The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin, T.D.,
visits Irish Arts Center in New York
The Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin T.D., is today visiting the site of the New Irish Arts Center in New York, which has recently undergone a major capital redevelopment. The new flagship Center in this global cultural capital will be a significant platform for Irish artists performing in New York, and create significant opportunities for touring onward in the US and internationally. Minister Martin recently announced funding of over €250,000 which will support Irish artists to present their work globally, including dance, film theatre-opera, music and visual arts projects in the US.
Minister Martin said:
“The Irish Arts Center in New York has developed an increasingly important role over recent years in providing a platform for Irish artists to reach both the diaspora and new audiences of all backgrounds, building an increased awareness of the strength of Irish creativity in New York. This new facility will now be able to present an enhanced programme and I am delighted to commit my Department’s ongoing support for this programme through Culture Ireland. I am particularly pleased that the Irish Arts Center will now serve as a hub and jumping off platform for a greater range and volume of Irish artists as they build their careers and practices, including increased opportunities for touring across the US, as global travel recommences.”
The New Irish Arts Center is currently in its final weeks of planning to open toward the end of the year. It is a $60 million state-of-the-art multidisciplinary cultural facility and a landmark partnership between the people of Ireland and the people of New York. It was supported by the Government of Ireland, New York City and New York State, private donors, and developed over the last decade in close partnership and consultation with more than 250 artists, practitioners and stakeholders in Ireland and New York, including Culture Ireland. This new 22,000 square foot facility contains a state-of-the-art flexible theatre and installation space, studio and library classrooms, a ground floor café and social space.
The Minister toured the new facility, which was more than a decade in the planning and has been achieved through huge local commitment including long-time patrons Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson and Roma Downey.
Minister Martin also met with a selection of artists engaged with the Center, including composer/violinist Dana Lyn, Cultural Ambassador Paul Muldoon, choreographer Darrah Carr, visual artist George Bolster, and Irish language teacher Siobhán Ní Chiobháin. Irish Arts Center offers more than 40 classes a week in Irish language, literature, music and dance, with classes for everyone for all levels of proficiency and ages. Minister Martin expressed her appreciation for the Center’s dedication to the teaching of the national language.
This visit by Minister Martin follows her meeting last week with the organisers of Milwaukee Irish Fest, the world’s largest Irish music festival, which provides key opportunities for Irish musicians in the US every year. It enables artists to extend their careers and reach new and expanding audiences as well as maintaining important cultural contact with the diaspora.
The Minister also met members of the Notre Dame Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies as well as those involved in the 1922/2022 centenary commemorations project at the University of Notre Dame. The institute is one of the leading centres for Irish Studies in the US.
For more information, visit irishartscenter.org
ENDS