2 ALLIANZ BUSINESS TO ARTS AWARDS 2011


In search of creativity R


ODDY GUINEY, chairman of Wilson Hartnell Public Relations, says one of the interesting aspects of this year’s judging for the Allianz


Business to Arts Awards was that one of the biggest categories in terms of entries was for large sponsorships. From the total of 55 entries, 22 were in


the category for sponsorships over ¤25,000 in value. The three finalists in the category were Bank of America Mer- rill Lynch for a range of projects, includ- ing with a conservation project with the National Gallery; category winner BNP Paribas and the Irish Museum of Mod- ern Art for ‘The Moderns’; and Premier Foods and Children’s Books Ireland for Bisto Children’s Book of the Year Awards. “I come from a non-arts background


and have been heavily involved in spon- sorship for years, but mainly for sport. I was blown away by some of the entries to this year’s Allianz Business to Arts Awards. There were some fantastic ideas. The awards show there is still money out there for the right collaborations, the same as in the sports world,” says Guiney. “One of the things that came out loud and clear from the judging day was how important culture is in terms of local communities. I was really taken by a number of projects that came out of local initiative – people got totally behind them with culture as the vehicle, rather than the sports club, which was proba- bly the case in the past.” He cites the Corona Fastnet Short


Film Festival in Schull, Co Cork, which he feels showed a real ‘can-do’ attitude and the Shelter Me From The Rainopera sponsored by Carlow local authorities. “Sponsors made terrific, brave decisions in many cases,” he notes. Guiney was one of the panel of seven judges who took a day out of their sched- ules to discuss all the entries and decide on the winners. The others were: Ursu- la Murphy, human resources director, Allianz Ireland; Paul Neeson, director of retail, Dublin Airport Authority; Gerard McNaughton, retail director, TileStyle; Grainne Millar, director of cultural devel- opment, Temple Bar Cultural Trust; Bre- andan O’Broin, director, Company of


Sunday Independent Sept 11, 2010


Each of the judges in this year’s Allianz Business to Arts Awards had three weeks to read the submissions and then select their favourite projects before they all came together on judging day. Ultimately, the cream rose to the top


Pictured (l–r) are this year’s Allianz Business to Arts Awards jury panel Ursula Murphy, Allianz Ireland; Grainne Millar, Temple Bar Cultural Trust; Roddy Guiney, WHPR; Breandan O’Broin, Company of Words; Paul Neeson, Dublin Airport Authority; Gerard McNaughton, TileStyle; and Anna O’Sullivan, Butler Gallery. They met at the Merrion Hotel, Dublin for their deliberations on judging day


Words; and Anna O’Sullivan, director, The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny. The judging team was interested in finding a creative approach to bringing business and the arts together. “The judging process is well devel- oped and the criteria are very clear. When it comes to judging day, a lot of the proprietary work has been done and the strengths and weaknesses of the dif- ferent entries have been identified beforehand. This year, it became evi- dent early on that there were stand-out projects in every category. The most dif- ficult part is eliminating entries!” says


Murphy Ursula Murphy adds that the shortlist


reflects how innovation and creativity is flourishing between business and the arts. “It’s fantastic to see that many rela- tionships have continued while some high profile and innovative new ones have been formed.” Guiney agrees that innovation really shone through this year. “I was so impressed with the sheer creativity demonstrated in many of the entries. People are solving problems and are not afraid to take on, or even commission, arts projects, which were really innova-


tive. The ‘Breaking Ground’ project in Ballymun was just brilliant in this respect.”


Breaking Ground commissioned artist


John Byrne to produce a significant piece of public art unique to Ballymun. He delivered a large bronze equestrian sculpture with a local teenage girl in a tracksuit as the rider of the horse. Looking at this year’s entries, Murphy notes that companies are continuing to provide financial backing for projects, which is extremely important, but also getting actively involved in artistic endeavours.


“There is a trend towards businesses working with arts organisations to help make them more sustainable through providing them with the skills. This was evident in the Google Ireland and Arts Audience entry. “In the current economic times busi- nesses everywhere need innovation and creativity to help differentiate them- selves and the kind of creative thinking that led to the development of each proj- ect has the ability to inform and inspire the very innovation and change process that is often needed to stimulate growth and recovery.”


