Arts Plan for 2011-2015. As an initial step to completing the audit, artists and organisations involved in the arts in the Gaeltacht are being invited to take part in EalaÌn na Gaeltachta's online survey.
The audit is being carried out independently by Majella Ní Chríocháin and the survey will be followed in the Autumn by a series of consultations in the Gaeltacht with artists, arts organisations and the public.
www.ealain.ie
July 6, 2009
CREATIVE CAREERS ONLINE RE-LAUNCH
Creative Careers, Ireland's dedicated jobs and opportunities website for the arts and creative sector, is re-launching on Tuesday 7 July 2009. Alongside information on jobs, grants, commissions, residencies and competitions in the visual arts, design, theatre, film, literature and arts management, the site will now feature a Careers Chat Forum, Training/Seminar section, a Classifieds section and an RSS feed for the latest jobs and opportunities.
In addition to these new features, Creative Careers is completely automated so that listings will be online immediately and all services provided are now completely free.
www.creativecareers.ie
July 1, 2009
JESSE JONES AWARDED LOCATION ONE FELLOWSHIP 2009
The Arts Council has announced Dublin-based artist Jesse Jones as the recipient of the Location One Fellowship 2009. Each year the Arts Council selects one artist from applications to facilitate their participation in the international residency programme at Location One in New York for 10 months. The fellowship provides the chosen artist with studio space, support and resources provided through Location One, as well as accommodation and a monthly stipend. The overall value of the award is in the region of €37,000.
Location One is a not-for-profit art centre that is devoted to the convergence of visual, digital and performing arts, particularly through its international residency programme where artists at any stage of their careers can experiment with new forms of artistic expression, particularly those involving new technologies.
Jesse Jones' practice focuses on the embedded political and social history within everyday life. Using popular culture as an expression of the collective narrative of history, her work often adopts elements of popular culture as a site of shared memory. Jones has a BA in Fine Art (Sculpture) from NCAD (2002) and an MA in Visual Arts Practice from IADT (2005). She recently completed a residency at Fire Station Artists' Studios in Dublin and is now in residence at Gertrude Contemporary Art Spaces in Melbourne. Upcoming exhibitions include 'Red Thread', Tanas, Berlin and the 11th International Istanbul Biennial.
www.artscouncil.ie
July 1, 2009
ANN MARIA HEALY RECEIVES GALWAY MENTORED RESIDENCY AWARD
Galway Arts Centre, Galway City Council and Galway County Council have announced that this year's recipient of the Mentored Residency Award is Ann Maria Healy.
Ann Maria Healy has just completed an honours degree in Sculpture at GMIT and is currently based in Galway City. She intends to use the bursary and the 3 month residency in Galway Arts Centre to further develop her practice by focussing on the performative and sound aspects of her work. The residency will culminate in a performance by Healy.
The award is jointly funded and managed by Galway City Council, Galway County Council and Galway Arts Centre.
www.galwayartscentre.ie
June 24, 2009
SHORTLIST FOR 2009 IMOCA GRADUATE RESIDENCY AWARD ANNOUNCED
The Irish Museum of Contemporary Art (IMOCA) has announced the shortlist of candidates for the 2009 IMOCA Graduate Residency Award. The award, now in its 2nd year, will provide the selected graduate with a work studio residency at Moxie Studios in Dublin 8 for one year and a solo show in 2010 facilitated and sponsored by IMOCA.
Entry for the 2009 Graduate Residency Award was open to art students graduating with undergraduate and postgraduate degrees from art courses in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The five artists shortlisted for the award this year are Niamh Ferris, Ella Burke, Lyndsey McDougall, Jason Deans and Siobhan McGibbon. The overall winner of the 2009 IMOCA Graduate Residency Award will be announced in July 2009.
www.imoca.ie/residency.html
June 19, 2009
NINA CANELL AWARDED BALOISE ART PRIZE AT ART 40 BASEL
mother's tankstation has announced that Nina Canell has been awarded one of this year's two prestigious Baloise Art Prizes at Art 40 Basel. Canell received the prize for her work 'Statement: Soon You Will Have Forgotten All Things, And Soon All Things Will Have Forgotten You' which was presented at Art 40 Basel by mother's tankstation.
Canell was awarded the prize alongside Geert Goiris who exhibited with Art Concept, Paris. In addition to a substantial financial prize, the award commissions a new body of work which will form a solo exhibition at the Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna in September 2010.
Nina Canell was born in Sweden, and now lives and works in Dublin. She graduated from IADT with a 1st Class BA (Hons) in Fine Art in 2005 and has since exhibited in shows at mother's tankstation, the RHA, the Douglas Hyde Gallery, IMMA and Project Arts Centre, Dublin, as well as Catalyst Arts in Belfast, Model Arts & Niland Gallery, Sligo and T293 in Naples. Canell is currently completing a residency at Location One New York and will have a solo exhibition at the Hamburg Kunstverein in September 2009.
www.motherstankstation.com
www.baloise.com
June 19, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL & ACNI JOINT RESEARCH ON ARTISTS IN IRELAND
As part of joint research being undertaken by the Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, independent consultancy firm Hibernian Consulting have been commissioned to conduct extensive research into the living and working conditions of the professional artist on the island of Ireland.
Hibernian Consulting is an experienced socio-economic research company with considerable arts-related expertise and an excellent track record in completing work on a similar scale. They lead a team that also includes Insight Statistical Consulting and Dr. Clare McAndrew, who has built an international reputation in the field of artists in the economy, taxation and benefits.
The research for this joint project is being undertaken in order to establish an up-to-date evidence base that will be used to inform government funding decisions, effect changes in the regulatory environment for artists, and to modify policy and funding strategies within the Councils themselves. A detailed context paper, 'Research into the Living and Working Conditions of Artists in Ireland' has been prepared and is available from the Arts Council's website.
This is the first study of its kind to be enacted since 1979. Research will take place during the remainder of 2009 with anticipated completion and publication of the commission's findings in 2010.
www.artscouncil.ie
www.artscouncil-ni.org
www.hibernianconsulting.ie
June 19, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL PRESENTS NEW DOCUMENT ON ANIMAL WELFARE IN THE ARTS
The Arts Council recently published a new document on animal welfare in the arts. 'Framework for the Welfare of Animals Presented in the Arts' strives to ensure that the welfare needs of animals presented as part of both classical circus shows and visual artwork and events are met.
Mindful of applicable legislation and good practice, the Arts Council publication sets forth policy, creates obligations, and provides information and guidance to entities (including visual artists) featuring animals in their arts activities who seek funding from the Arts Council. Topics covered in the document include the maintenance of animal welfare policy and animal care routines; compliance with animal health, welfare and conservation laws; and documentation and registration with national authorities.
The 'Framework for the Welfare of Animals Presented in the Arts' is downloadable from:
www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/AC_Animal_Framework_ENG_Web.pdf
June 19, 2009
126 ANNOUNCES ARTISTS SELECTED FOR BLANKSPACE SHOW
After a month of deliberation the Board of 126 in Galway has announced the line-up of artists who will exhibit with 126 at Blankspace gallery in Oakland, California from 6 August 2009. An open call for the exhibition 'How Do You Know?' was put out in February and 15 artists were selected from almost 150 applicants for the show.
The exhibiting artists chosen by the 126 Board are Vera Klute, Paul Murnaghan, Padraig Robinson, Christopher Banahan, Jackie Nickerson, Emma Houlihan, Adelle Hickey, Bernie Masterson, Emmet Kierans, Fiona Chambers, John Jones, Theresa Nanigan, Paul Hickey, Helena O'Connor, Tanya O'Keefe and James Luke Hayes.
The exhibition is designed to showcase emerging Irish artists to the San Francisco Bay area as part of the Oakland Art Murmur arts trail. For their half of this international curatorial exchange Blankspace will curate a show of emerging Californian artists at 126 in August/September 2009.
www.126.ie
June 15, 2009
NORTHERN IRISH SCULPTOR NAMED IN QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY HONOURS LIST
Mr. John Anthony Sherlock, a sculptor from Newtownabbey in Co. Antrim, was named in the Queen's Birthday Honours List on Saturday 13 June 2009 for services to the visual arts in Northern Ireland. In the announcement he was conferred with the title Officer of the civil division of the most excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE).
The Queen's Birthday Honours List recognises outstanding achievement and service across the UK. Mr. Sherlock has worked in the arts for 50 years and his work includes commissioned tributes to poet Louis MacNiece, justice campaigner Monsignor Denis Faul and Nobel laureate politicians John Hume and David Trimble.
June 15, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL ROUND 1 BURSARY AWARDS 2009 DECISIONS ANNOUNCED
The Arts Council recently announces its decisions on the first round of Bursary Awards for 2009. A total of €669,539 has been offered to 69 individuals.
Arts Council bursaries aim to support professional artists working in any context or in any artform at all stages of their careers in the development of their arts practice. Bursary Awards allow artists to buy the space and time needed to concentrate on a body of work and provide the equipment, facilities and third party expertise to develop their practice. Recipients can receive up to a maximum of €15,000 per year through the Bursary Award scheme.
To view the individuals in receipt of funding in Round 1 of the Bursary Awards 2009 please go to the decisions database on the Arts Council website, select 'Bursary Award' from the 'Fund' menu, then select the year '2009' and click on 'Search'.
www.artscouncil.ie
June 15, 2009
IMMA LAUNCHES NEW CULTURAL JOURNAL
At 6pm on Thursday 11 June 2009 the Irish Museum of Modern Art launched 'Boulevard Magenta', a new bi-annual arts and literary publication featuring contributions by visual artists, architects and writers. Inspired by the inclusivity of early international avant-garde magazines, the journal is intended to underscore the multi-disciplinary nature of IMMA's exhibition policy.
'Boulevard Magenta' is the brain child of IMMA Director Enrique Juncosa and the first issue is edited by Juncosa and Seán Kissane, Curator: Exhibitions at IMMA. Named after a street in Paris, the inaugural edition of the publication includes contributions by Francesco Clemente, Seamus Heaney, Nalini Malani, David Mitchell, Sean Scully, Colm Tóibín, Czeslaw Milosz, architectural firm Amanda Levete Architects, Tran Anh Hung and Kevin Volans, amongst others.
The publication will be launched in New York at 12 noon on Bloomsday, Tuesday 16 June 2009, by Niall Burgess, Consul General of Ireland, and Enrique Juncosa, at the Residence of the Consul General, 240 East 39th Street, #52C. Copies are available via IMMA's website and at the Museum bookshop, priced €25.
www.imma.ie
May 27, 2009
IRELAND AT 2009 VENICE BIENNALE
The Irish Pavilion at the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia is pleased to present Irish representatives Sarah Browne, Gareth Kennedy and Kenny Browne at Istituto Santa Maria della Pietá Calle della Pietá, Castello 3701, from 7 June to 22 November 2009. A preview and press reception to launch the exhibition will be held at 5pm on Friday 5 June 2009.
Curated by Irish Commissioner Caoimhín Corrigan (Arts Officer of Leitrim County Council and curator of The Dock in Carrick-on-Shannon), Ireland's presentation at the 2009 Venice Biennale seeks to foreground two artists (but three practices) for whom an engagement of and with people is central to their practice.
Sarah Browne has commissioned a bespoke hand-knotted carpet from Donegal Carpets and produced a video piece documenting discussions with workers at the factory. Since graduating from NCAD Sarah Browne has participated in projects, residencies and artist exchanges in Ireland, Japan, Iceland, and the UK. She has also presented her work in Poland and China. In 2006 she was awarded the Apexart international residency in New York.
Gareth Kennedy investigates the cultural capital associated with music from Ireland by inviting buskers transplanted from Dublin city centre to the Docklands area of the city to recreate their performances in Venice. Kennedy has previously exhibited in Ireland, England, Scotland, USA and Thailand. Although grounded within his background as a sculptor, his practice embraces contemporary realities inherent within economic, environmental, social and aesthetic realities.
At Venice 2009 Kennedy Browne, the collaborative partnership of Sarah Browne & Gareth Kennedy that authors work distinct from their solo practices, presents a new video work addressing Dublin as a city of 167 languages and 'the city Google chose' for its EMEA operations.
www.sarahbrowne.info
www.gkennedy.info
www.kennedybrowne.com
www.irelandvenice.ie
May 27, 2009
NORTHERN IRELAND AT 2009 VENICE BIENNALE
The Northern Ireland Pavilion at the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia is pleased to present 'REMOTE VIEWING', a solo exhibition of work by Northern Ireland representative Susan MacWilliam at Istitute Provinciale Per L'Infanzia, Santa Maria della Pieta, Calle de la Pieta, Castello, 3703A. The exhibition will open with a press preview at 10am on Thursday 4 June 2009.
'REMOTE VIEWING' presents three video installations by Susan MacWilliam curated by Karen Downey. 'Dermo Optics' (2006) is an account of MacWilliam's visit to the Dermo Optical Laboratory of Dr Yvonne Duplessis in Paris, where the artist participated in experiments testing 'fingertip vision'; 'Eileen' (2008) explores the social world of Eileen Garrett, Irish medium and founder of the Parapsychology Foundation in New York; and a major new work commissioned especially for Venice, 'F-L-A-M-M-A-R-I-O-N' (2009), which draws on the TG Hamilton Spirit Photograph Archive in Winnipeg and features Belfast poet and writer Ciaran Carson and Atlanta-based poltergeist investigator Dr William Roll.
Susan Mac William has exhibited extensively and has recently taken part in residencies in both New York and Winnipeg. She is a full-time lecturer in the Painting Department of the National College of Art and Design and is currently a Board member of Visual Artists Ireland.
