Pauric Dempsey (Royal Irish Academy) and Michelle D. Cullen (Accenture Ireland) presenting the Women On Walls project at the 2016 International Women’s Day.

Women on Walls is a campaign by Accenture, in partnership with the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), that seeks to make women leaders visible through a series of commissioned portraits that will create a lasting cultural legacy for Ireland in 2016. The programme is simultaneously raising awareness of the gender gap in STEM and supporting Accenture’s global Inclusion & Diversity agenda.

Accenture is commissioning five portraits of leading women academics to recognise their achievements and inspire future generations. The five portraits will consist of four individual portraits of the first four female Members of the Royal Irish Academy, elected in 1949. The fifth portrait will be a group portrait of eight women scientists, who are recipients of the European Research Council Starter Grants 2012 – 2015 and have been chosen as representatives of a generation of outstanding young female scientists working in Ireland today.

The portraits are planned to be placed on public display in the main hall of the Royal Irish Academy towards the end of 2016. The five new portraits will be the first portraits of women subjects to grace the walls in the Academy’s 230 year history.

Commenting on the programme, Alastair Blair, Country Managing Director of Accenture Ireland said: “Accenture is deeply committed to supporting the arts and creative industries. Working with our partners the Royal Irish Academy, Women on Walls provides us with an opportunity to highlight the critical role women have played in the area of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Maths). In the design led world of today, the intersection of Arts, Technology and industry is of huge importance – form and function are equally important to consumers, employees and the citizen. This programme will help highlight the enormous contribution women have made to Arts, Humanities and Technology in Ireland, with the aim to leaving a cultural legacy for the last 100 years and also to inspire the next 100.”

Phase 1 of the project is drawing to completion with the appointment of the chosen artist(s) for the commission. In total 55 submissions were received from the Open Call to artists, all of which were of a very high standard.

View more about the programme and subjects by visiting www.accenture.com/womenonwalls

“The partnership has really captured the imagination of many people and has helped to engage them on a broader topic of understanding gender inequality. The first women who will be honoured in the portraits achieved the highest Academic honour in Ireland in being elected to the Academy almost 70 years ago, but the fact that none of them had a place on the walls of Academy House reminds us of the unconscious bias that can exist in so many contexts. Sometimes, we need to look at things through a new lens to see what’s right in front of us. Driving real change means changing the way we look at things, and it all starts with each of us. The paintings will honour the individual women in the portraits as role models for future generations. But additionally, the story of the paintings, and how they came about, will form part of the narrative, and part of the conversation about attitudes to women in science and the humanities over time.” Michelle Cullen, Head of Inclusion & Diversity, Accenture Ireland

Feargal O’Rourke, managing partner, PwC (centre) with Liam Kavanagh (back), managing director, the Irish Times and Andrew Hetherington, chief executive, Business to Arts. Photograph: Jason Clarke

As part of Business to Arts’ ongoing CEO Forum series, PwC will host next month’s Business to Arts CEO Forum. The Forum is a group of 100 CEO’s from across business and the arts in Ireland who come together each year to discuss new models of partnering and engagement between the cultural industries and the wider business sector.

On May 18^th, the CEO Forum will discuss how Irish corporates are leveraging new technologies to engage differently with customers, bringing their assets, heritage and story to a wider audience. The recent PwC Global CEO Survey ‘Redefining Business Success in a Changing World’ found that nine out of ten CEOs say they are changing how they use technology to assess customer and wider stakeholder expectations, and deliver against them.

PwC managing partner Feargal O Rourke said technological and digital advances were “game changers” for business and consumers alike.

“For businesses it’s about using the technology for competitive advantage, providing the content and monetising it,” he said. “For consumers it’s all about exciting content experiences, anytime, anywhere. Technology is transforming how we engage with customers. And we also see technology transforming the world of work, enabling people to work in virtual offices wherever they are located and presenting opportunities for even better collaboration.”

Chief Executive of Business to Arts, Andrew Hetherington states:

 ‘New forms of technology present organisations with unique opportunities and possibilities where there is the potential to create a truly immersive brand experiences for consumers. However, there are concerns that these rapid technological advancements could have negative societal implications. We look forward to starting this conversation at the CEO Forum next Wednesday’ 

The Business to Arts CEO FORUM takes place at the PwC headquarters at Spencer Dock on Wednesday May 18th. Speakers include RTÉ chief digital officer Muirne Laffan, An Post Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs Barney Whelan, Alex Gibson from the DIT School of Hospitality, Management & Tourism and Irish Times Managing Editor Liam Kavanagh.

River Liffey and Dublin Docklands from Liberty Hall

We are delighted to announce that Business to Arts are seeking applications for the Docklands Arts Fund  from artists and not-for-profit, charitable & voluntary arts organisations. The objective of the grant round is to contribute funds to a range of artists and arts organisations working in the Dublin Docklands Area.

Approximately 3 grants of a maximum of €7,000 each will be given to projects by July 2016. Additional opportunities will be announced during 2016 and applications will be accepted from 6th May – 27th May 2016.

We aim to support activities that enhance the practice, appreciation and development of quality arts experiences in the Dublin Docklands Area. These include:

• New/innovative art commissions/projects
• Projects that are delivered by OR involve professional artists
• Projects that widen access to participation to arts activities and arts education for under-represented groups, such as persons from low-income background, those with disabilities, older people etc.
• Projects that provide opportunities to engage in safe and productive out-of-school arts activities for young people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities
• Projects that promote arts/cultural awareness and understanding and develop new audiences
• Once-off arts events (performances/productions, festivals) that will occur in the Docklands Area
• Projects that will take place between July 2016 and June 2017

For full details click here.

To Download a PDF of the Briefing Criteria and a Hard Copy of the Online Form , click here.