8 ALLIANZ BUSINESS TO ARTS AWARDS 2011 A percentage difference


Since it began back in the 1980s, the pioneering ‘Per Cent to Art’ scheme has expanded the world of possibility and experimentation for many artists and the programme continues to be a major success as it broadens its scope to include all sorts of art forms


Fourteen years of support for the arts


Stuart McLaughlin, chief executive of Business to Arts, reflects on President Mary McAleese’s unrelenting support of the arts and the Allianz Business to Arts Awards during her time in office


Misneach – a large bronze equestrian sculpture with a local teenage girl as its rider – which is part of the Breaking Ground project highly commended in the Jim McNaughton Perpetual Award for Best Commissioning Practice in this year’s Allianz Business to Arts Awards


HREE projects in the Allianz Business to Arts Awards this year are part of the Government ‘Per Cent for Art’ scheme, each of which has shown remarkable innovation and community engage- ment. The three projects are ‘Breaking Ground’ by John Byrne, Ballymun Regeneration’s initiative; ‘Casting Light’, also by Byrne, commissioned by Cavan County Council; and Shel- ter Me From The Rain, an opera commissioned by Carlow County Council. Started in the 1980s, the Per Cent


T


for Art scheme is a government pro- gramme whereby 1pc of the cost of any publically-funded capital, infra- structural and building develop- ment can be allocated to the


commissioning of a work of art. The 1pc is subject to a ¤64,000 cap and is available across all government departments. Cliodhna Shaffrey, public arts advisor to the Arts Council, says the scheme has been very successful over the years, with 160 listings now featured on the www.publicart.ie website, which doesn’t represent the total.


“It is a great possibility for artists and has allowed a lot of experimen- tation. More recently, it has encour- aged artists to explore different ways of presenting public art that don’t necessarily have to be permanent. It has moved beyond purely being about public sculptures on a road- side. Composers, musicians and cho- reographers have started to get involved. It is open to all types of art


forms. “The scheme has led to new ways of communicating with the public, playing into the idea that to make art work, the artist has the responsibil- ity to engage with and reflect the community it is in.” Launched in 2002, Breaking Ground is a particularly good exam- ple of public art reflecting its com- munity. Its two key aims are to bring atten-


tion nationally and internationally to projects organised within Bally- mun, and to expand and enrich the lives of communities through expe- riences with contemporary art. In eight years, Breaking Ground has commissioned over 48 projects. The Breaking Ground project highly commended in the Jim McNaughton Perpetual Award for


Best Commissioning Practice in this year’s Allianz Business to Arts Awards was a commission called ‘Misneach’ – a large bronze eques- trian sculpture with a local teenage girl as its rider. The objective in working with Byrne was to commission a signifi- cant work of public art that was unique to Ballymun and its com- munity. Byrne made a replica of the horse sculpted by the Irish sculptor John Henry Foley used in The Gough Memorial, which used to be in the Phoenix Park.


Ballymun Regeneration had approached Byrne looking for ideas to address the area and what the peo- ple there would want in terms of art. He came up with a couple, such as a painting idea similar to his work Dublin’s Last Supper in the Italian


Quarter, but featuring Ballymun people.


“I had the equestrian idea in the back of my head because it struck me while in the middle of a town in Spain that statues on plinths denote the centre and importance. Bally- mun is a place of importance, not least for the people that live there, and I thought it would be amazing to have a massive bronze sculpture there,” he says.


“I was also interested in chal- lenging the idea of what artists aren’t supposed to do. Statues on plinths represent the old guard and I want- ed to subvert and reinterpret the idea of a hero on a horse.” To read about the Cavan Per Cent to Art project go to page 4. The Car- low opera project is featured on page 5.


Stuart McLaughlin, chief executive of Business to Arts making a presentation to President Mary McAleese at the Allianz Business to Arts Awards


F


OURTEEN years ago, one of the first engagements for our Presi- dent Mary


McAleese when she took up office was the Allianz Business to Arts Awards. This event marked the beginning of her time as patron of Business to Arts, and firmly established the fact that the arts would play a significant role dur- ing the years of her presi- dency. This year’s Allianz Busi- ness to Arts Awards comes towards the end of Mary McAleese’s second term in office and, with this in mind, it is a fitting time to reflect on her advocacy and support of Irish arts and culture, and of her support of Business to Arts. During the speech at the


2011 awards ceremony the President said she had been proud to be patron of Business to Arts these past years.


“I thank the board and


executive for allowing me to play a small part in this big and big-hearted mis- sion,” she added.


But this, of course, is a modest estimation of the role that her support has played for our organisa- tion. In each of the seven years that the President has attended the awards our audiences have always commented on how her presence lifts the event and, as many observe, her ability to ‘read’ the mood of the country and her under- standing of the central role that culture can play in all aspects of society has been an inspiration to those involved in our organisa- tion. The President’s personal passion for the arts was also shared with us in 2008 as the members of Busi- ness to Arts were treated to a tour of the art collection of Áras an Uachtaráin, given by Patrick J Murphy who, at that time, was the art adviser for the OPW. The stories of the devel- opment of this varied and personal collection, repre- senting the best of con- temporary Irish art, were fascinating and many of the pieces had a specific resonance with the Presi- dent after she had viewed work and met artists in exhibitions across Ireland. The devotion to Irish art


Photo by Jon Mitton. Allianz p.l.c. is regulated by the Central Bank of Ireland.


also extends to the selec- tion of gifts given by the Áras when the President travels internationally. Drawing from a wide range


of art forms and styles we were delighted to discover that, coincidentally, the artist who created our 2011 award, Mark Hanvey, is one of those who has been com- missioned to create works for the President. Other artists who have been involved in the awards over the last 20 years have had their work featured in similar ways. In Business to Arts’ case, of course, the stakehold- ers come from across two apparently disparate worlds and it has always been our sense that the President has engaged with and understood our mission. This year she commented


Sunday IndependentMay 11, 2011


‘The Allianz Business to Arts Awards are at the very heart of our drive to improve Ireland's business narrative and our arts narrative’


that “the Allianz Business to Arts Awards are at the very heart of our drive to improve Ireland's business narrative and our arts nar- rative. That the two are seen as part of an inte- grated partnership is huge- ly to your credit. For over 20 years you have proved time and again the magical alchemy that allows both spheres to get results by working together which would have eluded them were each working wholly independently of the other”. We have been honoured


and fortunate to have Pres- ident McAleese as our patron over the past 14 years. We wish her the very best with her plans and look forward to meeting again at an exhibition, a theatre performance or concert in the coming years.


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