Crawford Art Gallery is set to receive a substantial acquisition fund of €650,000 from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Art, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to acquire contemporary artworks for the National collection.
The Irish Museum of Modern Art will also receive a significant fund of €850,000. 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 artists and to collect works reflecting the times in which we live.
This award builds on the €1 million fund provided to Crawford Art Gallery and the Irish Museum of Modern Art in 2020, which was designed to support artists throughout the most challenging period of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister Catherine Martin today announced this ambitious new fund of €1.5m for Crawford Art Gallery and the Irish Museum of Modern Art. The fund is aimed to address significant gaps that remain in the National Collection following years of limited acquisitions.
Speaking today Minister Martin said:
“As we emerge from the worst days of the pandemic, we can now shift our focus from supporting artists through a time of national emergency toward more thoughtfully and more strategically re-building the National Collection. This funding will ensure that the collection is more reflective of the multiple identities and varied perspectives in Ireland today. I look forward to visiting both the Crawford Art Gallery and the Irish Museum of Modern Art to enjoy the new works that they will acquire for the National Collection. It is critical that our institutions keep pace with new developments in our culture and this fund will enable them to present challenging works in new media that tackle head-on some of the most important issues today, including de-colonisation and climate change. Our National Cultural Institutions provide a vital space for open expression and discussion, which I am delighted to support.”
