Building the Future

Over the last year the Royal Hibernian Academy has almost achieved completion of its ‘21st Century Campaign’. This campaign is aimed at completely updating and refurbishing the Academy's Galleries and facilities in Ely Place in the centre of Dublin. This includes extending the facilities to provide the venue for the RHA School, to be launched shortly. The Academy has felt for some time that it was lacking this facility and therefore severely restricted in attaining one of its most important goals – enabling and facilitating the passing on of vital artistic skills and techniques, especially drawing, from senior and experienced artists to younger and up and coming artists.

The Academy now boasts large reception areas, a wonderful Atrium and a more efficient circulation arrangement for its three principal galleries, which have provided the most important and consistent venue for Irish art in the capital.

In addition, we have achieved:
the School - which consists of four individual studios plus a large common studio/work area
Library
Collection Gallery on the ground floor
Bookshop
Café.

At last, the experience of visiting important exhibitions at the RHA is now more rounded with sustenance and educational material available on site to enlighten and enable the visitor to prolong and deepen their visit. We have also extended our opening hours from Monday to Saturday 11am to 7pm and on Sunday from 2 pm to 5pm. The project commenced in January 2008 and was completed by October 2008. The gallery reopened with the showing of the Annual Exhibition for 2008 at the beginning of November. The attendance, since opening, has been more than double that of previous Annuals. With 23,000 visitors in the first four weeks, the new facility has provoked huge interest and very favorable comment.

The project now has two major challenges to address:

Firstly, we need to raise the balance of funds soon so as to minimise the duration of interest payments and allow the Academy, the Director and his staff to get back to concentrating on the exhibition program and the operation of the Academy facilities, including the School.

Secondly, the Auditorium, conservation workshop and collection storage facility is a highly essential final step in enabling the Academy to tackle its full mission. We have plans for a state of the art, 88 seat raked Auditorium, which will be ideal for the expanded lecturing program that the Academy envisages for friends, artists and the public. Located in our 6000 sq ft basement, this facility, together with the workshop and storage space, will cost € 1m approximately.

We therefore need to raise € 3m to completely remove the debt and finish out the facility for the 21st Century. There are a number of naming opportunities within the facility and all gifts will be acknowledged on a plaque at the entrance unless otherwise requested by the Donor.

Naming opportunities include:

Artists studios
Auditorium
Gallery II
Atrium
Library

There is no doubt that those who can assist us, will be supporting a project and an institution which will go on to make a major contribution to broadening the appreciation of art in its many forms among the Irish and visiting public. The Royal Hibernian Academy, Gallagher Gallery is increasingly becoming Irelands flagship arts organization, recognized at both a national and international level.

Yours sincerely,


Patrick T. Murphy
Director
Royal Hibernian Academy