Bringing bold ideas to life, 2025 Business to Arts Award Nominees in front of Maser’s Mural. Pictured (l-r) were Bruce Stanley, HLB Ireland, Manar Mervat Al Shouha, Artist, Louise O’Reilly, Chief Executive, Business to Arts , Dafe Orugbo, Artist, Sam Javid, Dublin International Film Festival and Michele McGuirk, Clinch Wealth Management. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.
Winners at the Business to Arts Awards 2025 spotlight creative initiatives making a measurable difference in society, with €25,000 in bursaries also awarded on the night.
Winning partnerships at the awards comprised a variety of business sectors and art forms. Exemplary projects emerged from industries such as property development, transportation and logistics, and consulting—underscoring the growing role of the arts in shaping business thinking across Ireland. The myriad of art forms employed, spanning film, theatre, music, and both visual and digital art, highlighted the high standard of creativity and innovation of the winning projects.
Significant partnerships celebrated on the night included the Small Arts Partnership Award winners Clinch Wealth Management, ANU Productions, Landmark Productions, and MoLI for The Dead, a bold, immersive staging of Joyce’s work. The Irish Times Long-Term Partnership Award went to Henry J Lyons and Temple Bar Gallery + Studios, whose multi-year support has helped transform the Dublin Art Book Fair into a flagship cultural event. Other notable winners on the night included Tomar Trust for the Community Foundation Ireland Arts Philanthropy Award, and Saint John of God, with artists Sinéad McCann and AlanJames Burns, who received the Creative Access Award for Our Place, a co-designed, immersive project with adults with intellectual disabilities. The Irish Life Creativity in the Community Award went to the British Irish Chamber of Commerce and Fishamble for Taigh Ty Teach, a tri-lingual theatre project uniting Irish, Welsh, and Scots Gaelic communities. Spencer Lennox and Irish National Opera received the CBRE Creativity in the Workplace Award for the INO Future Leaders Network, a cultural leadership programme for early-career professionals.
This year, the inaugural ESB Creative Sustainability Award was unveiled, with the winner celebrating an exceptional interdisciplinary partnership between the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Library of Ireland, and artist Paula T. Nolan, Photographer in Residence. Marking the EPA’s 30th anniversary, this project creates a visual record of Ireland’s changing environment, blending artistic expression with environmental documentation to offer the public a meaningful way to engage with ecological change through beauty, memory, and place.
The Business to Arts Awards 2025, now in its 33rd year, was held at a gala ceremony in the National Concert Hall, hosted by journalist and broadcaster Dearbhail McDonald, with guest of honour Patrick O’Donovan, T.D. Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport. A total of 13 awards, including ten main categories and three bursaries worth €25,000, were presented to the projects by leaders in the business community.
Bursaries and monetary awards presented on the night included The Irish Times €5,000 Arts Award, presented to Fishamble, The New Play Company for ‘Who I Am and How I Am’. A project, celebrating ethnically diverse young voices in the D1 area over four months of workshops exploring themes of identity, racial equality, and community harmony
Now in its 17th year, the Jim McNaughton/TileStyle €10,000 Artist’s Bursary was awarded to Manar Al Shouha, a Syrian-born painter based in Dublin. She plans to develop her first solo exhibition in Ireland, exploring new mediums such as printmaking, and expanding her international presence.
The Accenture €10,000 Digital Innovation in Art Bursary, which offers support to an artist creating work exclusively in the digital space, was awarded to Amanda Ralph. She is working on setting up a digital ‘field station’ on a derelict farm to analyse wildlife using sensors, cameras, and audio data before biodiversity restoration begins. The bursary supports her return to full-time practice, skill development, and the creation of new work for an upcoming exhibition at Luan Gallery.
Award winners were also presented with a limited-edition award sculpture, created by craftsman Noel Donnellan from Co. Limerick and supported by our Award Sculpture Commissioning Partner, Catapult.
Performances on the night included the roof-raising Dublin Fire Brigade Pipe Band, a spoken word poem by bilingual writer and broadcaster Ciara Ní É, 12-year-old virtuoso pianist Dylan Keane, and the sensational 6-piece style-bending funk-rock-trad band GrooveLine, bringing the audience to their feet to round out the evening
“ When the public and private sectors come together to support the arts, the impact goes far beyond culture—it drives local economies, sparks innovation, and builds stronger, more connected communities. Tonight’s winners show just how powerful that partnership can be.”
The 2025 Business to Arts Awards winners are:
Major Arts Partnership Award
Xestra Asset Management & Dublin City Council Arts Office: Artane Artist Studios
Small Arts Partnership Award
Clinch Wealth Management & ANU Productions, Landmark Productions, MoLI: The Dead
The Irish Times Long-Term Partnership Award
Henry J Lyons & Temple Bar Gallery + Studios: Dublin Art Book Fair
Irish Life Creativity in the Community Award
British Irish Chamber of Commerce & Fishamble: The New Play Company: Taigh Ty Teach
CBRE Creativity in the Workplace Award
Spencer Lennox & Irish National Opera: INO Future Leaders Network
ESB Creative Sustainability Award
Environmental Protection Agency, National Library & Paula T Nolan: Photographer in Residence
Jim McNaughton/TileStyle Perpetual Award for Best Commissioning Practice
Drogheda Port Company & Emily McCormack: Brig Manley
Creative Access Award
Saint John of God & Dr Sinead McCann, AlanJames Burns: Our Place
Community Foundation Ireland Arts Philanthropy Award
Tomar Trust
Judges’ Special Recognition Award
Cork International Film Festival with Murphy’s, Tomar Trust, Future Planet, Irish Examiner & The Arc Cinema Cork.
The Irish Times €5,000 Arts Award
Fishamble, The New Play Company: Who I Am and How I Am
Jim McNaughton/TileStyle €10,000 Artist’s Bursary
Manar Mervat Al Shouha
Accenture €10,000 Digital Innovation in Art Bursary
Amanda Ralph
“ What we celebrate tonight is far more than sponsorship — it is shared vision and shared value. The partnerships recognised at the Business to Arts Awards 2025 show how creativity, when backed by business leadership, becomes a catalyst for inclusion, sustainability, and long-term social impact.”
“ Access to the arts is an equality issue. Irish Philanthropy plays an important role in ensuring that people of all backgrounds and circumstances enjoy the energy, colour and excitement of the arts. Creativity and performance also open up powerful avenues to strengthen and empower the voices of entire communities. Tomar Trust are established leaders in this space. The Business to Arts award is a well-deserved acknowledgement of their foresight and vision.”
