Celebrating winning partnerships at the Business to Arts Awards 2023 were: Sanctuary Resident Artist Jerome Jefferson Kiyemba; Louise O’Reilly, Business to Arts; Karina Howley, KPMG; Maureen Kenneally, Arts Council; James Lennertz, Biomarin; Sanctuary Resident Artist Catarina Araújo; Robert Read, National Concert Hall and Sanctuary Resident Artist Neo Gilson. Photo: Conor McCabe Photography.
Social inclusion and climate-focused partnerships honoured at this year’s Business to Arts Awards
The positive impact of business and arts partnerships in Ireland on their respective sectors and the communities they serve, emerged as a key theme at last night’s Business to Arts Awards 2023. Many winning partnerships focused on key issues including climate change and social inclusion.
Winning partnerships at the awards comprised a variety of business sectors and art forms. Industries represented included construction, consulting, public services and pharmaceuticals - a strong indication of the relevance of the arts to all business sectors in Ireland. The myriad of art forms employed, spanning film, architecture, music, and both visual and digital art, highlighted the high standard of creativity and innovation of the winning projects.
The Business to Arts Awards 2023, now in its 31st year, was held at a gala ceremony in the National Concert Hall, hosted by journalist and broadcaster Dearbhail McDonald, with guest of honour Catherine Martin TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media. A total of 12 awards, including nine 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 Accenture Digital Innovation in Art Bursary, which offers €10,000 to support an artist creating work exclusively in the digital space. It was awarded to AlanJames Burns , a neurodivergent, environmental, and audio-visual artist and curator, whose work Divergent Together uses interactive brain-computer interface (BCI) technologies as a creative medium to explore the intersection of climate change and neurodiversity.
The 15th Jim McNaughton/TileStyle €10,000 Artist’s Bursary was awarded to Thommas Kane Byrne, an award-winning writer, actor and director from Dublin's north inner city, for the development of a new play inspired by Tennessee Williams’ classic ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’.
The daa €5,000 Arts Award was awarded to axis Ballymun for Deadly Conversations, an initiative with the Irish Hospice Foundation, which focused on supporting the community in dealing with grief and loss by using creative interventions facilitated by artists.
Award winners were also presented with a limited-edition award sculpture, created by sculptor Chloe Lennon and commissioned by daa.
Performances on the night included the dynamic vocal duo Sister Fenix, intercultural grassroots dance collective Go Dance For Change, music ensemble Glasshouse Music, and Nigerian-Irish poets and storytellers We Are Griot.
Leading the congratulations among business and arts leaders at the National Concert Hall was Catherine Martin T.D. Catherine Martin, TD, Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport, and Media said:
“I would like to congratulate Business to Arts and all nominees and winners being recognised this year. These awards are a testament to the very real and significant impact that can be achieved when Ireland's cultural and corporate sectors collaborate in pursuit of a meaningful purpose. To see the benefits of these partnerships, not only on direct beneficiaries but their respective communities across the country, is truly inspiring."
Louise O’Reilly, Chief Executive of Business to Arts, said choosing the winners this year was especially difficult:
“We were blown away by the calibre of the projects this year and the extent to which they aimed to address very real and pressing societal challenges. It is very clear now that partnerships between the business and artistic community in Ireland have the ability to serve, not only the objectives of the respective partners, but also the communities they are embedded in and society as a whole.”
The 2023 Business to Arts Awards winners are:
- Best Large Sponsorship
IPUT Real Estate for ‘Living Canvas’
- Best Small Sponsorship supported by Kmend
Future Planet and Cork International Film Festival
- Best Long-Term Partnership supported by The Irish Times
KPMG and Children’s Books Ireland for ‘Reading Heroes’
- Best Creativity in the Community supported by Irish Life
’The Housing Agency and Irish Architecture Foundation for ‘Housing Unlocked’
- Best Creativity in the Workplace supported by ESB
BioMarin and Rachel Doolin for ‘The Giving Tree’
- Creative Access Award supported by Community Foundation Ireland
Accenture and National Concert Hall for ‘Creative Lab’
- Jim McNaughton Perpetual Award for Best Commissioning Practice supported by TileStyle
Iarnród Éireann and Fresco Consulting for ‘Actually I Can’
- Best Philanthropic Support to the Arts Award supported by the Arts Council
The Tomar Trust and Sample-Studios for ‘Studios of Sanctuary’
- Judges’ Special Recognition Award supported by Accenture
National Concert Hall with Walkers, Accenture, The Tomar Trust, Grant Thornton, and ESB
Bursaries awarded on the night:
- Jim McNaughton / TileStyle €10,000 Artist’s Bursary
Thommas Kane Byrne
- Accenture Digital Innovation in Art Bursary €10,000
AlanJames Burns
- daa €5000 Arts Award
axis Ballymun for ‘Deadly Conversations’
