Kerrie Patten, dancer with Sean McGrath, Chief Executive, Allianz & Andrew Hetherington

Today, Business to Arts and Allianz launched the call for nominations for the 2018 Allianz Business to Arts Awards which celebrate the unique opportunities that business engagement with the arts provides. At the awards launch, Business to Arts and Allianz encouraged businesses from across Ireland to deepen their relationships with the cultural community and create meaningful partnerships which benefit the arts, business stakeholders and the Irish public. Previous award winners include Accenture, ESB, Bord Gáis Energy, Dublin Port Company and Bank of Ireland.

This year marks the 27^th anniversary of the Allianz Business to Arts Awards and Allianz’s 18^th anniversary of involvement and sponsorship of the awards. Allianz is encouraging the business community to become involved again this year and to support and celebrate creative talent across Ireland. There are 10 categories in total focusing on sponsorship, commissioning, CSR initiatives and community engagement as well as mentoring, training and staff programs. The online application form can be accessed through www.businesstoarts.ie/awards.

This year also sees the 11^th year of the €10,000 Jim McNaughton/TileStyle Bursary, which is open to emerging artist(s) in any art form. Previous winners include Irish Times Irish Theatre Award nominee Clare Monnelly (theatre), pianist Máire Carroll (music), ballet dancer Gearóid Solan (dance) & sculptor Alva Gallagher (visual art).

Sean McGrath, CEO of Allianz Ireland, said:

“We are privileged to support the 27^th Business to Arts Awards which represent the importance of co-creation and relationship building between businesses and the arts community across Ireland. Allianz has always been a strong advocate of creative partnerships between corporate and arts groups and it’s most inspiring to see the diversity and calibre of business-supported arts initiatives continue to flourish year after year. We look forward to seeing what this year’s award nominations have in store and encourage interested businesses and arts groups throughout the country to get involved.”

 Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts said:

“The Allianz Business to Arts Awards recognise best practice creative partnerships between businesses and the arts. In 2018, Business to Arts celebrate our 30^th Anniversary and during this special year, it is vital to celebrate the best relationships that set new standards for arts and businesses. We look forward to reading you narrative. Over recent years, an increasing number of corporate organisations are turning to creativity and the arts to help communicate social and environmental issues. As funding patterns continue to evolve in the cultural sector we look forward to celebrating and recognising world-class partnerships at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre on Sept 4^th.”

Closing date for applications is Tuesday, May 8th 2018 at 5pm. Go to www.businesstoarts.ie/awards for information on the application process and to complete the online application form.

Business to Arts Chief Executive Andrew Hetherington, NCAD Director Sarah Glennie and Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison pictured at the launch of Creative Journeys, seen through Isabel Nolan’s Turning Point sculpture at Terminal 2

Dublin Airport has agreed a new partnership with the National College of Art and Design (NCAD) in Dublin aimed at bringing an enhanced public art programme to the airport.

The two-year Creative Journeys partnership will enable NCAD students, past and present, to showcase their ideas and work to an international audience, and will provide Dublin Airport passengers with a unique perspective into contemporary Irish art.

Supported by Business to Arts, this new partnership will deliver a full public art programme at Dublin Airport over the next two years. Seven sites have been chosen across the airport campus to host works within Creative Journeys. The sites are located in landside and airside areas to allow both departing and arriving passengers to view the works of art. This will enable members of the public who are at the airport but not travelling to view some of the installations.

The first art work within the Creative Journeys programme will be installed later this month and during the two-year programme each location will house several different works of art.

“Providing a world-class passenger experience is a constant goal at Dublin Airport and the visual environment at the airport plays a key role in this,” said Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison.

“Dublin Airport provides the first welcome and last goodbye to the island of Ireland for tens of millions of people every year, and Creative Journeys will provide a wonderful showcase opportunity for the creative talents of talented NCAD artists and graduates based here and who are inspired by their surroundings on a daily basis,” Mr Harrison added.

“Creative Journeys is part of a wider programme to help Dublin Airport provide an experience that is engaging and memorable, but also one that also creates a unique sense of place. Dublin Airport is proud to partner with NCAD, which fosters and inspires Ireland’s future artists.”

Over the past year, Dublin Airport and Business to Arts worked together to design a process to enable arts organisations to bid to become involved in the project. An open call process was held to identify potential partners for the public art programme. Interest was strong, with initial submissions from a number of agencies and organisations.

NCAD was eventually selected as Dublin Airport’s partner for the project. “We are thrilled to be working in partnership with Dublin Airport on Creative Journeys,” said NCAD Director Sarah Glennie.

“This project creates a fantastic opportunity for a wide public to experience some of the great work that is happening in NCAD and for NCAD students to gain invaluable experience of presenting their work in a highly public space. Ireland’s creative sector represents an ambitious and internationally connected wealth of talent and NCAD is delighted to be able to give visitors to Dublin Airport an opportunity to experience at first hand work by our emerging creative practitioners.”

NCAD has four schools: Design, Education, Fine Art and Visual Culture, with more than 1,000 full time students and a further 600 students who take evening courses. Three NCAD academics Derek McGarry (Head of Innovation and Engagement), Alex Milton (Head of School of Design) and Philip Napier (Head of School of Fine Art) will now work with Dublin Airport and Business to Arts around concepts and plans for the proposed sites across the airport campus.