The exhibition is accompanied by the launch of the book 'Remote Viewing', 144pp, ed. Karen Downey, designed by Pony Ltd. Writers: Ciaran Carson, Brian Dillon, Martha Langford, Slavka Sverakova, Marina Warner. Now available from Black Dog Publishing, Amazon and other outlets. For more information please visit:
www.blackdogonline.com/all-books/susan-macwilliam.html
www.susanmacwilliam.com
May 27, 2009
IMMA DIRECTOR CURATES SPANISH PAVILION AT VENICE BIENNALE
Enrique Juncosa, Director of the Irish Museum of Modern Art, will curate the Spanish Pavilion at the 53rd International Art Exhibition La Biennale di Venezia from 7 June to 22 November 2009. Mallorcan artist Miquel Barcelé, winner of the Spanish National Visual Arts Prize in 1986 and Prince of Asturias Arts Prize in 2003, will represent Spain at the Biennale.
Juncosa will curate a representative collection of large format paintings by Barcelé dating
from 2000 to the present. The exhibition, entitled 'Miquel Barcelé', will include work that comprises of the artist's perennial themes - primates, African landscapes and the foam of ocean waves. The exhibition at the Spanish Pavilion in the Giardini will also feature a series of small format representations of African genre scenes by French artist and writer Francois Augiéras (1925-1971).
www.imma.ie
May 27, 2009
179th RHA ANNUAL AWARDS 2009
Introduced by Stephen McKenna PRHA and Academy Secretary David Crone RHA on Sunday 24 May 2009, the 179th RHA Annual Prizegiving Ceremony took place in the atrium of the RHA Gallagher Gallery on Ely Place in Dublin 2.
This year's ceremony saw artists exhibiting in the 179th RHA Annual exhibition presented with 15 awards. The Hennessy Craig Scholarship was awarded to Ann Quinn, Tim Millen and Gabhann Dunne; The Curtin OíDonoghue Photography Prize worth E7,500 to Jackie Nickerson; The IrelandñUS Council & Irish Arts Review Portrait Prize of E5,000 to Jonathan Dalton; and The AXA Insurance Prize for Drawing valued at E5,000 was presented to Joe Dunne.
Other prizewinning artists included Patrick OíReilly, Francis Matthews, Patricia Burns, Colin Davidson, Redmond Herrity, Michelle Considine, Rita Duffy, Willie Evesson, Marc Reilly, Patrick Horan and Eilis O'Connell.
The RHA Annual Exhibition 2009 will be on show at the gallery until 25 July 2009.
www.royalhibernianacademy.com
May 27, 2009
IRISH ARTISTS SELECTED FOR 2nd BANGKOK PRINT & DRAWING TRIENNALE
Three Irish artists have been selected to represent the country at the 2nd Bangkok Triennale International Print & Drawing Exhibition which will take place at the Bangkok Art & Culture Centre in Thailand in June 2009. The artists chosen to exhibit their work at the Triennale are printmakers Daryl Slein and Laura Hazel McMorrow, and Samuel Walsh, who will be showing drawing wok on paper.
Daryl Slein graduated from NCAD with a BA (Hons) in 2008 and is presently undertaking an MFA at NCAD. He has exhibited work in group shows at the Cross Gallery and Draiocht Arts Centre in Dublin, and his work was included in the 2008 RDS Student Awards that toured to venues around Ireland and to the RUA in Belfast.
Laura McMorrow graduated with a BA from Limerick School of Art & Design in 2008. She first showed her work publicly in 2007 at 'The Margin Exhibition', OPW Building, Dublin, and at Downshire House Gallery, Co. Wicklow. She has also shown her work at the Facultad de Bellas Artes in Galicia, Spain. www.lauramcmorrow.com
Samuel Walsh is a member of Aosdána and a graduate of colleges in Limerick and Dublin. He has exhibited extensively in numerous exhibitions both in Ireland and worldwide. His drawings have represented Ireland in exhibitions in Poland, Hungary, Germany, Norway, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, Australia, and England. He has won prizes for drawing in the Czech Republic and Croatia. He is an invited resident artist at the Josef & Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany, Connecticut, USA in 2009 (part funded by the Arts Council of Ireland). www.samuelwalsh.com
www.interprint.su.ac.th
May 27, 2009
SCULPTURE IN THE PARKLANDS RECEIVES BUSINESS TO ARTS AWARD
Sculpture in the Parklands was presented with the Corporate and Cultural/Social Responsibility Award by President Mary McAleese at this year's Business to Arts award ceremony at Castletown House on 20 May 2009.
Bord na Móna's ongoing partnership with Sculpture in the Parklands, Offaly County Council Arts Office and the 2008 collaboration with the Crafts Council of Ireland was commended by Business to Arts as an exemplary Corporate and Cultural Social Responsibility programme. In 2008 the combined partnership secured environmental artist Patrick Dougherty for the annual Sculpture in the Parklands residency, resulting in the monumental work 'Ruaille Buaille'. In 2008 Sculpture in the Parklands was also included in the programme of the International Peat Congress, introducing delegates to a potential use for cutaway bogs.
Sculpture in the Parklands is a community recreational facility that provides an opportunity for visitors to interact with contemporary works of art in a unique environment 365 days a year. This year's residency programme will be held during September with invited artists Julian Wild (UK) and Alan Counihan (Ireland).
www.sculptureintheparklands.com
www.businesstoarts.ie
May 25, 2009
IRISH FILM CHOSEN TO OPEN 2009 KINTECA SERIES IN MADRID
'Peidhleacán Solais' (Butterfly Light), a film by Muskerry students working with filmmaker Dónal Ó Céilleachair, has been selected to open the 2009 Kinteca Series at Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina SofÌa (MNCARS) in Madrid, Spain, with parallel screenings at the Centro de Arte, DOS DE MAYO (CA2M), also in Madrid.
'Peidhleacán Solais' (7.5 min., Ireland, Colour, 35mm, HD, Digibeta + Digital Video, 2009) will launch the Kinteca Series on 18 June 2009. There will be 3 screenings of the film at MNCARS and 2 screenings at CA2M. Fimmaker Ó Céilleachair has also been invited to present two of his other films as part of an Irish Experimental Film Programme curated by Esperanza Collado with Maximilian Le Cain at the 2009 M·rgenes Festival at The Visual 09 Festival Audiovisual de Majadahonda, Madrid, from 23 to 29 May 2009.
The film was featured on the TG4 Nuacht bulletin at 6.45pm yesterday, Sunday 24 May 2009, with participating students from Scoil Ré na nDoirí, Scoil Bhéal Áthaín Ghaorthaidh, Muskerry, Co. Cork. A preview of 'Peidhleacán Solais' is available online from:
http://imipictures.net/PSPreview.mov
www.museoreinasofia.es/index.html
www.madrid.org/centrodeartedosdemayo
May 25, 2009
IRISH PRINTMAKERS TO EXHIBIT AT MINI PRINT BIENNIAL, CONNECTICUT
Seven Irish printmakers have been selected to exhibit their work as part of the 7th International Mini Print Biennial in the Center of Contemporary Printmaking in Connecticut, America, from 28 May to 15 August 2009.
Printmakers Catriona Leahy, Jenna Kirkwood and Paula Pohli will be exhibiting alongside Fine Art Print students from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin 8. The NCAD students selected for the Biennial are Esther Breslin, Lisa Dunne, Rachel Likely and Sarah Gordon.
www.contemprints.org
May 18, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL'S EVENT GUIDE NOW LIVE
The Arts Council of Ireland's new event guide has gone live at www.events.artscouncil.ie and is ready for its official launch. The service aims to provide information on current arts events countrywide and to encourage public attendance and participation.
The Arts Council requests that individuals and funded organisations submit information on public events for inclusion in the new online guide. The site provides users with the ability to search for arts events by category (e.g. Literature, Film, Visual Arts & Architecture), location by county, or by date. Full details of how to submit events for inclusion in the guide's listings is available online from:
www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/Instructions%20for%20event%20calendar.pdf
www.events.artscouncil.ie
May 15, 2009
ARTLINKS ANNOUNCES RECIPIENTS OF BURSARY AWARDS 2009
ArtLinks has announced the names of the five cultural practitioners, including three artists, who will each receive an ArtLinks Bursary Award of €5,000.
The five ArtLinks Bursary Awards of €5,000 have been awarded to Gwen Wilkinson, documentary photographer from Co. Carlow; Tunde Toth, fibre and paper artist and course facilitator from Co. Kilkenny; Sharanne Long, documentary filmmaker, photographer and installation artist from Co. Wexford; Corina Duyn, writer and illustrator from Co. Waterford; and Annette Cleary, classical musician and educator from Co. Wicklow.
ArtLinks is a free five-county partnership initiative, supporting and profiling more than 1,200 members from Carlow, Kilkenny, Waterford, Wexford and Wicklow. For more information on ArtLinks and the winners of this year's ArtLinks Bursary Awards, please visit:
www.artlinks.ie
May 15, 2009
ANDREW DODDS AWARDED AIRFIELD RESIDENCY 2009
DLR Arts and Airfield have announced that London based artist Andrew Dodds is the recipient of the Airfield Residency 2009.
The residency, worth a total of €12,000, will see Dodds engage with Airfieldís rich archive to create an immersive 'social sculpture' within Airfield's grounds in Dundrum, Dublin 14. The work will tease out links between cultural and 'natural' histories, with a specific focus on Airfield's recent past. The sculpture and a series of participatory public events will take place this summer between 22 and 31 July 2009.
Originally from Belfast, Andrew Dodds is now based in London where he received a Masters from the Slade School of Fine Art. His work incorporates a wide range of methods and media and is usually made for a particular place or time. Previous projects have included installation, sculpture, sound, video and talking birds and his practice is concerned with uncovering the social and political resonances often hidden within landscape representation. His work has been commissioned and exhibited widely at many public galleries, artist-run spaces and sites outside the gallery.
www.andrewdodds.com
www.airfield.ie
www.dlrcoco.ie/arts
May 13, 2009
PALLAS ANNOUNCES DEPARTURE OF CO-FOUNDER
On Tuesday 12 May 2009, Pallas Contemporary Projects announced that after 13 years, co-founder Brian Duggan will be leaving his position as Director and Curator at Pallas.
Throughout his time with Pallas Heights, Studios and Projects, Duggan organised 49 exhibitions and played a vital role in the development of PCP. His work was instrumental in helping Pallas play its part in the contemporary Irish art scene, and Pallas have expressed their thanks to him for his years of service. From mid-May he will be focusing on his own artistic projects full-time, but will retain his position on the board of Pallas Contemporary Projects.
Meanwhile, co-founder and Director Mark Cullen will be joined by artist Gavin Murphy as Co-director of PCP, and artist Fiona Chambers will continue her role as Assistant Studios and Gallery Manager. In a statement issued yesterday, Brian Duggan thanked Mark Cullen, Gavin Murphy and the artists who he worked with over the years, as well as the Arts Council and Dublin City Council for their valued support of Pallas over the years.
www.brianduggan.net
www.pallasprojects.org
May 13, 2009
RECIPIENT OF KEVIN KIERAN AWARD ANNOUNCED
The Arts Council and the Office of Public Works have announced architect Orla Murphy of Simon J. Kelly and Partners Architects, Co. Mayo, as the winner of the Kevin Kieran Award 2009-2011.
Orla Murphy has worked as a practising architect since she graduated from UCD in 1995 and she has been a lecturer in studio design at UCD since 1996. In 2007/2008 Murphy was both Cavan Architect in Residence and editor of 'Building Material', the Architectural Association of Ireland's journal. She has particular experience in the design of housing and educational buildings and in 2004 she jointly established the Westport studio of Simon J. Kelly & Partners Architects.
The Kevin Kieran Award is a partnership between the Arts Council and the OPW that offers an emerging architect the opportunity to develop and deliver a research project supported by the Arts Council worth €50,000 over two years, and to then design and run a building contract for the Office of Public Works. The award aims to direct funding towards architectural excellence and innovation by supporting an architect in their artistic formation and the development of their career.
www.sjk.ie
www.artscouncil.ie
www.opw.ie
May 11, 2009
WINNER OF HALLWARD AWARD 2009 ANNOUNCED
The winner of this year's Hallward Award, presented annually by the Hallward Gallery to an artist exhibiting in the annual 'Sculpture at the Hallward' open submission exhibition, was announced at the opening of the Hallward's new exhibition space, Hallward 2, on 7 May 2009.
The Hallward Award 2009 was awarded to Mark Ryan for his work 'Farmyard Line Drawing'. Ryan receives the €1,500 prize and will exhibit his work in a solo show at Hallward 2 in 2010/2011. The other nominations for the Hallward Award 2009 were Michael Keane for his work 'Kontra', Ken Drew's 'Beech Turn', and 'Neither Here Nor There' by Alan Ardiff.
Mark Ryan's winning piece will be on show alongside all nominated entries and selected works in 'Sculpture at the Hallward' until 30 May 2009.
www.hallwardgallery.com
May 8, 2009
AOSDÁNA ELECTS NEW MEMBERS AT GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Aosdána, the affiliation of creative artists in Ireland, elected 8 new members, including 2 visual artists, at its annual General Assembly which was held at the National Gallery on Merrion Square on Wednesday 6 May 2009.
The new members are writers Mary Dorcey, Christine Dwyer Hickey, Colum McCann, Maurice Scully and Gerard Smyth, musician Louis Stewart, and visual artists Gary Coyle and John Gibbons. This brings the current membership of Aosdána, which was established by the Arts Council in 1981 to honour artists whose work has made an outstanding contribution to the arts in Ireland, to 235.
Gary Coyle was born in Dublin in 1965 and has studied at the National College of Art & Design, Dublin, and the Royal College of Art in London. He is an Associate of the RHA since 2005 and his practice includes film photography and spoken word/performance work, though an engagement with drawing and Dun Laoghaire remain central to his practice. Coyle is currently working on a series of portrait drawings of local people commissioned by Dun Laoghaire Rathdown Council, and writing a one man show, 'At Sea'.
