21 March 2022
By Mary Bermingham
mary@TheCork.ie
Crawford Art Gallery takes another significant step towards its capital project with a necessary 4-week closure to the public from 21 March – 21 April 2022.
Investigative works will commence at Crawford Art Gallery on 21 March to inform final design decisions and in advance of a planning submission which will be made to Cork City Council in late 2022.
Cork-based construction company PJ Hegarty and Sons will work with Crawford Art Gallery and its design team lead by Grafton Architects and the Office of Public Works to carry out a series of detailed investigations onsite. For public safety this necessitates the closure of the Gallery to the public for a four week period.
‘By undertaking this work now, it will ensure a greater degree of certainty as we move forward into this hugely important time for Crawford. We are sorry for the inconvenience to our audiences and visitors during the temporary four-week closure , but are confident that by doing this now, the project will face less interruption and uncertainty once it goes into the major construction phase in mid-2023. We encourage visitors to visit us virtually for these four weeks, using our innovative virtual tours of current exhibitions and our extensive and regularly-updated online resources. We look forward to reopening and continuing with our vibrant on site programmes,’ says Mary McCarthy, Director of Crawford Art Gallery.
Last year Taoiseach, Micheál Martin T.D. and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin T.D. announced that the design contract for the redevelopment at the historic Crawford Art Gallery was awarded to Grafton Architects. The overall plan provides for considerable investment through Project Ireland 2040 for the redevelopment of the gallery buildings over the next four years.
An Taoiseach commented
‘Grafton Architects are an internationally renowned architecture firm with projects spanning from Milford to Milan, and from Lima to London, and I have no doubt that they will bring their experience and skills to bear in interpreting and developing the unique characteristics of the Crawford Art Gallery.’
When the Gallery reopens in April, members of the public will be invited back into a busy Gallery, where they can visit new exhibitions, such as the Zurich Portrait Prize 2021 and Zurich Young Portrait Prize 2021.