From top: Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival Award by artist Pat Connor; the Shelter Me From The Rainopera sponsored by Carlow local authorities; 'Misneach' by John Byrne, commisioned as a part of Breaking Ground by Ballymun Regeneration


A time for Flux


Wood turner Mark Hanvey created this year’s Allianz Business to Arts Awards sculpture, following in the footsteps of 19 other craftspeople


Twenty years of awards sculptures commissioned by Dublin Airport Authority were exhibited for the first time at the Allianz Business to Arts Awards ceremony this year. The exhibition will be on display in the Sebastian Guinness Gallery on Dawson Street from 13–23 September


A major milestone


For the first time, all of the award sculptures commissioned by the Dublin Airport Authority over 20 years of the Allianz Business to Arts Awards will be seen together publically this year


TO have reached two decades of com- missioning artworks annually for the Allianz Business to Arts Awards is a major milestone for both the Dublin Airport Authority (DAA) and for the event, according to DAA chief execu- tive Declan Collier. “There are few partnerships


between corporate Ireland and the arts community that have endured as long the DAA’s involvement with the Allianz Business to Arts Awards, and it is fitting that the 20 years of sculp- tures are being showcased at this year’s event,” he says. “Seen together publicly for the first time at this year’s event, the sculptures represent a unique snapshot of two decades of Irish design and feature many of the country’s leading artists. It is unlikely that a similar collection exists anywhere in the country, given that a piece is commissioned from a different artist every year. Through the two decades one can see a wide range of styles, influences and mate- rials and that is one of the things that make the collection so fascinating.” Every year, the team at Business to


Arts approaches a select group of artists who are asked to effectively tender for the commission. A shortlist is then drawn up and DAA, as the sponsor, makes the final


choice. For the chosen artist the com- mission is a significant one. Aside from the high profile that the work receives, there is also the prestige of joining a select band of visual artists that have previously created the sculp- tures for the awards that celebrate


had more than 50 solo exhibitions throughout Europe and the US. A UNESCO prize winner, he is best known as an abstract painter. His work is held in collections throughout the world including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh.


Silversmith Seamus Gill, who cre-


‘We are proud to celebrate our two decade-long tradition of investing in Irish visual art’


business and arts collaboration. It’s a relatively large commission, as there are up to eight individual sculptures produced each year. The list of artists that have been commissioned to create the limited edition pieces includes many well known names from the Irish artistic community, Collier notes. Felim Egan, for example, is one of Ireland’s best known artists and has


ated the Allianz Business to Arts award sculpture in 2003, also has a growing international reputation. Kevin O’D- wyer who combined limestone and silver for his 2008 piece is another sil- versmith, with an impressive inter- national pedigree. His work is in the permanent collections of The Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and the Ulster Museum in Belfast among others. “It’s a happy coincidence that DAA is marketing the 20th anniversary of commissioning sculptures for the Allianz Business to Arts Awards in the same year that the Crafts Council of Ireland celebrates its 40th birthday with its Year of Craft 2011. For the past 20 years every year has been a year of craft for the DAA and its pred- ecessor Aer Rianta and we are proud to celebrate our two decade-long tra- dition of investing in Irish visual art,” says Collier.


THIS year’s awards sculp- ture commissioned by the Dublin Airport Authority for the Allianz Business to Arts Awards was designed and created by Newtow- nards wood turner and fur- niture maker Mark Hanvey. He is the 20th sculptor to be commissioned and views it as a “fantastic honour” in light of the previous 19 very skilled craftspeople that went before him. His sculp- ture, called ‘Flux’, will be showcased along with all the previous sculptures commissioned to mark the awards’ 20th anniversary this year.


Flux features a multi-cen- tred turned form in bleached oak, nestled in a maple frame.


“I derive most of my inspi- ration from the material itself. Flux has the look of decaying and going back into the earth and the sense of being reused or regrowth,” says Hanvey. “It’s always important to con- sider organic and natural


Artist Mark Hanvey travelled to Dublin Airport to present this year’s Allianz Business to Arts sculpted award to Declan Collier of Dublin Airport Authority (left) and Stuart McLaughlin of Business to Arts (right)


‘Flux has the look of decaying and going back into the earth and the sense of being reused or regrowth’


things. Everything is reborn and lives on. “The signature of my work has always involved a very high standard of crafts- manship and attention to detail. I started solely as a wood turner, using native and some exotic timbers to produce functional and dec- orative objects. My training as a cabinet maker equipped me with the skills to use decorative veneering tech- niques in some of my recent turned work.” Hanvey started wood


turning at the age of 13 at school after he was given a lathe for his birthday. “I’ve been working with it ever since, creating pieces as a hobby while working as a furniture maker until I decided to focus full time on it in 2007. “I have come up with a few strong original pieces.


For example, Pith Vessel focuses on the pulp of a tree, which is normally the part that is discarded as it doesn’t have any structural value. But it’s important from being a sapling. The piece celebrates that.” Hanvey has shown at the


National Craft Gallery, Saatchi in London and his


work features in the Nation- al Museum Collection. “I exhibited at the Crafts Council of Ireland stand at the Sculptural Objects and Function Art (SOFA) exhi- bition in Chicago in 2008, and have just finished at the SOFA in Santa Fe via a gallery called Flow in London,” he adds.


Editor: Sorcha Corcoran


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