John Gibbons was born in Ennis, Co. Clare, and he now works in London. He has studied at Limerick School of Art and Crawford School of Art in Ireland, as well as St. Martin's School of Art, London. He was awarded the Macauley Fellowship in Sculpture in 1975 and has received many awards since then, including the Bryan Robertson Trust Award in 2008. Gibbons has exhibited widely, with solo exhibitions in Ireland, Britain, Spain, Hungary, Germany and America.
May 8, 2009
WINNERS OF BUSINESS TO ARTS AWARDS 2009 ANNOUNCED
The winners of the Allianz Business to Arts Awards 2009 were announced on Wednesday 6 May 2009. The 2009 Awards will be presented at a Winners' Lunch which will be hosted by the Office of Public Works at Castletown House, Celbridge, Co. Kildare, on 20 May 2009. Each year Dublin Airport Authority commission an artist to create the suite of seven sculptures which will be awarded to the winning companies, and this year the awards designed by commissioned artist Cheryl Brown will be presented by President Mary McAleese.
This year's winners include Bord na Móna and Sculpture in the Parklands for Corporate (Cultural) Social Responsibility, Strawberry Hill Creative and Mundipharma Ireland's 'Cancer Tales' for Best Use of Creativity, Roscommon County Council Arts Office's Art@work residency programme with Arigna Fuels, Bank of Ireland, FDK Engineering, Feelystone, Gleesonís Guesthouse and Molloyís Bakery for Best Sponsorship by Small to Medium Enterprises, and artist Paul Meade with the Irish Council for Bio-Ethics, who won the Jim McNaughton / TileStyle €10,000 Bursary for Commissioned Artists.
The annual Business to Arts Awards recognise arts organisations, artists and businesses and that bring the arts and artists into the workplace to respond to real business challenges, as well as important sponsorship relationships. This year the Awards also recognised examples of arts and business organisations working together in other areas such as mentoring, training, staff development, commissioning artists and CSR initiatives. A full list of this year's winners and shortlisted projects is available from the Business to Arts website.
www.businesstoarts.ie
May 6, 2009
VAI CALLS FOR CONSULTATION ON ARTISTS' CHARTER PROJECT
Most not for profit publicly funded galleries and many private ones put on exhibitions solely for the purpose of making the work of an artist or group of artists available for public view. These form a 'once off' arrangement whereby the gallery and the artist work together with the gallery as the exhibition organiser and in some cases as a commissioner. Although 'once-off' exhibitions are common, agreeing their detailed arrangements is not a simple matter and misunderstandings between gallery and artist often occur, particularly when a written agreement is not used - which is usually the case. This can be detrimental and costly to the gallery, the artist and the public, and needs to be avoided.
It is therefore a goal of this project to prepare a charter document that sets a number of points of reference that not for profit publicly funded arts organisations will work towards so as to develop a common code of practice to work to.
We are calling on interested parties to register their interest with us to take part in a public consultation on the contents of this document, and to support its implementation across the country. To register your interest please contact Visual Artists Ireland at:
E: info@visualartists.ie
May 1, 2009
VAI'S CEO RESPONDS TO PROPOSED CHANGES TO
DEFAMATION BILL:
CHANGES PLACE RIGHTS OF RELIGION OVER RIGHTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL
Today, Noel Kelly, Chief Executive Officer of Visual Artists Ireland, called for mindfulness of history when asked about the new insertion into the Defamation Bill as proposed by Minister for Justice Dermott Ahern.
Tolerance is a very fragile concept in Ireland today, and the insertion of penalties against a person who publishes or utters blasphemous matter is a step backwards to a form of society that led to creatives such as Samuel Beckett and James Joyce leaving our shores. Ireland has moved on greatly in the latter years of the twentieth century. Although we still have civil liberty issues to address, the openness of our society has been hard fought for and cannot be taken for granted.
Freedom of thought and expression must be one of our prime declarations. By introducing such penalties we place the rights of religious beliefs over the rights of our individual citizens. Blasphemy as a concept can only exist within a legal environment based on religion. Denying the existence of God, or calling into question a belief may be seen as a criticism. Although it would appear to be a small thing, the introduction of the notion of blasphemy into legislation opens the potential for fundamental reactionaries to close down our hard fought for liberties. Yesterday, books were burned, and history shows that this can lead to pogroms and the crematorium.
We may see ourselves as an enlightened member of the international community, but as we look out across the world, we can see how very easily the divisiveness of religion can draw a shadow that has long reaching implications. Today we cannot impose silence on free and healthy critique. That would be the death of critical inquiry. Instead, we must continue to allow citizens to have the right to their individual beliefs and values. We must continue to guarantee pluralism and tolerance, and ensure that religions, just as other ideas and convictions, are the object of debate. It is therefore necessary to differentiate between criticism of religion and incitement to religious hatred. This is something that this potential change to legislation is not taking into consideration.
May 1, 2009
TULCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS ANNOUNCE TULCA 2009 CURATOR
On Wednesday 29 April 2009 the Tulca Board of Directors announced independent curator Helen Carey as curator of Tulca 2009.
Now based in Dublin, Helen Carey was formerly the inaugural Director of the Centre Cultural Irlandais in Paris, Director of the Galway Arts Centre, and Public Art Project Manager at Bristol Landmark Millennium Project. She is currently working on several exhibitions and projects both in Ireland and internationally.
Tulca 2009 will take place in Galway from 6 to 22 November 2009. Tulca is an annual season of contemporary visual art exhibitions, live-art performances, talks and discussions that takes place in Galway city and county. It aims to offer opportunities to local, national and international artists, and promote Galway as a meeting point for artists. More information on the Tulca 2009 programme will be available online in the coming months.
www.tulca.ie
May 1, 2009
HALLWARD GALLERY OPENS NEW EXHIBITION SPACE
The Hallward Gallery on Merrion Square in Dublin 2 will open a new exhibition space, Hallward 2, on 5 May 2009. The new space, which will be located at 30 Merrion Square, will focus on sculpture and ceramics, while the existing gallery will concentrate on 2D and wall-based work.
Hallward 2 will be officially opened on 7 May 2009 from 6 to 8pm at the preview of Sculpture at the Hallward 2009, an open-submission exhibition featuring work by 43 selected artists from a total of 300 submissions. The winner of the Hallward Award will also be announced on the evening, and the exhibition will run until 30 May 2009.
www.hallwardgallery.com
April 22, 2009
126 RELOCATES TO NEW PREMISES IN GALWAY CITY CENTRE
126 in Galway has relocated its premises to Queen Street in Galway city following a move from Ballybane Industrial Estate on the Tuam Road. After a two month hiatus 126, a voluntarily led, artist-run exhibition space based on the democratic models of Catalyst Arts in Belfast and Transmission in Glasgow, will be re-opening on 7 May 2009 at 7pm with an exhibition of new work by Dublin-based artist Fergus Byrne.
Originally established in 2006 by local Galway artists in their own living room as a response to the urgent need for more non-commercial gallery spaces in the city, 126 was almost facing closure before the discovery of the new space near the docks, which is almost double the size of the previous premises. In late 2008 G126 faced an uncertain future as it found itself with insufficient financial backing. The prospect of closure was imminent until the not-for-profit, publicly funded gallery space reached an agreement with Galway's City Arts Officer James C. Harold. With this help the decision was made to relocate from the venue in the periphery of Galway to a new city centre space within a two minutes walk of Eyre Square.
The continuation of the 2009 programme at 126 will see Byrne's show followed by exhibitions by Frank Koolen (Netherlands) during the Volvo Ocean Race Stopover, Kelly Richardson (Canada) for the Galway Film Fleadh, Hank Willis Thomas (New York) for the Galway Arts Festival and an exchange of young Irish and American artists with the Californian artist-run gallery Blankspace later in the year.
www.126.ie
April 22, 2009
IRISH PHOTOGRAPHERS EXHIBIT AT THE 8th INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PHOTOGRAPHY, LODZ
Sirius Arts Centre in Cobh, Co. Cork, has been awarded a grant from Culture Ireland enabling Artistic Director, Peggy Sue Amison, to send five photographic artists from Ireland with their works to the 8th International Festival of Photography in Lodz, Poland, from 7 to 10 May 2009. The photographers who will be exhibiting at the show are David Farrell, Jackie Nickerson, Mark Curran, Eoin O Conaill and Seán Hillen.
As part of an invited team of six curators from different countries who were asked by Festival organisers to present an exhibition of artists that reflects contemporary photography from their country, Peggy Sue Amison has created a programme that she feel s is representative of photography in Ireland at the present time. Since 2001, Amison, a photographic artists herself, has curated numerous photographic and visual arts exhibitions in her position at Sirius Arts Centre, and also facilitated the development of new works through Sirius' international residency programme.
The Irish photographers who will be exhibiting at the 8th International Festival of Photography in Lodz will, as well as showing their work to the public, also have the opportunity to participate in the festival's portfolio review sessions, providing them a rare opportunity to show their works in one on one meetings to curators, publishers and other photographic professionals throughout Europe. The 8th International Festival of Photography will be on show until 31 May 2009.
www.fotofestiwal.com/2009
www.siriusartscentre.ie
April 20, 2009
IRISH ARTISTS SELECTED FOR JERWOOD CONTEMPORARY PAINTERS 2009
This year three Irish artists have been selected to take part in the Jerwood ContemporaryPainters Exhibition 2009 in London.
Paul Doran, Aleana Egan and Fergus Feehily will take part in the third Jerwood Contemporary Painters Exhibition, organised by the Jerwood Charitable Foundation to discover, promote and support imaginative and vibrant practice in contemporary painting. Jerwood Contemporary Painters is a curated exhibition that is selected by artists, and this year the judging panel comprised of Mali Morris, Phillip Allen and Alexis Harding. The show will feature one work by each of the 26 exhibiting artists who will share the £30,000 participation fee, and it is accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue featuring an introduction by Barry Schwabsky.
Jerwood Contemporary Painters 2009 will take place at Jerwood Space on Union Street in London from 22 April until 31 May 2009, accompanied by two talks and a panel discussion. The exhibition will then tour to three venues in England: PSL in Leeds (22 July to 19 September 2009), Summerfield Gallery at the University of Gloucestershire (2 to 27 November 2009) and The Gallery at Norwich University (14 January to 20 February 2010).
www.jerwoodvisualarts.org/contemporarypainters/
April 14, 2009
ARTS FUNDING & SUPPLEMENTARY BUDGET 2009
As many have anticipated, the supplementary budget (announced on the 7 April 2009), has resulted in cuts to funding of the cultural sector in the Republic of Ireland. The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism have stated ìexpenditure in relation to the Arts, Culture and Film sector has reduced by €41m from €221m in 2008 to €180m in 2009, a reduction of 18.5%. Within this, the reduction in relation to current expenditure has been 6% while the reduction in relation to capital expenditure has been 42%, owing primarily to the completion of once off major capital projects such as the Wexford Festival Opera House and the Gate Theatre extension.
Further explanation has been offered by Martin Cullen, Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism: 'The bulk of the cuts in this sector have been concentrated into capital expenditure to protect day to day expenditure and ensure venues remain open, job losses are minimised and the contribution to cultural tourism enhanced. Pre 2009 commitments in respect of local arts and culture (capital) infrastructure will be honoured. Current funding to the Arts Council, the state agency which develops and supports the arts in Ireland will be confirmed on the publication of the Revised Estimates'.
VAI Representations on the Budget
Prior to the ROI's Supplimentary Budget, from late February and throughout March, Visual Artists Ireland made representations to all Dail TDs. In addition, VAI met with Mary White TD, a member of the Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs, in order to focus on a number of specific issues raised in the letter: such as requesting that the Tax Exemption Scheme be protected; that the Percent for Art Scheme be legislated for; and for a continuance of support in funding for The Arts Council; as well as the development of a strategic view for the increase of support for the arts.
The letter to TDs also outlined some of the preliminary results of the VAI's recent survey 'The Social, Economic and Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland'. As the letter explained:
'during the current economic reality visual artists, like most Irish citizens, find themselves falling further and further down the social scale. We have completed a survey in December 2008 that indicated that 33% of artists earn less than €10,000 in total earnings. A further 34% earn between €10,000 and €25,000. These total earnings are comprised of income from creative work, and part time or casual labour earnings. But, as with most sectors of the economy, opportunities for supplementing creative earnings are diminishing.
One of the primary areas in which an artist can provide an income for themselves is in the area of education. The cuts there have had a direct effect on the cancelling of part time lecturing contracts. To give some idea of how this directly affects an artist. Currently, 67% of visual artists earn less than €10,000 per annum from their creative works. A further 24% earn between €10,000 and €25,000. They are therefore dependent on additional supports to make ends meet. We have also found that 24% have been in household arrears in the year ending 2008. This was at a time when Ireland still had financial stability. This situation will obviously worsen as we look to the current economic situation.'
Following on from the VAI's meeting with Mary White TD, the Deputy undertook to bring this information, along with additional statistical findings of the survey 'The Social, Economic and Fiscal Status of the Visual Artist in Ireland' to the Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for further consideration. Deputy White also undertook to gain clarification for us with regards to how artists, as PAYE and Self Employed workers, can gain access to Social Welfare benefit. A general clarification document has been prepared for Social Welfare offices on this matter that is in circulation to Social Welfare Offices. When we receive this information, it will be published on the info~pool section of the VAI's website.
Minister's Response
In relation to Visual Artists Ireland's letter to all Dail TDs, Joe Costello, Labour TD, tabled a question. The response from Martin Cullen, Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism follows here:
For WRITTEN answer on Tuesday, 24th March, 2009.
Identical Question(s): Finance Ref No: 11750/09
REPLY:
I propose to take questions No.s .608 and 618 together.
