24 October 2020
By Bryan Smyth
bryan@TheCork.ie
News Review for October 2020Crawford Art Gallery is to receive a substantial acquisition fund from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Art, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
The fund of €400,000 will enable Crawford Art Gallery to purchase artworks which will enhance the national collection as it invests in works from contemporary Irish artists or artists based in Ireland.
In providing these funds to Crawford Art Gallery and IMMA, the Department is significantly increasing the capacity of the two National Cultural Institutions to pursue their remit to support contemporary artists and to collect works reflecting the times in which we live.
Minister Martin said:
“I am delighted to announce this significant funding for the two National Cultural Institutions, Crawford Art Gallery and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. Arts and culture are a core part of who we are, and they have been the source of so much support over the last months. I am pleased to be able to make this allocation to enhance the national collection. By doing so, we are providing vital support to Irish artists during this unprecedented time.”
Mary McCarthy, Director of Crawford Art Gallery, said:
“With exhibition opportunities and international touring opportunities limited in these Covid times, this acquisition fund will enable Crawford Art Gallery and IMMA to continue to promote artists and their work by adding to the National Collection. It is also a recognition by the Minister and her Department of the value of collections as a significant resource and a sustainable programming reservoir from which we can generate programming conversations across the centuries.”
The Crawford Art Gallery collection comprises over 3,000 works, ranging from eighteenth-century Irish and European painting and sculpture to contemporary film and photography. At the heart of the collection are the Canova Casts, which were brought to Cork in 1818 from the Vatican Museums in Rome.
As well as the purchase and receipt of donated artworks throughout the years, the collection has been greatly enhanced and expanded through the Gibson Bequest (1919), Fr. McGrath Bequest (1998), Great Southern Collection (2006), and part of the AIB Art Collection (2012).
The expansion of the collection with this fund will increase local, national and international interest in the gallery. The acquisition of new works will inspire artists and researchers, and it will enable the gallery to support artists in these challenging times.
Rose McHugh, Chair of Crawford Art Gallery, commented:
“We welcome this new fund, which will ensure that Crawford Art Gallery, a National Cultural Institution, can continue to build its collection for future generations and remain current and relevant. It will extend our connections with artists in ways which are so important at this time. This is a critical and timely response from the Department to the needs of sector and its institutions.”