REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE RE-OPENING OF THE GLUCKSMAN GALLERY
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT McALEESE ON THE OCCASION OF THE RE-OPENING OF THE GLUCKSMAN GALLERY
Dia dhíbh a chairde.
Ambassador, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you all for that warm and generous Cork welcome back to the Glucksman Gallery which is of course not only celebrating its fifth birthday but the miracle of surviving the deluge and having a grand re-opening to prove it. We miss the presence of Loretta Brennan Glucksman today but the story of this reopening is surely infused with Loretta’s indomitable can-do spirit.
The first time I was here for the official opening five years ago, her dear husband Lew Glucksman, whose project this gallery was, was too ill to attend and indeed he died shortly after but generous man that he was and a lover as he was of both Ireland and the Arts, he undertook the funding and development of this gallery at a time in his life when seeing its realisation in his lifetime was a big stretch of the odds. That was and remains a measure of the humble generosity of the man. No-one here on that proud opening day five years ago could have foreseen the dreadful calamity that would befall this gallery, University and city in the weeks before Christmas. No-one who saw the television pictures or worse still who waded through the muddy waters that overwhelmed the building and especially the basement which housed so much precious art work, could have predicted that we would have this courageous reopening today. Lets hope the story of the Glucksman Gallery will bring hope and reassurance to the many people who are still out of their homes and businesses as a result of those awful floods which wreaked damage and devastation and hardship in so many lives. People who were tired, shocked and drained of energy found in themselves and in others a resilience and determination that started to turn that fateful tide from helplessness to hope. It was Martin Luther King who advised that “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”
That courage was found here for the Gallery team responded magnificently and instantly to a formidable set of circumstances and with the help of conservation experts from around the country an incorrigible mess became instead a fascinating story of renewal and redemption.
Traditionally, a fifth anniversary is represented by wood, signifying that the roots are solidly in place and that the future potential is unlimited – an appropriate metaphor for this place. This chapter in the Glucksman Gallery’s short life has ensured that not only is the gallery a centre of artistic gravity but a centre of purest Cork determination in the face of adversity. We would not have wished for such a chapter given a choice but given no choice it is great that we can have a happy ending thanks to quick thinking, quick acting, advance disaster planning and a skilled cohort of restorers whose work makes us proud. Let us hope that never again will “boots and boats” be required to navigate the Glucksman and that under the continued dynamic leadership of its Director, Fiona Kearney these days of trauma will pass quickly into history and folklore, will be written of and spoken of but never repeated except in conversation.
This gallery has had an eventful five years even if it had never suffered a flood, for there have been prestigious international architectural awards and a plethora of thrilling exhibitions and events including the 2005 first ever joint exhibition of the art collections of the Arts Councils of Ireland and Northern Ireland during Cork’s year as European Capital of Culture and of course the heartwarming exhibition of An Leabhar Mór, the Great Book of Gaelic, and the intriguing Andy Warhol Exhibition held in conjunction with the Andy Warhol Museum Pittsburgh.
None of these images, memories and inspirations would we have were it not for Lew and Loretta. Their legacy will endure for generations in this gallery, their many other generous gifts to Ireland and in the Glucksman Fellowship established by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and run collaboratively between UCC and New York University. Their investment and the dividends it will pay in the years to come are immeasureable, for who can tell where among the schools, individuals, community groups who visit the Glucksman something will take hold and produce a lover of the arts, an artist or yet another great philanthropist. One thing is sure though - this Gallery is good for the arts, for Cork and for Ireland. It deserves to blossom as Lew intended and we all hope it will soon be restored to full functionality. It is so heartening to see that, despite the difficult economic times, the financial support provided by the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism and public support for the gallery’s recovery fund, has enabled the Gallery to reopen its doors to the public. That is surely a sign that in five short years people have come to love this place and that surely would make Lew very happy indeed. It is a credit to everyone in the Glucksman Gallery that there is so much to celebrate on this fifth birthday. The doors are open and the dykes of goodness have won out over nature’s worst.
Congratulations to Fiona and the staff of the Gallery, for their effort and commitment to ensuring that the closure was for as short a time as possible. Comhghairdeas libh.
And now, with the utmost pleasure I declare this Gallery dry and open!
Gurb fada buan sibh ‘s go raibh míle maith agaibh.