I have noted the comments in the correspondence referred to by the Deputies in relation to the challenges facing those in the visual arts sector.
Many of the funding channels referred to in the correspondence fall within the remit of other Departments and local authorities. In respect of the Per Cent for Arts scheme, work is continuing apace in finalising new guidelines for the scheme.
Responsibility for the promotion of the arts at all levels throughout the country is primarily devolved to the Arts Council. It is the principle agency through which State funding is channelled to the arts. Under the Arts Act, 2003, the general functions of the Council include the following:
- To stimulate public interest in the arts;
-
To promote knowledge, appreciation and practice of the arts;
-
To assist in improving standards in the arts.
The Arts Council is a statutory independent body, funded by my Department and independent in its day-to-day operations, and I have no role to play in relation to its funding intentions.
I refer the Deputies to my reply of 28th January 2009 last to question 41832/08. As I outlined in that reply, under measures introduced in the 2009 budget, all Government Departments and State Agencies are to achieve a range of reductions and savings in 2009, both on pay and non-pay expenditure, and the Arts Council is no exception. These include a 3% reduction in the level of their 2008 pay bill and at least a 50% reduction in their consultancy and advertising budgets.
By any standards however, the Arts Council has seen significant increases in its funding allocation in recent years, increasing by over 59% from €47.67 million in 2002 to €81.62 million in 2009. These are significant amounts of taxpayers' money in any context and have effectively transformed the arts, by facilitating increased access to and participation in the full spectrum of art forms through the country. The Government's sustained support has resulted in a firm foundation to the arts sector that will assist it in facing future challenges.
This Government is committed to supporting the arts and will continue to fund the Arts Council within available financial resources.
- Minister for Arts, Sport & Tourism, Martin Cullen TD
Arguing for the Arts
Readers might be interested to look up the report of a recent meeting (11 March 2009) of the joint committee on arts, sport, tourism, community, rural and gaeltacht affairs: it makes for a heartening read in these troubled times. The meeting comprised of inciteful presentations by Arts Council Chairman Pat Moylan, Arts Council Director Mary Cloake and Arts Council members Alan Stanford and Phillip King, that make very solid convincing arguments for the arts essential place in society and the importance of supporting artists and art institutions.
Amongst the points made by Pat Moylan, she asserted that 'the times when the arts might have been seen as a luxury are no more' and noted that 'the arts are the single biggest pursuit in Ireland, bigger than the GAA and even bigger than political involvement'. Moylan also stressed that 'public subsidy for the arts derives from the same principle applied to providing a public subsidy for a range of public services. The arts are a social good which, if left to the marketplace, would not survive or would do so in a fashion so distorted that the public good would not be served'. It was also emphasised that the arts 'offer value for money for the investment made' and likewise that 'most jobs in the arts sector are very modestly paid' and given the outcomes also represented 'very good value for money'. A full transcript of the meeting can be read here:
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=TOJ20090311.xml&Node=H2#H2
April 8, 2009
CONSTRUCTION BEGINS ON E5 MILLION FUTURE NILAND PROJECT
It was announced today that construction work has begun on the extensive redevelopment of the Model Arts and Niland Gallery in Sligo. The project, which has been spearheaded by Sligo County Council, will see the Model Niland expand in size by over a third in an attempt to realise its potential and consolidate its position as a flagship cultural centre in Ireland.
Through a new flagship entrance the new extension of the Future Model will deliver high-level incubation spaces for creative industries, a purpose built performance space and artists' studios. Meanwhile the existing building will house a new gallery and exhibition space, a restaurant and additional education spaces. The contract for the project has been awarded to SISK. The total estimated cost of the project comes in at €5 million, €3.5 of which has been made available to the Model Arts & Niland Gallery through the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism's Access grants programme, along with €600,000 from the Borough Council.
While the Model Arts & Niland Gallery is awaiting completion of the Future Model, scheduled for 2010, their visual arts' programme is continuing with Model Offsite '09 at Model Satellite, a 6,000 sqft exhibition space located over two floors of Castle House on Castle Street, Sligo. Currently on show is 'Signals in the Dark: Art in the Shadow of War', an inter-disciplinary project with work by 15 international artists that explores contemporary artís relationship to war and its representations.
Future Model is still seeking contributions from private donors to aid the funding of the project. Information on private and corporate donations is available now on the Model Arts & Niland Gallery's website.
www.modelart.ie/futuremodel.htm
April 6, 2009
MINISTER OF STATE RE-OPENS CUSTOM HOUSE STUDIOS
Last Saturday, 4 April 2009, saw the official re-opening of Custom House Studios at the Quay in Westport, Co. Mayo, by Dr. Martin Mansergh TD, Minister of State with responsibility for Arts and the OPW. The building that houses Customs House Studios had recently undergone an extensive programme of renovations that included the building of an extension to provide additional exhibition space, improved office space, and internal access between the gallery and studios.
Custom House Studios was originally established in the 1980's, and the studio building which was made available to the studios by Mayo County Council and Westport Town Council, has been carefully restored to conserve its historical architectural features. It now houses 7 studios, a printmaking workshop and a gallery space. The extension was made possible through funding from the Social and Community Facilities Capital Scheme 2006, the Department of the Environment, Mayo County Council Social and Economic Fund and Mayo County Council.
The opening event was attended by artists and members of the local community, as well as Cllr. Martin Keane (Cathaoirleach Westport Town Council), Cllr. Margaret Adams (Chairperson of Custom House Studios Ltd and member of Mayo County Council and Westport Town Council) and Mayo County Council Manager Mr. Des Mahon. All spoke of the importance of the arts in Westport, and wished Custom House Studios continued success.
The inaugural exhibition in the new space was also opened by Minister Mansergh on Saturday. '360 degreesof the Reek', a solo exhibition of work by Breda Burns, continues at the gallery until Saturday 10 May 2009.
www.customhousestudios.ie
April 3, 2009
RECIPIENTS OF TBG&S & HIAP RESIDENCY EXCHANGE AWARD 2009 ANNOUNCED
On Wednesday 1 April 2009 Temple Bar Gallery & Studios in association with HIAP (Helsinki International Artist-in-Residence Programme) announced the recipients of the International Residency Exchange Award 2009. The TBG&S and HIAP partnership aims to provide support for contemporary Irish artists to participate on a 3 month residency at the Cable Factory, Helsinki, and for Finnish artists to complete a residency at TBG&S in Dublin.
The two artists selected for this year's International Residency Exchange Award are Irish artist Niamh McCann and Finnish artist Antti Leppanen.
Niamh McCann lives and works in Dublin and is a graduate of Chelsea College of Art & Design, London. She works in a variety of media and recently had a solo exhibition at the Green On Red Gallery, Dublin. Antti Leppanen received an MA form the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in 2006, and his work was recently included in the group show 'Premonitions' in the HIAP Project Room. He lives and works in Helsinki, and a solo exhibition of his work will open in Koh-I-Noor, Copenhagen, in May 2009.
The third year of the partnership will see Antti Leppanen beginning a residency at TBG&S in July 2009 supported by The Finnish Institute in London, FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange and the Embassy of Finland, Dublin. Niamh McCann will represent TBG&S on the studios programme at HIAP from 1 October to 31 December 2009. Previous artists selected for the award are Sonia Shiel (IRE) and Ulrika Ferm (FIN) in 2007, and Niamh O'Malley (IRE) and Heli Rekula (FIN) in 2008.
www.templebargallery.com
www.hiap.fi
April 3, 2009
ACNI RECENT AWARDS: SUPPORT FOR ORGANISATIONS 2009/2010
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has published a temporary document of updated information on recent awards made under their Annual Support for Organisations Programme (ASOP) Awards 2009/2010 on their website.
The update includes a database of funding provided through the Organisations Programme Awards for the current financial year and a database of funding awards made through all Arts Council of Northern Ireland funding programmes for the previous financial year 2008/2009, including Project, Public Art, Re-imaging Communities and Support for the Individual Artist Programme (SIAP) funding.
The relevant documents may be viewed or downloaded from the ACNI website at:
www.artscouncil-ni.org/award/recent/funding.htm
April 3, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL PUBLISH NEW ETHICAL PRACTICE RESOURCES
The Arts Council has published additional ethical practice resources for artists and arts organisations working with children and young people. Building on 'Guidelines for the protection and welfare of children and young people in the arts sector', the resources have been developed in response to requests from the sector.
The first resource, 'Guidelines for taking and using images of children and young people in the arts sector' aims to provide support and guidance to arts organisations and artists working as arts practitioners, facilitators or tutors making, recording and using images of children and young people. It covers such issues as informed consent, the legal context, privacy and publishing images on websites.
The second document 'Solo practitioner code of practice for working with children and young people' is a code of practice that aims to provide support and guidance to artists working with children and young people in a solo capacity as practitioners, facilitators or tutors. It is advised that is based on, and should be read in conjunction with, established good practice guidelines.
Both resources were developed in consultation with individual artists, arts organisations and the Health Service Executive: Keeping Safe Information and Advice Persons. Both documents are available from the Arts Council website.
www.artscouncil.ie/en/publications/standards_and_guidelines.aspx
April 1, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL & JOINT COMMITTEE ON ARTS: DISCUSSION ON ARTS FUNDING
The full transcript of a meeting held on 11 March 2009 between Members of The Arts Council and the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to discuss arts funding is now available from the Government website.
At the meeting, Arts Council Director Mary Cloake, Chairperson Pat Moylan, and Members Alan Stanford and Philip King, met with the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs to discuss current funding of the arts and particularly the importance of maintaining arts funding during the economic downturn.
The meeting was the first time that new Chairperson Pat Moylan had met with members of the Joint Committee, and she spoke of the arts' power to 'promote social cohesion and an equitable society'. Those present at the meeting also discussed the importance of developing the potential of cultural tourism in the country, the artists' tax examption and the PerCent for Arts Scheme.
The Joint Committee adjourned the meeting at 4.25pm. To view the full transcript of the discussion, please see:
http://debates.oireachtas.ie/DDebate.aspx?F=TOJ20090311.xml&Node=H2#H2
March 23, 2009
ARTS CENTRE PUBLIC MEETING: TULLAMORE MAY LOSE €2 MILLION FUNDING
There will be a public meeting Wednesday 25 March 2009 at 8pm in Hugh Lynch's, Kilbride Street, Tullamore, to highlight the fact that Offaly County Council have €2million in ACCESS Funding that must be be spent on developing an Arts Centre in Tullamore before the end of the year. The Community needs to highlight the importance of the issue for the future growth of Tullamore as a gateway town. Collectively representing the community and artistic interests in the town, the meeting will call on the local authorities to finalise a plan and complete this facility immediately.
Register your support by logging on to:
www.tullamorearts.com
March 11, 2009
MODEL NILAND LAUNCHES NEW EXHIBITION SPACE
The Model Arts and Niland Gallery is to launch a new gallery space in Sligo town this Saturday, 14 March 2009, with the opening of 'Signals in the Dark: Art in the Shadow of War', an inter-disciplinary project with work by 15 international artists that explores contemporary artís relationship to war and its representations.
The new space, called Model Satellite, is a 6,000 sqft exhibition space located over two floors of Castle House on Castle Street, Sligo. Developed by Kevinsfort Ltd. and originally intended for use as commercial and office space, Model Satellite will provide the Model Arts and Niland Gallery with a new home for its extensive exhibition and film programme until the end of the year while its main centre on The Mall is being redeveloped.
Model Satellite and 'Signals in the Dark' will open with a public tour by Director Seamus Kealy at 5pm on Saturday 14 March 2009. The exhibition continues until Sunday 3 May 2009. Admission is free and the Model Satellite will open weekly from Tuesday to Sunday. The next exhibition to be held at Model Satellite will be the ZKM project 'Medium Religion', opening at the end of May 2009. More information on the Model Arts and Niland Gallery redevelopment is available on their website.
www.modelart.ie/futuremodel.htm
March 11, 2009
CHRISTINE MACKEY SELECTED FOR RIAA RESIDENCY
Irish artist Christine Mackey was recently selected to participate in an RIAA (Residencia Internacional de Artistas en Argentina) residency, an international, artist-led programme in Argentina organised by Melina Berkenwald and Graciela Hasper.
The RIAA residency programme includes two days of artists' presentations at the CentroCultural de Espana en Buenos Aires, followed by a two week residency and exhibition held at Ostende - Pinamar. This is the fourth edition of the project which includes artists from Argentina, Peru, Brazil, America, Canada, Sweden, Ecuador, and Spain. Mackey's participation was funded by Leitrim and Roscommon International TRADE bursary and Cultural Ireland.
www.proyectoriaa.org
March 9, 2009
ACNI ANNOUNCES 1st ROUND OF CREATIVE INDUSTRY INNOVATION AWARDS
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has announced the recipients of the First Round of the Creative Industry Innovation Fund Awards.
The funding awards are worth a total of £283,560 and will be awarded to Craft NI, NI Music Industry Commission (NIMIC), NI Business Innovation Centre (NORIBIC Ltd) and Belfast City Council. The first round of the Creative Industry Innovation Fund Awards were targeted at sectoral bodies for innovative initiatives that aim to develop the knowledge base, infrastructure and human resources within the creative sector. The Awards are administered by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
Projects that received funding include NIMIC's commissioning of a comprehensive sectoral research study, Craft NI's creation of best practice examples for business development and creative innovation, Belfast City Council's participation in 'SXSW', a key US forum for the international media industry, and the development of an online presence for NORIBIC's 'Awakening Creative Entrepreneurism UnConference' which will take place in March 2009. More information on the Creative Industry Innovation Fund Award winners is availavble on the ACNI website.
www.artscouncil-ni.org
March 9, 2009
ACNI PUBLISHES RESPONSE TO CAL FUNDING ENQUIRY
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland has published its written submission to the Committee for Culture, Arts and Leisure (CAL) Funding Inquiry on the ACNI website. Working from Stormont, CAL scrutinises the work of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure (DCAL), and is currently conducting a major inquiry into 'The Funding of the Arts in Northern Ireland'.
