SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SLIGO MODEL ARTS AND NILAND GALLERY
SPEECH BY PRESIDENT McALEESE AT THE OFFICIAL OPENING OF THE SLIGO MODEL ARTS AND NILAND GALLERY TUESDAY, 26 JUNE, 2001
Is mór an onóir agus pléisiúir dom bheith anseo libh inniu agus ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl díbh as an chaoin-chuireadh agus as fáilte fíorchaoin.
It gives me great pleasure to be back here with you today to perform the official opening of this exceptional venue, and to express my sincere thanks to Una McCarthy for the kind invitation.
The story of the Sligo Model Arts and Niland Gallery is a truly inspirational one. It reflects the very tangible upsurge of interest and participation in the arts in recent times, and is one of the finest examples I have seen of local initiative and community spirit. It is over ten years since a local committee conceived the idea of converting the recently closed Model Arts School into a major venue for the arts. They were encouraged to put their dream into action when the people of Sligo and the wider artistic community embraced this vision and pledged their support in bringing it to fruition. People with disparate interests and from every walk of life, united in their regard for Sligo’s unique heritage, gave freely of their time and energy and their own particular gifts to this project.
As a result of this happy alliance, this beautiful and historic building was reincarnated as an exhibition centre, gradually developing as a venue for various facets of the arts including music, film, literature and general artistic education. Since its inception, this Centre has consistently attracted arts practitioners of national and international repute, noted for its housing of weekend festivals of both classic and contemporary music, and prestigious events such as Scríobh - the writers’ festival.
While this has been very much a local initiative, nurtured and driven by the people of Sligo, its broad and impressive wealth of display, performance and studio facilities will make this a gallery and arts centre that will continue to evolve and diversify – encompassing the full range of artistic and cultural activity. Gone are the days when the arts were seen as the playground of an elite. Today the arts are for everyone and not just as mere spectators but as contributors, as artists, as a new generation discovers its own genius and adds its own imprint to our cultural heritage. This place will provide young people in the surrounding areas with a first class opportunity to grow up surrounded by the arts, to develop a real love of the arts and to grow very confident in their own ability to contribute to the arts.
I would like to pay tribute to the woman in whose honour the Niland Gallery was named – the late Nora Niland. The County Librarian for many years, Nora was a committed and tireless champion of arts and culture in Sligo and indeed this is not my first time to mention her in a speech. She was a key figure in the inauguration of the celebrated Yeats Summer School in 1960, and a year later organised a loan exhibition of 60 Yeats paintings in Sligo Town Hall. This exhibition instilled in Nora a determination to establish a permanent place of exhibition, which ultimately resulted in the Yeats Room in Sligo Museum. Nora passed away in 1988, but her legacy lives on in the magnificent gallery that bears her name. The Niland Gallery will house the County Sligo Art Collection which features and internationally acclaimed body of work including pieces by Jack B. Yeats, Sean Keating and Paul Henry. It is a witness not just to the talent we have but to the capacity one determined person has to change things for the better.
Nora Niland was a community builder and you are so lucky here to have a great team of community builders. This impressive project would not have been possible without the generous support and enthusiasm of the people of Sligo. Every aspect of its operation is indicative of your desire to involve the community, making the Centre accessible to the public and creating an understanding of and participation in our heritage and contemporary culture.
This project underpins the imaginative and progressive approach which has been taken to sensitively combining the old with the new - retaining all the important architectural features of the fine old building in which it is housed, while modernising and equipping its interior to the highest international standards. I commend the financial assistance provided by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Sligo County Council and Corporation, the Arts Council, the International Fund for Ireland, Sligo County Enterprise Board and local industry sponsorship. Without their support this project would not have flourished as it has.
Sligo’s culture and heritage belongs to this community first and foremost. It belongs too to the island of Ireland. It belongs to those who are curious about culture, to the visitor, the stranger, the tourist. Each gets a welcome here and it gives me great pleasure to declare this facility officially open.
Go raibh míle maith agaibh go léir.