“Dublin Airport and NCAD are both long-term supporters of Business to Arts and we have worked with their respective teams and celebrated their individual art programmes, commissions and sponsorships over many years,” said Business to Arts Chief Executive Andrew Hetherington.

“I am particularly proud that this is one of the first, new partnership announcements during Business to Arts’ 30th Anniversary. I can’t wait to see the unusual and beautiful installations that will create conversations at Dublin Airport, which is the premier location to showcase Ireland’s diverse art and design talent. This new partnership will build on Dublin Airport’s recent collaborations with the Abbey Theatre, ID2015 and the Dublin Theatre Festival. Art has the power to change the dynamic of a space, enhancing the overall airport experience and we look forward to watching people engage with the installations.”

Dublin Airport and daa have been supporters of the arts for many decades. daa has commissioned the award sculpture for the Allianz Business to Arts Awards for almost 30 years – one of the longest-running corporate art commissions in Ireland. An Irish artist is selected each year and previous commissions include Cara Murphy, Seamus Gill, Felim Egan, and Grace Weir.

Dublin Airport is also home to the iconic Turning Point by Isabel Nolan, which was commissioned by daa in 2010 and is situated at the heart of Terminal 2. in Dublin Airport. The sculpture is one of Ireland’s most viewed and best-known pieces of art.

It is with great sadness that Business to Arts writes this appreciation of our friend and former Chair, Dermot Egan. Dermot died on 16 December 2017.

Dermot was inaugural Chair of Cothú from August 1988 to December 1993. During this time he was heavily involved in the establishment of the National ‘Arts Sponsor of the Year Awards’ (now named the Allianz Business to Arts Awards). He was also Cothu’s first Honorary President from December 1993 to December 1996. He was presented with a Life Fellowship of the Irish Management Institute in November 1996 and in 1997 Dermot was recognised by his peers for his seminal role in the establishment of Cothú.

Dermot was also a Chair of the National Concert Hall (serving as a NCH board member between 1996 – 2011) and a non-executive director of Wilson Hartnell.

On behalf of all involved with Business to Arts we extend our sympathy to his wife Noreen and her family.

Avril Hutch PhD, Head of Equality & Diversity, RCSI, Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive, Business to Arts, Michelle Cullen, Managing Director, Accenture Ireland, Professor John Hyland, President, RCSI, and Alastair Blair, Country Managing Director, Accenture Ireland

Open Call to Artists for Women on Walls at RCSI in Partnership with Accenture Launched 

Campaign will celebrate historical female leaders in medicine

Business to Arts are delighted to announce RCSI’s open call to artists for a series of new portraits of historical female leaders in medicine. Women on Walls at RCSI in partnership with Accenture will recognise the pioneering achievements of a group of extraordinary women and enhance the visibility of historical female leaders in medicine. The new portraits will be hung in the Board Room of RCSI’s historic building on St. Stephen’s Green.

Speaking ahead of the announcement, Professor Cathal Kelly, RCSI CEO said: “Gender diversity is core to our ethos at RCSI and we are proud to be associated with women who broke boundaries to become leaders in medicine. (Emily) Winifred Dickson, for example, became the first female Fellow of RCSI in 1893, making her the first female Fellow of any of the surgical Royal Colleges in Britain and Ireland”.

“Women on Walls at RCSI in partnership with Accenture will bring the legacy of these women to life, providing a platform to celebrate their contributions and raise the visibility of the role of women in medicine. We are delighted to be working with Accenture and Business to Arts on this important campaign and we look forward to seeing the completed portraits hang in our historic St Stephen’s Green building”, added Professor Kelly.

Alastair Blair, Country Managing Director, Accenture Ireland added: “We are very pleased that RCSI is joining the Women on Walls campaign by commissioning portraits of eight exceptional female medical pioneers for the walls of their remarkable building at St Stephen’s Green. The powerful public reaction to what started out only two years ago has surpassed all our expectations. This next chapter of Women on Walls is about changing how we look at gender inequality, ensuring that the next generation can be inspired by the last.”

Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive, Business to Arts said: “We are proud to work with RCSI and Accenture on the next phase of the Women on Walls Campaign. Celebrating the lives and achievements of these incredible women through portraiture continues our mission to make Ireland’s female academic and industry leaders visible. This is the largest portrait commission series that Business to Arts has been involved with and we cannot wait to see what is created. Art is a powerful means of visual communication and these portrait commissions will be seen by people for generations to come.”

RCSI is committed to promoting gender equality among staff and students for the advancement of the College’s mission to educate, nurture and discover for the benefit of human health. RCSI is a signatory of Athena Swan, a Charter that recognises and celebrates good practice towards the advancement of gender equality and enables representation, progression and success for all.

Women on Walls is a campaign that seeks to make women leaders visible through a series of commissioned portraits that will create a lasting cultural legacy for Ireland. Accenture’s Women on Walls began in 2016 with the Royal Irish Academy.

Artists are welcome to submit a proposal to Business to Arts before 5pm on Wednesday, 25 April 2018. It is anticipated that the successful artists will be selected in June and that the completed artworks would be launched in Spring 2019.

Further information is available here.