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland presented oral evidence to the Committee on 26 February 2009. Their written submission includes a comparative study of the per capita spend on the arts in Northern Ireland compared to other countries in the British Isles from 2003 to 2008/9 and an examination of where arts funding in Northern Ireland comes from and possible additional sources, as well as a comprehensive breakdown of the cultural sectors across which funds received by the ACNI have been distributed from 2003/4 to 2008/9. To read the full report, please visit the News section of the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's website.
www.artscouncil-ni.org
ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF REEL ART AWARDS
The Arts Council recently announced the recipients of the first Reel Art Awards, a scheme operated by the Arts Council in association with Filmbase and the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival. Reel Art Awards were awarded to director Sé Merry Doyle and producers Martina Durac and Vanessa Gildea for 'Flight to Freedom', director Fergus Daly and producer Katherine Waugh for 'Outliving Dracula: Film Versions of Carmilla', and director Conor Horgan and producer Martha O'Neill for 'The Beholder', a film that explores the nature and process of contemporary Irish portrait artists and their relationship with their subjects.
The Reel Art Awards are designed to provide film artists with an opportunity to make imaginative and creative documentaries on artistic themesmade for theatrical exhibition and wining films will be premiered at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival in February 2010.
www.artscouncil.ie
ARTS COUNCIL & TBCT COMMENCE ARTS AUDIENCES PROJECT
The planning phase of the Arts Audiences partnership project between the Arts Council and Temple Bar Cultural Trust is now underway. The project, directed by Una Carmody of Temple Bar Cultural Trust, will seek to clarify and address issues surrounding audience experience and development in the arts and recognise the importance of arts organisations' attempts to maximaise engagement with, and revenue from, their audiences.
The national broadcaster, RTÉ, will participate in the project as associates, with input and expertise in audience research and reach, and assistance as to how audiences are informed about the arts. The guiding principle of the project will be to look at increasing capacity in arts organisations with a view to achieving demonstrable gains in audience engagement and participation, and the project will carry out project work illustrating good practice in audience development, marketing and customer service.
The planning phase of the project will be complete at the end of March 2009 and information on the project will be updated as it progresses on the Arts Council website.
www.artscouncil.ie
February 27, 2009
MARY McCARTHY: NEW DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL SCULPTURE FACTORY
The Board of the National Sculpture Factory has announced the appointment of Mary McCarthy as the next Director of the NSF. Ms McCarthy will take up her new position with the National Sculpture Factory on 20 March 2009.
Conor Doyle, Chairman of the National Sculpture Factory, said that the Board of the NSF takes great pleasure in announcing Ms McCarthy's appointment as they believe her to be a leading senior arts manager who has both the experience and skill set required to enable the NSF to further deepen and enhance its relationship with artists and policy makers alike.
From 2005 to the present Mary McCarthy has worked as Executive Arts Manager at Dublin Docklands, and she has previously held positions as a Programme Director of Cork 2005: European Capital of Culture, Director of the National Sculpture Factory, and as a member of the Irish Museum of Modern Art's curatorial team. She is currently sits on the Board of Culture Ireland, Business to Arts and the Corona Cork Film Festival, and is a member of a European Commission assessment panel for future European Capitals of Culture.
www.nationalsculpturefactory.com
February 20, 2009
LEMONSTREET GALLERY ANNOUNCES CLOSURE
Lemonstreet Gallery, previously of Lemon Street and now located on City Quay, Dublin 2, has announced that it is to close its doors for the final time at the end of the month at 4pm on Saturday 28 February 2009.
Lemonstreet Gallery was established in 2000 by Michael O'Reilly, former Chairman of the Board of the National Gallery of Ireland, in premises on Lemon Street, off Grafton Street in Dublin 2. Initially set up with the intention of facilitating the growing demand for affordable, quality artwork, the gallery specialised in graphic work and held a huge portfolio of prints by both Irish and international artists. In 2004 non-renewal of the lease necessitated a move to City Quay near the Seán O'Casey Bridge, where the gallery's scope was expanded to include monthly exhibitions of work by contemporary painters.
For nine years the gallery remained true to its original vision of extending the experience of art to a wider public, frequently showcasing work by emerging artists alongside more established gallery artists. Most recently the gallery collaborated with the Irish Hospice Foundation and recent graduates in the 'Graduates 08' show. However, despite Lemonstreet Gallery's many successes the recent economic downturn has made it impossible to keep the gallery open.
Commissioned Lemonstreet Press prints by Lemonstreet Press artists Liam Belton, Cora Cummins, Barrie Cooke, Felim Egan, Taffina Flood, Richard Gorman, Anne Madden, Patrick Scott, Michael Timmins and Charles Tyrrell will remain available online despite the closure of the gallery space. For information on Lemonstreet Press please contact:
E: lemonstreetgallerydublin@gmail.com
www.lemonstreet.com
February 18, 2009
GEORGE MORRISON RECEIVES LIFETIME CONTRIBUTION AWARD FROM IFTA
The Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) has honoured Irish documentary filmmaker and archivist George Morrison with an Industry Lifetime Contribution Award. The award was presented to Morrison by President Mary McAleese at the 6th Irish Film and Television Awards ceremony which took place on Saturday 14 February 2009 at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin.
Originally from Co. Waterford, George Morrison initially became interested in photography in the mid-1930s and directed his first 16mm film, 'Dracula', in 1942. He is perhaps best known for his films 'Mise Éire' (1959), 'Saoirse?' (1961) and 'Rebellion' (1963), which chart Ireland's struggle for independence from the late 19th century to 1922. Morrison’s painstaking identification and salvage of the Irish and British actualities and newsreels that make up these films has ensured the survival of a moving-image record of the period that continues to be a primary source of research for historians, archivists and filmmakers alike.
In addition to the fitting tribute of the Industry Lifetime Achievement Award, the Academy also announced that the IFTA's Feature Documentary category is to be named the George Morrison Feature Documentary Award in his honour.
www.iftn.ie
February 4, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL & ACNI ANNOUNCE JOINT COMMISSION
The Arts Council and the Arts Council of Northern Ireland have announced their intentionion to commission a major study to identify and describe the socio-economic conditions and regulatory context of professional artists working on the island of Ireland.
As part of the commission the two Arts Councils intend on retaining a research consultant to inform the effective interventions for change which are necessary to accord artists the conditions and status they deserve as workers and contributors to society. The research undertaken as part of the project will strengthen the evidence base, inform future funding, policy making and responsive support, and provide the arts councils with reliable data to support their case to government. Researchers and research teams with proven socio-economic research expertise have been invited to tender for this study and research proposals will be accepted until 12 noon on 20 February 2009.
www.artscouncil.ie
www.artscouncil-ni.org
February 2, 2009
NEW CHAIR AND MEMBERS OF ARTS COUNCIL WELCOMED
Mary Cloak, Director of the Arts Council, has welcomed Pat Moylan, the newly-appointed chairperson, as well as Louise Donlon, Paul Johnson, Fiona Kearney, Sheila O'Neill, Orlaith McBride and Caroline Senior, the six new Arts Council members. The new chairperson and members were announced in December 2008 by Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, and they now join the six existing members of the Council - Maurice Foley, deputy chairperson, John Crumlish, Philip King, Aibhlin McCrann, Alan Stanford and Colm Toibin.
In addition to welcoming the new chairperson and members Ms Cloak paid tribute to outgoing chairperson, Olive Braiden, and outgoing members by thanking them for their five years of hard work and commitment to both the Arts Council as an organisation and to the arts in Ireland.
www.artscouncil.ie
February 2, 2009
LAUNCH OF RUA RED, SOUTH COUNTY DUBLIN'S NEW ARTS CENTRE
On Thursday 5 February 2009 the Mayor of South Dublin County Council, Cllr. Marie Corr, alongside Martin Cullen TD, Minister of Arts, Sports and Tourism, will officially open Tallaght's new arts centre, RUA RED. The centre represents a E10 million investment in cultural facilities by South Dublin County Council and it will provide exhibition and performance space, as well as artists' studios, rehearsal spaces and multimedia facilities to the South County Dublin region.
RUA RED's official opening on Thursday will be marked by the launch of their visual arts programme. The inaugural exhibition ëHouse Warmingí is curated by Ruairi O Cuiv and Cliodhna Shaffrey, and features work by artists Jesse Jones, Vera Klute, Clare Langan, Sean Lynch, John Jones, Bea McMahon, Liam OíCallaghan and Beth OíHalloran. It will run from 6 February to 22 March 2009. The opening weekend will also feature films from 'In Context 3', part of South Dublin County Council's public art programme, on Friday 6 February 2009 from 11am to 4pm. The screening will include new extracts from 'City Loops' by Cleary & Connolly, animations from Jackie Sumellís A=AGHT, Jennifer Walsheís collaborative sound work with Grupat and a new documentary film about the 'In Context 3' programme by Enda Mac Nally.
RUA RED will also be hosting a range of performances, workshops and tours of their facilities from 5 to 8 February 2009. For more information on RUA RED please visit their website.
www.ruared.ie
January 23, 2009
ALLIANZ ARTS & BUSINESS NI AWARDS 2009: WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The winners of this year's Allianz Arts & Business Northern Ireland Awards were announced at the A & B Awards Ceremony which took place on Thursday 15 January 2009 at The Reform Club, Royal Avenue, Belfast.
Arts & Business NI aims to promote mutually beneficial relationships between business, the arts and the public sector in Northern Ireland in order to increase private sector investment in the arts. 2009 winners included Stratagem & National Museums Northern Ireland, Patton Group & Ulster Orchestra, Jill O'Neill & Belfast Print Workshop, Ulster Bank Group & Ulster Orchestra, Creggan Enterprises Limited & Guildhall Press, InBev Ireland & Feile an Phobail, West Belfast, KPMG & Royal Ulster Academy of Arts and Alley Arts Centre. For full details of the A & B NI Awards 2009 please visit the Arts & Business website.
www.aandb.org.uk/northernireland/
January 14, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL AWARDS 2009 DEADLINES ANNOUNCED
The Arts Council of Ireland has announced the closing dates for Arts Council Awards 2009.
There are a number of changes to the way in which Arts Council Awards will be offered
in 2009. Not all awards will be open to applicants in all artforms or arts practices and
for some awards only one deadline has been scheduled for 2009. This is different to
how the Arts Council has offered awards previously.
A full listing of Arts Council Awards 2009 including information on eligibility and
available funding is available on the Arts Council of Ireland website under 'Available
Funding'. If you are considering making an application in 2009 it is also important that
you read the guidance notes available on the 'Financial Support' section of their
website.
www.artscouncil.ie
January 14, 2009
ARTS COUNCIL OF IRELAND ROUND 2 BURSARY AWARDS 2008 DECISIONS ANNOUNCED
The Arts Council is delighted to announce its decisions on the second round of Bursary
Awards for 2008. A total of E885,397 has been offered to 67 individuals, bringing the
total amount awarded to bursary recipients in 2008 to E1,800,607. Twelve individuals
were awarded multi-annual bursaries in this round.
The Arts Council has awarded a total of 143 Bursary Awards to artists this year. The
purpose of an Arts Council bursary is to support professional artists at all stages in
their careers and in the development of their arts practice. The aim of the award is to
allow artists, working in any context or in any artform, to buy the space and time to
concentrate on a body of work and provide the equipment, facilities and third party
expertise to develop practice.
To view the individuals in receipt of funding in Round 2 of the Bursary Awards 2008
please go to the decisions database on the Arts Council website, select ‘Bursary
Award' from the 'Fund' menu, then select the year '2008' and click on 'Search'.
www.artscouncil.ie
December 17, 2008
NEW CHAIRPERSON AND MEMBERS OF THE ARTS COUNCIL
Martin Cullen TD, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism today announced the appointment of new members to the Arts Council including the appointment of independent theatre and film producer, Pat Moylan as the new Chairperson.
The appointments are as follows:
Pat Moylan, Chairperson, Independent Theatre and Film Producer; Louise Donlon, Director, Dunamaise Arts Centre, Portlaoise; Paul Johnson, Dancer, Choreographer & Chief Executive of Dance Ireland; Fiona Kearney, Director, Glucksman Gallery, Cork; Sheelagh O’Neill, Former marketing and tourism professional; Caroline Senior, Artistic Director, Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford and Orlaith McBride, Director, National Association for Youth Drama (outgoing member reappointed).
The new chairperson and members will join the six current board members who are Maurice Foley, Deputy Chairperson; John Crumlish, Manager of the Galway Arts Festival; Philip King, filmmaker and musician; Aibhlín McCrann, musician and communications consultant; Alan Stanford, actor and writer Colm Tóibín.
www.artscouncil.ie
December 17, 2008
THE CURFEW TOWER
Throughout 2009 Void will have full curatorial responsibility for The Curfew Tower, Cushendall, Co Antrim. The Tower is owned by Bill Drummond who has set up the ‘In You We Trust’ that offers short-term residencies for artists in the Tower.
The Curfew Tower was built in 1817, to confine riotous prisoners. The Tower is 20 feet square, tapered, and rises four storeys to a height of 40 feet, topped by modest battlements. The Tower hosts small single bedrooms, so not more than two artists can stay at any one time. Residencies are for periods of no less than a week and generally no more than three weeks. Void is inviting artists to submit applications for 2009. All details on the website.
www.derryvoid.com
December 17, 2008
RUA RED TO OPEN IN FEB
The official launch of RUA RED, South County Dublin’s new centre for creativity, will take place from 5 to 8 February 2009. Based in Tallaght, RUA RED represents an investment of almost €10 million in cultural facilities by South Dublin County Council. The centre host galleries, performance space, music rooms, incubators and artists’ studios and aims to be a creative hub for the arts community to make, present and disseminate work.
