Press release
€29m Crawford Art Gallery redevelopment
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media
Published on
Last updated on
The Taoiseach, Micheál Martin TD and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD today announced that the contract for the design for the redevelopment at the historic Crawford Art Gallery has been awarded to Grafton Architects.
The overall plan provides for the investment of €29m in the redevelopment, including design, of the 200-year-old gallery building over the next four years.
Crawford Art Gallery
Crawford Art Gallery is a National Cultural Institution, located in the heart of Cork city and dedicated to the visual arts, both historic and contemporary. The collection comprises over 3,000 works, ranging from eighteenth-century Irish and European painting and sculpture, through to contemporary video installations. It has over 260,000 visitors per year.
Crawford Art Gallery is located in an important historic building, parts of which date back to the early eighteenth century. The building needs significant enhancement to meet the evolving demands of a dynamic National Cultural Institution.
Project Ireland 2040
Through Project Ireland 2040, the government is investing €460 million in Ireland's National Cultural Institutions to revamp and modernise their facilities both in terms of visitor experience and storage of the national collections.
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin TD approved last September the business plan for the Crawford Gallery which will involve the investment of some €29m in the total re-development of the building.
As part of this overall plan, Grafton Architects have now been selected as the principal design consultants following a two-stage procurement process. They will be responsible for providing all construction-related technical advice and design services to the Crawford Art Gallery and the OPW in respect of the Project.
Speaking today, the Taoiseach Micheál Martin said:
"I am delighted to join you here today at the official announcement of Grafton Architects as the principal design consultants for the Crawford Art Gallery Redevelopment Project. This is a big public investment by the State in Cork City - which supports Cork’s regeneration into being a forward thinking European Cultural City. It is an extraordinary opportunity to reimagine the Crawford Art Gallery’s potential and create a vibrant new space for art and the public to meet in the heart of the city.
"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."
Minister Catherine Martin said:
"It gives me great pleasure to be here in Cork to announce the awarding of the contract for the next stage in the exciting Crawford Art Gallery redevelopment project to Grafton Architects. I am very pleased that work is progressing so well on this ambitious project.
"I would like to thank the Chair and Director and team in the Crawford for their commitment to the redevelopment project and in continuing to deliver a wonderful artistic programme, both here in the Gallery and online that is so important for the wellbeing of our citizens, especially during these difficult times.
"This has been a very challenging time for artists and I was very pleased to put in place last year an Art Acquisition fund which resulted in the purchase of 422 artworks by 70 artists working in Ireland for the national collection. This scheme has been a huge success and provided vital support to our artists while at the same time enhancing the national collection. It is inspirational to see some of the works purchased under the scheme on display here today."
Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan TD, said:
"The Office of Public Works has a long history of working with the Crawford Art Gallery and has over the past four years, in particular, been proud to provide the expertise of its Conservation Services to progress the Gallery’s renovation and to facilitate the appointment of the Design Team announced today. With the transfer of ownership of the Crawford Art Gallery to the OPW concluded at the beginning of the month, I very much look forward to our continued close collaboration and to seeing this ambitious project through to completion."
Speaking on behalf of the Board and staff, Rose McHugh, Chair of the Crawford Art Gallery, welcomed the appointment of Grafton Architects as lead Designers for this major redevelopment of the Crawford.
Rose McHugh said:
"We are delighted to have Grafton Architects leading the interdisciplinary design team, and we look forward to working with a practice that demonstrates creative vision together with a strong collaborative ethos.
"Our progress in this project to date has being based on collaboration. We have strong and productive support from the Office of Public Works (OPW) and from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. We are also grateful to Fáilte Ireland for their support and for their recognition of the Crawford as a significant attraction, and to Cork City Council for their continued support.
"Now, we look forward to collaborating with the Grafton team. With their support in this redevelopment, we will ensure that the Crawford can continue to be a place of opportunity for artists and all those interested in art, education, architecture and civic discourse. This next phase of development of the Crawford Art Gallery is a once-in-a-century opportunity to enhance the architectural and artistic life of our city and region, and we look forward to the journey."
Grafton Architects noted:
"The Grafton Architects Team is honoured to have been chosen, and is looking forward to working with all those involved, to engage with the wonderful and ambitious plans for the present and future of Crawford Art Gallery.
"We see the project as a unique opportunity for this highly regarded National cultural institution to consolidate its status as a highly treasured national, international and local institution."
Grafton Architects
Grafton Architects is an award winning international architecture studio based in Dublin. From this base, the practice has completed many significant and prestigious buildings in Ireland and internationally. Recent projects include the completed university building in Toulouse, France, the new city library on Parnell Square in Dublin and the headquarters building for the ESB on Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin’s Georgian core.
As principal design consultants, Grafton Architects will be responsible for providing all construction-related technical advice and design services to the Crawford Art Gallery and the OPW in respect of the Project.
Provision issuing images of event, email: imagedesk@provision.ie
NEW THREADS: Acquisitions 2021
24 July - 5 September
New Threads showcases more than 20 artworks that have recently come into public ownership, made possible through major acquisitions funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.
In total, 225 artworks by 39 contemporary artists have been added to Crawford Art Gallery’s collection in recent months, ranging from paintings, photographs, prints, and drawings, to sculptures, installations, digital film and sound works, textile and embroideries.
Rembrandt in Print
17 September 2021 - 9 January 2022
Rembrandt in Print presents 50 of the finest works from the Ashmolean’s world-class collection of over 200 etchings and drypoints by Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-1669).
Widely hailed as the greatest painter of the Dutch Golden Age, Rembrandt was also one of the most innovative and experimental printmakers of the seventeenth century. This touring exhibition will present Rembrandt as an unrivalled storyteller through a selection of fifty outstanding prints ranging from 1630 until the late 1650s. These works demonstrate Rembrandt’s inventive techniques and extraordinary skills. They are displayed together for the first time.
Brian Maguire: REMAINS
17 September - 9 January 2022
In 2019, Brian Maguire visited Dr Greg Hess, Chief Medical Examiner for Pima County, Tucson, Arizona. Dr Hess gave the artist access to some thousand visual records of migrant lives lost in the crossing from South and Central America and Mexico, into the United States.
Each discovery of a body in the desert creates a case and digital images. Using a selection from this photographic source, Brian began a new series of paintings, acknowledging the many unidentified victims who undertook this perilous journey.