REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE McAULEY MEDAL TO IMOGEN STUART MARY IMMAC
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE PRESENTATION OF THE McAULEY MEDAL TO IMOGEN STUART MARY IMMACULATE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
Dia dhíbh a chairde. What a joy it is to be part of this Mary Immaculate College celebration of Imogen Stuart’s great achievements as an artist. I am very grateful to Professor Peadar Cremin, the Board of Management and the members of the Governing Body for the invitation which allows me to present the McAuley Medal to a wonderful human being and exceptional artist whose association with this College goes back over half a century.
The great French sculptor Auguste Rodin said rather bluntly, but with his tongue in his cheek, that “sculpture is the art of the hole and the lump.” Imogen, the sculptor has mastered that art and her work today graces this College Campus and many public spaces both in Ireland and abroad. Another great artist, Pablo Picasso, defined sculpture a little differently; he told us “sculpture is the art of the intelligence”. In Imogen’s case, we can also say it is the art of the heart for she brings a freshness and passion to everything she does and she radiates a personal joy in life and in creation that is itself as inspiring as the works of her hands and her genius.
The Sisters of Charity founded this College in 1898, infusing into Irish life the gift of access to top class education which was to radically alter the future of our country. Our indebtedness to the Sisters and to the College, indeed our indebtedness to the many religious teaching orders and institutes is incalculable but today this College focuses its attention, though the award of the recently instituted McAuley medal, on outstanding individuals whose lives have enhanced our society and made it a better place to live. Catherine McAuley would surely be nodding in vigorous approval of today’s recipient of that award which bears her name and memory.
There are many ways of teaching. Here in this College the profession of teaching is perfected through a process of formation which is tried and tested over many lifetimes as your graduates engage with Ireland’s young people and open their hearts to their own potential, to the wonder of the world around them and to a lifelong intellectual curiosity which will be also a faithful, adventurous and mysterious lifelong companion.
Those on whom the McAuley medal is bestowed are recognised by Mary Immaculate College as torch-bearers, as people who have the gift of illuminating life with an exceptional radiance. Imogen is such a human being, though if she never painted or sculpted a thing, she would still be a remarkably vibrant generous, life-enhancing human being. But we are so fortunate that the inner light that shines from Imogen is expressed in a canon of work which we are privileged to share and experience in all the places that it is exhibited, including here at Mary I, where it gently informs, challenges and enriches community life. Imogen has a powerful way of synthesising past, present and future, of drawing us deep into our spiritual heritage and directing us to the possibilities for the heritage that we ourselves are creating in our time. The beautiful work Imogen created in celebration of St. Columbanus which is to be found at the Irish College in Paris is well worth a visit, for with great simplicity and poignancy it points us towards the still unrealised potential of love and reconciliation.
Although born in Germany Ireland proudly claims Imogen as an intrinsic part of the narrative of modern Irish art and indeed modern Ireland. Nationally and internationally she has received acclaim and in this award she adds to her own private collection of testimonies to the regard she has earned, the respect she deserves and the love she generates. I am in the fortunate position that like Mary I, Áras an Uachtaráin is home to some of Imogen’s works and that makes it all the more pleasing to be part of this celebration. I congratulate the college on such a very worthy recipient of the McAuley medal and not only do I congratulate Imogen on the award but I thank her warmly for her fidelity to her vocation as an artist, for her love of Ireland, and for her lovely welcoming happy nature which always makes her a joy to meet.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.