Mayor Marie Corr in the presence of Minister Martin Cullen T.D. from the Department of Arts Sports and Tourism will officially open RUA RED on the 5 February 2009. The 4-day celebratory launch programme includes exhibitions, performances, hands-on workshops and tours of the facilities and will be marked by an exhibition ‘House Warming’ co-curated by Ruairí Ó Cuív and Cliodhna Shaffrey and presenting work by artists Jesse Jones, John Jones, Vera Klute, Clare Langan, Sean Lynch, Bea McMahon, Liam O’Callaghan and Beth O’Halloran.
In addition 6 artist studios will become available for rent from February 2009. If you would like more information on the facilities or to apply for a space please email events@ruared.ie.
www.ruared.ie
Deadline for applications is 30 January 2009.
November 27, 2008
THE LAB CELEBRATES 3 YEARS WITH A NEW PUBLICATION
Dublin Lord Mayor, Eibhlin Byrne helped celebrate three years of the LAB by launching the new publication, The LAB Gallery 40 Exhibitions 06-08 on Wednesday 26 November in The LAB gallery space on Foley Street, Dublin 1.
Dublin City Council opened the municipal arts facility at the LAB on Foley Street in late 2005. The LAB houses the Council Arts Office, theatre rehearsal and workshop spaces and two floors of gallery space. Since 2005 the venue has hosted over forty exhibitions with ancillary talks, performances, seminars and workshops.
The LAB Gallery40 Exhibitions 06-08 has been commissioned to document the exhibitions that have taken place in The LAB thus far. For more information on the publication contact: Sheena Barrett, Arts Office: 087 9800152
November 27, 2008
CAMILLE SOUTER & SEÓIRSE BODLEY ELECTED SAOITHE IN AOSDÁNA
Earlier this week, President of Ireland Mary McAleese presided at a ceremony in the Arts Council to mark the election of visual artist Camille Souter and composer Seóirse Bodley as Saoithe in Aosdána. The honour of Saoi is bestowed for singular and sustained distinction in the arts.
Members of Aosdána nominate and elect the Saoithe and no more than seven artists may hold this honour at any one time. The current Saoithe are Louis Le Brocquy, Anthony Cronin, Brian Friel, Seamus Heaney and Patrick Scott. Previous Saoithe include Samuel Beckett, Sean Ó Faoláin, Patrick Collins, Mary Lavin, Francis Stewart, Tony O'Malley and Benedict Kiely.
www.artscouncil.ie
November 21, 2008
DAVY PORTRAIT AWARD WINNERS
Davy, provider of stock broking, wealth management and financial advisory services, has awarded Dublin based artist Joe Dunne with first prize in the inaugural Davy Portrait Awards for his work ‘Portrait of Cara’.
The awards, in association with Arts & Business, were open to artists working in traditional and non-traditional media across Ireland. The judging panel comprised Royal Hibernian Academy President Stephen McKenna, Royal Ulster Academy President Rita Duffy and international art critic and writer Gemma Tipton.
Dunne studied at the National College of Art and Design in Dublin and has exhibited at numerous solo and group exhibitions across Ireland, the UK and Europe.
Belfast-born Martin Wedge picked up second prize for his oil on canvas portrait entitled Figure C3.10. Third prize was awarded to Gary Coyle for a charcoal on paper portrait of his father.
The winning works can be viewed alongside 21 other shortlisted paintings selected from over 300 entries at the inaugural Davy Portrait Awards exhibition at the Naughton Gallery in Belfast until 31st January 2009. The exhibition will move to the Farmleigh Gallery in Dublin in March 2009.
www.davyportraitawards.com
November 20, 2008
2008 WINNER OF EMERGING VISUAL ARTIST AWARD
Wexford Arts Centre in partnership with the Arts Department of Wexford County Council and the Arts Council is pleased to announce that Dublin based visual artist Vera Klute is the recipient of the third annual Emerging Visual Artist Award.
The initiative supports promising visual artists in Ireland with an award of €8,000 and a solo exhibition at Wexford Arts Centre. The award is aimed at recognising and supporting the development of committed emerging artists, in kick starting their career and achieving professional recognition.
Klute will be required to create a new body of work during the period of November 2008 – October 2009, which will be exhibited at Wexford Arts Centre during November 2009.
Klute's work merges drawing, photography and video into collage-like animations. While focusing mainly on the medium of video, her practice also includes drawing, painting and most recently kinetic sculptural work.
www.wexfordartscentre.ie
November 18, 2008
VISUAL ARTISTS IRELAND INFORMATION CLINICS
Visual Artists Ireland’s West of Ireland Representative and practicing visual artist Aideen Barry will run Information Clinics in Sligo Art Gallery, Sligo and Ennistymon Courthouse Gallery and Studios in Clare this week and next.
On Thursday the 20 November from 11.00pm-2.30pm, the Information Clinic will be held at the Sligo Art Gallery, Yeats Memorial Building, Hyde Bridge, Sligo.
On Thursday the 27 November from 12.00pm-2.00pm, the Information Clinic will be held at the Ennistymon Courthouse Gallery and Studios, Ennistymon County Clare.
The information clinics are an informal meet and greet, where Aideen will answer questions about Visual Artist Ireland, offer feed back on services and opportunities available to artists and will listen to concerns from visual artists living in the West of Ireland.
Aideen and Visual Artists Ireland invite all interest from practicing visual artists, curators and representatives from institutions to attend. Aideen will also accept new memberships and renewals of membership on the day. For further information you can contact Aideen at aideenbarry@gmail.com
More details on the venues can be found by contacting:
Sligo Art Gallery
T: 071 9145847
www.sligoartgallery.com
Ennistymon Courthouse Gallery and Studios
Ennistymon County Clare.
http://ennistymoncourthousegallery.blogspot.com
November 18, 2008
ART AND ARCHITECTURE OF IRELAND PROJECT
Art and Architecture of Ireland is a new major project which will be undertaken by The Royal Irish Academy (RIA). The aim of the project is the creation of a comprehensive history of Irish Art and Architecture to be published in five volumes covering the years 400 – 2000.
To date no comprehensive publication of this nature on the subject of Irish art and architecture exists. The RIA will create a new and comprehensive history of Irish Art, including medieval as well as the 20th century. The project will involve collaboration with all of the major academic and art institutions, and the National Cultural Institutions. The publications will deal with the Island of Ireland as a whole and will require liaison with relevant institutions, including the Ulster Museum, Queen's University, Belfast and the University of Ulster.
www.ria.ie
November 18, 2008
FLAGSHIP PUBLIC ART SCULPTURE UNVEILED IN BELFAST
A design plan for the biggest public art sculpture in Belfast, which will be situated at a main gateway to the city, has been unveiled. ‘Rise’ will be built at Broadway Roundabout by the artist Wolfgang Buttress and will stand at 123 ft high by 98.4ft wide.
The globe shaped white and silver aluminum sculpture - a representation of a new sun rising to celebrate a new chapter in the history of Belfast – should be visible from several miles away when it is constructed in 2009.
Wolfgang Buttress was selected after competition from more than 40 artists from Ireland, the United Kingdom and internationally. An experienced artist and sculptor from Birmingham, he has produced public art pieces for cities across the United Kingdom and has had exhibitions from as far away as Japan and the USA.
Buttress intends to encourage input from local people living near the landmark sculpture. He will be holding creative workshops with groups from the Greater Village and St James’ areas of Belfast.
www.belfastcity.gov.uk
November 13, 2008
National Memorial For Members of the Defence Forces
A memorial to members of the Defence Forces who died in service was unveiled on Saturday 6 November in Merrion Square, Dublin by President Mary McAlees.
The memorial, designed by artist Brian King, was the winning entry in an international competition that attracted more than 30 artists. It depicts members of the Army, Navy, Air Corps and Reserve cast in bronze standing guard over an eternal flame that emanates from the Defence Forces Badge at the centre of the structure. The work is installed near the corner of Merrion Square South and Merrion Square West in Archbishop Ryan Park, Dublin 2.
President Mary McAleese led the unveiling ceremony, which was attended by Taoiseach Brian Cowen, Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea, and families and Defence Force comrades of deceased personnel.
Artist Brian King was born in Dublin in 1942. He studied in the National college of Art and Design in Dublin where he lectured for a number of years and, and then became the Head of the Department of Sculpture from 1984 –2004. More info on Brian King can be found on his website.
www.sculpture.ie
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November 12, 2008
RHA ANNUAL AWARDS
Painter Comhghall Casey is the winner of the Hennessy Craig Scholarship Worth 12,000 Euro for his painting Red Bicycle. The award is given each year to a painter under the age of 35 years who exhibits in the open submission section of the RHA Annual Exhibition. In addition painters Ann Quinn & Majec Bedkowski both received subsidiary awards of 2,500 euro as part of this award.
Other award winners included the inaugural Bank of Scotland (Ireland) and Irish Arts Review Photographic Portrait Prize of €6,000 awarded to Patrick Donald for his photograph Fairground Scene, Cuba; The RHA Sculpture Award of €10,000 awarded to Janet Mullarney for her work Earthly Creatures and The De Veres Award of €3,000 for a first time exhibitor awarded to Kim Cunningham for her work Tea Dancers No. 1.
In all 20 artists’ awards were awarded worth a total of 75,500 euro in an award ceremony in the Royal Hibernian Academy on Sunday 9 November 2008. Full details on the website.
www.royalhibernianacademy.com
November 12, 2008
NO GRANTS GALLERY TO OPEN IN TEMPLE BAR
On Wednesday 19 November, Temple Bar Cultural Trust (TBCT) will launch a new gallery and exhibition space for artists who are currently working without public funding support.
NGG (No Grants Gallery) will be officially opened by Mary Cloake, Director of The Arts Council, in the Temple Bar Cultural Information Centre at 12 East Essex Street, Temple Bar which will be home to the new Gallery
NGG will be curated and managed by artist Carol Eakins. It will take the form of a non-profit gallery where artists pay a nominal fifty-euro fee for a two-week exhibition slot and also receive promotional support from TBCT.
The first exhibition at NGG will be by artist Aisling Conroy a student at NCAD which will run until 24 November. Artists interested in showing their work at NGG should contact ngg@templebar.ie or Carol Eakins at 01 677 2255.
www.templebar.ie
October 31, 2008
NEW PUBLIC ART MANAGER FOR DUBLIN CITY
Dublin City Council has appointed Ruairí Ó Cuív as Public Art Manager. Ó Cuív will be charged with developing and managing programmes arising from existing and new Per Cent for Art commissioning opportunities. He will support the development and implementation of policy in relation to Public Art in the city including policy on Commemorative Public Art, Gifts to The City, Temporary Public Art and opportunities arising from private development. Ó Cuív will commence his appointment on 1 December 2008.
Ruairí Ó Cuív began his career as History of Art lecturer at Sligo RTC. He co-founded Ireland’s first professional art installation and transport company in 1982. In 1987 he was appointed curator of exhibitions at the Royal Hospital Kilmainham and in 1989 at the Douglas Hyde Gallery. In 1991 he was appointed Director of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios where he was responsible for the re-development of the gallery and studios complex as well as curating exhibitions. Since 1996 he has worked as an independent curator and arts consultant specialising in public art.
www.dublincity.ie
October 31, 2008
RHA RE-OPENING & ANNUAL EXHIBITION
This year’s RHA Annual will be the first exhibition in the newly refurbished RHA Gallagher Galleries. The refurbishment includes a new studio complex, public façade, new galleries, a purpose built café run by the Unicorn restaurant and a specialist art bookshop operated by Noble & Beggarman.
The RHA Annual exhibition will show recent work by Academicians, invited artists and emerging artists in the disciplines of painting, print, photography, sculpture, drawing and architecture. Invited artists include Sahoko Blake, Dorothy Cross, Felim Egan, Nuala Goodman, Paul McKinley, Hughie O’Donoghue, John Shinnors and Rose Stapleton. Academicians include newly elected Members Colin Martin ARHA and Eilis O’Connell RHA as well as artists such as Carey Clarke PPRHA, Veronica Bolay RHA, Maeve McCarthy RHA, Thomas Ryan PPRHA, Neil Shawcross RHA, Amelia Stein RHA and Donald Teskey RHA. There are to date 20 Artists’ Prizes for this year’s Annual with a prize fund of 75,500 euro. The exhibition will open to the public on Tuesday 11 November and run until 13 December
www.royalhibernianacademy.ie
October 31, 2008
NEW ARTS COUNCIL RESOURCE: ARTS, EDUCATION AND OTHER LEARNING SETTINGS
The Arts Council has announced a new resource which makes available, in summary form, a very wide range of research, including a number of action research projects, undertaken in the field of arts-in-education in Ireland. While the focus is on arts in schools, other settings also feature such as, arts in healthcare, arts in youth work and arts in communities. It includes hard data, oireachtas reports, project evaluations, policy frameworks and guidelines, and a host of reports from many long-term projects undertaken by local authorities, cultural institutions, arts organisations and education providers. The digest spans an almost thirty-year timeframe of 1979 to 2007.
Arts, Education and Other Learning Settings: A Research Digest is downloadable at:
www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/Research_Digest.pdf
October 21, 2008
DIRECTOR APPOINTED FOR VISUAL
Carlow Arts Centre Ltd, in association with the Carlow Local Authorities, have announced the appointment of Carissa Farrell as Director for VISUAL – Centre for Contemporary Art and the George Bernard Shaw Theatre in Carlow.
Carissa, currently Visual Arts Officer at Draiocht, has over fifteen years professional experience in the visual arts and arts management arena. Prior to her term with Draíocht, Carissa established the Irish Museum of Modern Art’s first National Programme, bringing the Museum’s collection on tour to over 50 locations in Ireland over a four-year period. Carissa’s experience also includes working at Visual Artists Ireland and the Garage Theatre Monaghan.
VISUAL is due to open in September 2009 with Carissa taking up her new role in mid November 2008.
www.carlow.ie/Information/TheArts
October 21, 2008
NORTHERN IRELAND: NEW CHILD PROTECTION GUIDELINES
The new child protection guidelines are now available to download from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland website. The resource document outlines legislative and good practice guidelines for working with children. Organisations and artists are advised to take these guidelines and adapt them to suit their specific activities and organisational structure.
www.artscouncil-ni.org
October 21, 2008
KILDARE ARTS - OPEN …FOR IDEAS
Kildare County Council has launched OPEN…for ideas, a programme of review, research and consultation for the Riverbank Arts Centre, in Newbridge.
OPEN…for ideas hopes to engage stakeholders, artists, arts organisations and local communities. The aim of the research is to broaden access to, and develop new and existing audiences in, all art forms through an inclusive programme relevant to the needs of the local community whilst remaining sensitive to contemporary art practice.
Led by arts consultant, Una Collins assisted by Susan Boyle, a graduate in performance studies, OPEN…for ideas takes place until 19 December 2008. The programme includes arts-based interventions, site-specific performances and once off events, which will be used to gather views of individuals and organizations around the county with particular expertise or interest in the arts as part of the consultation process. The consultation will also include formal questionnaires, focus groups, interviews and an ideas wall in Riverbank Arts Centre.
Anybody who is interested in the project or who wishes to contribute to the future of Riverbank can post their views on the website or submit by email to openforideas@kildarecoco.ie
http://kildare.ie/OpenForIdeas
October 15, 2008
PRINTED PROJECT AT NEW YORK ART BOOK FAIR
Printed Project - the curated contemporary art journal, published by Visual Artists Ireland - invite you to visit their stand - U178 - at the NY Art Book Fair. We will be launching our landmark tenth edition 'The Art of Living with Strangers' curated / edited by Lolita Jablonskiene.
This issue of Printed Project is based around the experience of the immigrant within their adopted environment and is indebted to the sociologist Zygmunt Bauman's assertions that inhabitants of the contemporary city are "permanent strangers," and that cohabitation, according to Bauman, is "an art which, like all arts, requires study and exercise". Moreover, Lolita Jablonskiene describes her edition of Printed Project "as a workshop - constructed in the spirit of Alexander Rodchenko's Workers' Club -- offering socio-political enlightenment, a platform for debate, and a space for the renewal of our energy at the end of a long working day".
Lolita Jablonskiene is an art critic and curator based in Vilnius. Contributors to Printed Project Issue 10 are: Lolita Jablonskiene, Zygmunt Bauman, Flash Bar, Brendan Earley, Steven Flusty, Sam Ely & Sam Ely & Lynn Harris, Lukasz Piotr Galecki, Tessa Giblin, Daniel Jewesbury, Jesse Jones, Danius Kesminas, Eléonore de Montesquiou, Nikos Papastergiadis, Paulina Egle Pukyte, Simon Rees, Société Réaliste, Apolonija Sustersic, Sarah Tuck, What is to be done? / Chto delat?, Pavel Braila.
NEW York Art Book Fair
Benefit Preview evening: Thursday 23 October 6 - 9pm.
General Admission: Friday/Saturday,
October 24 & 25, 2008, 11am - 7pm
Sunday, October 26, 2008, 11am - 5pm
Printed Project, Booth U178.
The NY Art Book Fair, Phillips de Pury & Company, 450 West 15th Street at 10th Avenue, 3rd floor. www.nyartbookfair.com
www.visualartists.ie/AP_next_issue.html
www.printedproject.ie
October 15, 2008
THE ARTS & BUDGET 2009
The Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism has been allocated €551m in Budget 2009. Of this the Arts, Culture and Film sector received a total of €185m, Sport received an allocation of €204m while Tourism received €161m.
The 2009 funding for the Arts Council is approximately €75.7m, a reduction from €82m in 2008. Commenting on the allocation Maurice Foley, Deputy Chair of the Council said: "We do appreciate the challenges facing the Government and the Minister and we understand the need to cut some public spending. Nevertheless, we are disappointed at the 2009 allocation to the Arts Council, which will in practice leave us with nearly €9 million or about 10 % less money in overall terms than we invested in 2008.
The Art Council fears that "significant grant cuts will be unavoidable, conditional commitments will have to be reviewed and some organisations will need funds from other sources if they are to survive".
There is good news for Culture Ireland however which has been allocated approximately €4.7m - similar to its 2008 allocation.
Minister Cullen also announced that the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the Crawford Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Ireland are to be amalgamated in order to improve “economies of scale and costs and an enhancement of what they have on offer for the tourist, user and student”. It is not yet clear what this will mean in practice for the three organisations but Cullen intends to bring legislation forward to effect these amalgamations as soon as it is feasible.
www.dast.gov.ie
October 13, 2008
DECISIONS: ARTIST IN THE COMMUNITY SCHEME
Twice yearly, the Arts Council offers grants to enable artists and communities of place/interest to work together on projects. The scheme covers all art forms. The Artist in the Community Scheme is managed by Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts. The successful visual art / multimedia applicants for Round Two in 2008 are:
Phase 1: Research and Development Awards (artist and community, art form)
* Martina Hynan: Birth Choice Clare, visual arts
* Rowena Keaveney: Clara Day Care Centre, visual arts
* Gillian Kenny: St Josephs Foundation Art Group, visual arts
* Sinead McCann: EVE Ltd, visual arts
* Sheelagh Broderick: Sherkin Island development, visual arts
Phase 2: Project Awards (community, artist, art form)
* Carlingford Community Development: Dearbhla Reynolds, visual arts
* EVE Ltd Tuiscint: Slavek Kwi, multimedia
* NCBI Iona Centre: Siobhan Clancy, multimedia
* East Clare Youthreach: Pete Brown, visual arts
* Nenagh Childcare Centre: Lynn Kirkham, visual arts
www.create-ireland.ie
October 11, 2008
NOTICE: TRAVEL AND TRAINING AWARD 2008
The Arts Council has advised that the allocated budget for the Travel and Training Award in 2008 is close to being spent in certain art forms and arts practice areas. Prospective applicants are advised to consult the Arts Council website before applying for a Travel and Training Award between now and 31 December 2008.
www.artscouncil.ie
October 11, 2008
CULTURE IRELAND AUTUMN GRANT DECISIONS
Culture Ireland has announced support for over sixty international projects and events, featuring Irish artists across all disciplines. Some of the visual artists to receive support are: Sean McCrum (Canada), Aine Phillips (Australia), Amanda Coogan (Bangkok and Cardiff), Denis McNulty (Brazil), Declan Rooney (Sydney), Clodagh Emoe (Amsterdam), Janet Mullarney (Italy) Patrick Jolly (Los Angeles and London) and Stephen Brandes (Germany). Full details of all the projects in receipt of support from Culture Ireland under this application round is available from the website
www.cultureireland.gov.ie
September 30, 2008
e v+ a CURATORS & CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
e v+ a has announced that Angelika Nollert & Yilmaz Dziewior will co-curate OPEN e v+ a 2009, the annual exhibition of contemporary art that takes place in Limerick city. Angelika Nollert, is Director of the New Museum for Art and Design in Nurenberg and Yilmaz Dziewior is Director of the Kunstverein in Hamburg. e v+ a 2009 will run from 14 March to 24 May.
OPEN e v+ a 2009 is also calling for submissions. Artists may submit work, proposals and documentation directly, with the completed application form and entry fee at the specified collection points and on the dates indicated on the schedule. Final Submission Date: 5pm on 28th November 2008. Artists may also submit by post or courier. Full details and application forms are on the website
www.eva.ie
September 25, 2008
MARIA MCKINNEY AWARDED RESIDENTIAL STUDIO AT RED STABLES
Maria McKinney is the recipient of the Irish Artists’ Residential Studio Award, 2008-2009, in The Red Stables, St Anne’s Park, Dublin 3.
Maria McKinney was born in London in 1982 and grew up in Donegal, Ireland. She is a member of Orchid studios in Belfast and her studio practice is largely concerned with ideas of escapism and subjects of boredom using drawing, sculpture, intervention, installation and commonplace materials.
The Irish Artists’ Residential Studio Award is intended to support an emerging visual artist at a crucial stage of their professional practice and includes studio and living accommodation at nominal rent and inclusion in exhibition programme at THE LAB, Foley Street, Dublin 1.
www.dublincity.ie
September 25, 2008
CUSTOM HOUSE STUDIOS REFURBISHMENT
The Custom House Studios in Westport has commenced construction on an extension and refurbishment project in order to provide improved accommodation for artists’ studios and exhibition space, together with office and storage spaces. The project is funded by Mayo County Council and construction work is scheduled for completion in 6 months’ time.
While building is in progress the Gallery at the Westport Quay premises will be closed and Custom House Studios and printmaking studio will relocate to Unit 1, 15 Westport Industrial Park, Newport Road, Westport, Co. Mayo. The studios’ telephone number and email address remain unchanged.
T: 098 28735
E: customhouse@eircom.net
September 25, 2008
CREATE: GARDA VETTING, CHILD WELFARE AND PROTECTION
Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts has been successful in completing the registration process with the Garda Vetting Unit and will be able to process vetting applications on behalf of organisations employing or commissioning artists to work in collaborative contexts.
Copies of the Arts Council’s publication: Guidelines for the Protection and Welfare of Children and Young People in the Arts Sector are available on the Arts Council website in English at www.artscouncil.ie/Publications/ChildGuidelinesEnglish.pdf
www.create-ireland.ie
September 23, 2008
RED, SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY ARTS CENTRE CALLS FOR INTEREST
South Dublin County Council’s latest venture the new County Arts Centre, RED in Tallaght is the most recent addition to Tallaght's emerging cultural quarter. The centre which represents an investment of almost €10 million in arts and cultural facilities by South Dublin County Council is nearing completion and is due to open soon.
The remit of the centre is to develop the arts in South Dublin County through supporting and providing spaces for production, exhibitions and process-based activities and by providing workspace for arts organisations and artists. RED is calling for individuals and arts organisations who are interested in participating or working within the centre to request an Expression of Interest form.
The facility consists of two gallery spaces, a studio performance space, an art workshop room, five music tuition rooms, a dance and rehearsal studio, two multi media rooms, three incubation units, six artist studio spaces and several meeting rooms.
To receive a Expression of Interest form please contact kphillips@sdublincoco.ie
September 23, 2008
NEW DIRECTOR FOR CONTEXT GALLERY
Theo Sims is the new Director of the Context Gallery in Derry. Sims has moved back to Northern Ireland from Canada where he was the Programming Coordinator at a contemporary artist-run centre called aceartinc. located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Sims's achievements are particularly evident with his support and promotion of emerging artists such as Melanie Authier, Adad Hannah, Frieso Boning and this years Sobey Award nominee Daniel Barrow. Sims has also worked with international artists such as Donigan Cumming, Rebecca Belmore and Steingrimur Eyfjord and has most recently founded and co-organised (In)Visible Cities, a festival of performance and off-site installations featuring artists such as Nhan Duc Nguyen, FASTWURMS, Cheryl L'Hirondelle and Finger In The Dyke Productions.
Theo Sims is an alumnus of the University of Ulster, (receiving his MA in 1994), and previous member of Orchid Studio's in Belfast from 1991-1998. Sims will steer the gallery through its fifteenth year and launch the newly renovated space in the spring of 2009.
contextgalleries.blogspot.com
September 23, 2008
KEVIN KAVANAGH MOVES TO CHACERY LANE
The Kevin Kavanagh Gallery has moved to a new 135 m² premises in Chancery Lane in the centre of Dublin. The new gallery space has been designed by architect Philip Crowe of MCO Architecture, Dublin. The first show in the new gallery space, ‘The world needs a narrative’, opens Friday 26 September and features artists Karin Brunnermeier, Henry Darger, Neil Farber, Tony Fitzpatrick, Michael Kalmbach, Basim Magdy, Jason McLean, Guy Richards Smit and Ken Solomon. The exhibition runs from September 26 to October 18, 2008
www.kevinkavanaghgallery.ie
September 9, 2008
ACNI FUNDS NEW CREATIVE SPACE IN CONWAY MILL
The Arts Council of Northern Ireland (ACNI) recently announced the start of the Conway Mill refurbishment project. ACNI, through the National Lottery, is funding the development of an arts floor within the project which should strengthen and develop the local arts infrastructure.
Conway Mill is a community, economic social and cultural centre in West Belfast. The aims of the organisation are to promote and stimulate local economic enterprises and job creation opportunities, provide educational opportunities for adults and young people and support the development of cultural and creative enterprises.
The ACNI is funding a suite of artists’ studios, a workshop and gallery within the Mill development.
www.artscouncil-ni.org
September 9, 2008
CRESCENT ARTS REFURBISHMENT PROJECT BEGINS
With a visit to the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast on 1 September 2008, Northern Ireland Arts Minister Gregory Campbell announced the start of the refurbishment project of the Crescent Arts Centre building on University Road.
The Department of Culture Arts and Leisure awarded Capital funding totalling £4.5million for the redevelopment. The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is also funding the project, to the tune of £1,450,000.
The refurbishment will include a café, workshop accommodation, a new dance studio and gallery space, while the newly developed area will house a large multi-purpose space, with retractable seating. Also lifts, toilets and changing rooms will be included in the new build, thus delivering a fully accessible and serviced arts centre, without negatively impacting on the status of the original, listed and iconic Belfast building.
www.crescentarts.org
September 9, 2008
CREATE-EXCHANGE, NEW ARTS AUDIO SITE
Create, the national development agency for collaborative arts, has launched Create-exchange.ie, the first arts organisation dedicated audio site in the Republic of Ireland. The create-exchange audio site will feature audio from Create events as well as audio from seminars and events nationally and internationally that focus on collaborative arts.
The audio content focuses on collaborative arts as a contemporary arts practice in Ireland and will feature arts practitioners, critics, curators and academics. The aim of the site is to act as a forum for artists and to encourage discussion on collaborative arts that is part of broader critical debate on arts and culture. Create-exchange will also afford artists who work collaboratively the opportunity to talk about the processes and the ideas that inspire them and inform their work; and will also encourage interaction between communities, members of the public, artists and cultural commentators. The site is designed so that visitors can access audio content in a variety of ways; by streaming from the website; downloading content to computer or MP3 player or subscribing to receive podcasts of the very latest discussion.
www.create-exchange.ie
September 9, 2008
THE DUBLIN ART FAIR 2008
This weekend the Dublin Art Fair will host an eclectic mix of leading national and international galleries. To be housed in the RDS, Main Hall and exhibiting over 2,500 works from modern masters to emerging artists. This fair sees the launch of Project Platform - an innovative initiative, devised to support and encourage emerging, avant-garde talent. It will showcase four commissioned, non-commercial project spaces.
Project Platform:
Monster Truck/Magnhild Opdøl,
Oisín Byrne
Dáinne Níc Aoidh,
Shiri Mordechay + David Tully
RDS Main Hall, Dublin, Ireland
Friday: 12th Sept 12- 9pm
Saturday 13th Sept 11- 7pm
Sunday 14th Sept 11- 7pm
www.dublinartfair.ie
September 9, 2008
VISITING ARTS' INTERNATIONAL PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING SITE
www.arts-planet.net is a new international networking resource which allows arts professionals from across the globe to make contacts, collaborate and talk to each other. Arts-Planet.net arises out of Visiting Arts' commitment to strengthening intercultural understanding through the Arts. Visiting Arts is supported by the British Council and the Arts Councils of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
www.arts-planet.net
September 1, 2008
VISUAL ARTISTS CHALLENGE NEW UK POINTS BASED VISA SYSTEM AND CALL ON HOME OFFICE TO STOP DISCRIMINATION
Saturday, September 20, 2008 at the Site Gallery, Liverpool John Moore University School of Art and Design, 68 Hope Street, Liverpool at 2pm
Saturday, September 20, 2008 at the Site Gallery, Liverpool John Moore University School of Art and Design, Visual Artists Ireland, the all Ireland representative body for visual artists, will call upon the Home Office to stop the blatant discrimination against visual artists within the new points based visa system.
Since June 29th 2008, the writers, composers and artists category in visa applications is closed to new applicants. If an artist wishes to come to the United Kingdom to work, or is already there in another immigration category and wishes to extend their stay, they now need to apply under Tier 1 or Tier 5* of the new points-based system.
“With recent changes to the new immigration visa system comes a new form of censorship within the visual arts.” commented Noel Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Visual Artists Ireland. He continued “It has become increasingly more difficult for artists and cultural organisations to work with colleagues and peers from outside the United Kingdom and Europe. The Home Office must understand that the potential for the stagnation of cultural life through the imposition of these new regulations is immense”.
A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: “We want the UK to stay open and attractive for both business and visitors. But at the same time we are determined to deliver a system of border security which is among the most secure in the world. That’s why we are currently carrying out the biggest shake-up to the immigration system for a generation. Centre-stage is our new Australian-style points system which means only those we need can come here to work or study. We have consulted widely on all criteria. Codes of Practice have been drawn up for the creative sector by the sector itself. The sector advised on the criteria. Once the Sector completed the code of practice it is submitted to us (UKBA) to comment on and approve. The minister signs it off before it is published.”
However, upon further questioning, about different accreditations that are available under the system to people such as scientists and entertainers, the Home Office outlined that there used to be an entry category of writers, composers and artists – this was deleted by a Statement of Changes in Parliament on 30 June 2008. No further explanation was given.
This can be seen as having a direct effect on the diversity of artistic practices that has made the United Kingdom so key in international cultural life. To this end, an open discussion on the topic will take place during the opening week of the Liverpool Biennial. Hosted by Printed Project (a Visual Artists Ireland publication) and in partnership with Belfast Exposed, the event will be open to all members of the public and will feature contributions from the perspective of: David Jacques (Artist), Pauline Hadaway (Director, Belfast Exposed, and Yvette Vaughan Jones (Visiting Arts, UK).
The event takes place on Saturday, September 20, 2008 at the Site Gallery, Liverpool John Moores University School of Art and Design, 68 Hope Street, Liverpool at 2pm. Entry is free and all are welcome.
*
Tier 5 Category applicants cannot transfer to other categories.
September 1, 2008
SOURCE GRADUATE PHOTOGRAPHY ONLINE - CURATORS FAVOURITES
Curators from the Photographers Gallery in London and Gallerie Fotohof in Salzburg have selected their favourite portfolios submitted in the 2008 ‘Graduate Photography Online’ at www.source.ie.
The project, commissioned by Source magazine, has been developed for the benefit of graduates to show their work to a wider online audience, and to extend the life span of their graduation show which would normally last just a week. The initiative is also publicized in Source magazine, exposing the graduates work to a readership of curators, picture editors, academics and those active in contemporary photography.
In its second year running Graduate Photography Online has 23 participating universities, which not only promotes their courses to prospective students but also showcases over 400 graduates work.
To view the curators selections, and all submissions, log onto www.source.ie and follow the links to the Graduate Photography Online.
August 21, 2008
ARTISTS RESALE RIGHTS: GOVERNMENT MAY DELAY FURTHER IMPLEMENTATION, WE NEED YOUR HELP TO AVOID THIS.
On June 19th 2006, Michael Ahern T.D., Minister for Trade and Commerce at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment announced the signing of Regulations transposing into Irish Law EU Directive 2001/84/EC on the resale rights of authors of original works of art. The Regulations, entitled the European Communities (Artists Resale Right), Regulations, S.I. No. 312of 2006, came into effect on 13 June 2006.
The Regulations provide for a new right in Irish law entitling artists to payment where their art works are resold through the art trade. Minister Ahern said "The new Regulations mean that artists will share in the commercial success of their work and will be entitled to payments of up to €12,500 when individual works created by them are later resold."
The press release at that time outlined the following:
Often also called "Droit de Suite", Artists Resale Right Schemes have operated in many European countries since the 1920's. After World War II the number of states providing artists droit de suite increased steadily. By the early 1990's, most EU member states had had operational schemes in place. There were, however, considerable differences in the way the right was operated in the various countries. A few countries, like Ireland, did not have schemes.
Following detailed discussions a unanimous compromise was agreed in late 2001. Transposition of the Directive was set for January 2006 for living artists. Member States were allowed a derogation for deceased artists delaying implementation until January 2010.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment have now entered into a consultation phase, with the suggestion that the proposed deadline of January 2010 is extended to January 2012. They do this on the basis of ensuring that the market is prepared for the work that is required to ensure compliance.
From our point of view, the artists' resale right was always intended to benefit the heirs of an artist after his or her death. It creates equality between visual artists and the creators of other copyright works - all of whom are entitled to a royalty for 70 years after death. As the Irish Visual Artists' Rights Organisation is now successfully collecting the ARR on behalf of Irish artists, there is no reason why the government should seek to further postpone the granting of the right to heirs beyond 2010.
Also, apart from extending the ARR to artists' heirs, we would like to lobby the government to bring forward legislation in which the threshold for payment of the ARR is reduced to a maximum of €1,000, so that a greater number of artists can benefit from this right.
Therefore, at the bottom of this email you will find the text of an email that we would like you to send to the government contact person. The text outlines that there is no need for an extension, IVARO is in place and has systems in place that are working efficiently, and also asking that the €3000 threshold is reduced to €1000.
We hope that you will help us with this important action.
Noel Kelly, Chief Executive Officer, Visual Artists Ireland
Further details about the consultation process are available at www.entemp.ie/science/ipr/copyrightconsultation.htm
Send an email to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
To send the email to the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, you could use the text below and email it to. Florence_kelly@entemp.ie or otherwise, by post to :
Florence Kelly,
Intellectual Property Unit,
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment,
Earlsfort Centre,
Lr. Hatch St,
Dublin 2.
Dear Minister
The artists' resale right was always intended to benefit the heirs of an artist after his or her death. It creates equality between visual artists and the creators of other copyright works - all of whom are entitled to a royalty for 70 years after death.
As the Irish Visual Artists' Rights Organisation is now successfully collecting the ARR on behalf of Irish artists, there is no reason why the government should seek to further postpone the granting of the right to heirs beyond 2010.
Apart from extending the ARR to artists' heirs, can I ask that that you support Irish artists by bringing forward legislation in which the threshold for payment of the ARR is reduced to a maximum of 1,000, so that a greater number of artists can benefit from this right.
Signed:
Visual artist (Your name)
Address: (Your address)
August 20, 2008
LEITRIM SCULPTURE CENTRE GRAND OPENING
The Leitrim Sculpture Centre (LSC) will celebrate the completion of its refurbishment with a grand opening event on 5 September. The new facilities will be launched by Mary Cloake, Director of the Arts Council .
A national resource organisation, the LSC provides space, technical facilities and assistance to develop new ideas and projects whilst supporting interaction between artists, communities and the environment at local, national and international levels.
The extensive refurbishment of the Centre at New Line and Main St. Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim was undertaken in order to create safer access, broader participation and a more diverse range of resources and services for artists and communities. It was made possible with financial support from: The Department of Arts Sport and Tourism; the Arts Council; The Source Project (Interreg IIIa); Leitrim County Task Force (Peace II), The Green Box and took two years to complete.
New facilities include: 12 artists studios; new production areas including foundry and metalwork, stone & wood, mouldmaking, polishing and paternation and a hot glass studio. Additional facilities include life study & project rooms, printmaking, photography, digital media and print studio, study and library resource, residency studio and a public gallery.
Artists can rent a studio or hire a wide range of spaces and technical equipment to develop new work.
www.leitrimsculpturecentre.ie
August 20, 2008
SOLOMON FINE ART
As of October 1st, 2008, the Solomon Gallery will cease operating from its premises at the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre in Dublin city centre. Run by Suzanne Macdougald and Tara Murphy the Solomon has been based at the Townhouse for 27 years and has mounted over 350 exhibitions in the Gallery
The Solomon will become known as Solomon Fine Art but will continue to provide the services its has provided to date - such as consultation, advise, commissioning, publications and valuations etc - to it clients.
In its new focus, Solomon Fine Art will introduce additional services to clients. These include facilitating up to four exhibitions per annum at The Merrion in Dublin, a major outdoor sculpture exhibition to be held bi-annually, purchasing and vending both in the primary and secondary art markets on behalf of clients and a comprehensive website showcasing all stock held at any one time by Solomon Fine Art. The Solomon will also continue to have a presence at the Irish art trade fairs
www.solomonfineart.ie
August 20, 2008
GROUND UP PUBLICATION LAUNCH
The publication of ‘Ground Up’ represents the final strand of ‘GROUND UP’, Clare Arts Office’s four year public art project (2003 – 2007) where 16 Irish and International artists were invited to re-consider contemporary art practice in the rural context. As a result of the programme 12 temporary public artworks were commissioned in various rural contexts in Co. Clare.
Fiona Woods, editor and curator of the project, collaborated closely with Atelier David Smith on the design of the publication. In order to further develop some of the ideas that the project set in motion, the book contains a number of specially commissioned essays by Maja and Dr. Reuben Fowkes, Matthew Lennon, and Alan Phelan.
It also features the work of participating artists Vladimir Arkhipov (RUS), Amanda Dunsmore, Maria Finucane, Paul Forder (UK), Patricia Hurl, Tamás Kaszás (HUN), Maria Kerin, Aileen Lambert, John Langan, Fiona O' Dwyer, Deirdre O' Mahony, Áine Phillips, Therry Rudin, Seán Taylor, Vince Wall and Fiona Woods.
The launches take place on Wednesday 17 September, 6.30pm, in the Burren College of Art, Ballyvaughan, Co. Clare and on Friday 26th September, 6.30 pm in The Atrium, Temple Bar Gallery and Studios, Dublin
www.shiftingground.net/02_projects_about.htm
August 20, 2008
DCAL REPORT ON WAYS TO MEASURE VALUE IN THE ARTS
'Social and Economic Value of Public Libraries, Museums, Arts and Sport in Northern Ireland. Phase 1: Designing a Model' is produced by PricewaterhouseCooper on the behalf of the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure in order to present a model of how to measure value (particularly economic value) in its four areas of activity - arts, sport, libraries and museums. You can download the report here: www.dcalni.gov.uk/index/research_and_statistics_branch.htm
August 20, 2008
SARAH WALKER GALLERY: RENOVATED AND REOPENED
Sarah Walker is re-launching her newly renovated Gallery in Castletownbere. The event, on 23 August will be marked by a show which will feature a selection of Sarah’s own paintings plus work by recently graduated artists from Cork and Dublin.
Situated next to Castletownbere Pier and extending almost out over the ocean, the Sarah Walker Gallery is an old stone building that was originally a carriage house. In later years local fishermen used it as a net mending shed. Its latest incarnation is as a bright and airy Art Gallery.
Over the past two years Sarah has worked with a local firm headed by Swiss born Beara resident Mark Jeisy who carried out the conversion work. The Gallery now houses a studio and large exhibition space with a museum standard lighting system. The re-fit also included a new roof and under-floor heating.
Participating artists include: Darren Sullivan, Rona Nelligan, Sabina MacMahon, Sarah Kearney, Edia Connole.
Sarah Walker Gallery, The Pier, Castletownbere, Beara, Co Cork. T: 027 70387
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