Connected Horizons: From Studio to Collection – May 19th

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Visual Artists Ireland

Published 30/04/26 - 10 hours ago

Webinar Overview

This online session brings together key figures from national arts councils, philanthropic societies, and institutional leadership to demystify the journey of an artwork. Attendees will learn about different models of collecting—from state-mandated national collections to private patronage—and receive practical advice on how to position their practice for these opportunities.

Date: Tuesday 19th May
Time: 11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Online (Zoom)

The Programme

This session is designed to open an honest dialogue between artists and the organisations that build and manage contemporary collections. Each guest speaker will provide a 15-minute “insider” briefing, followed by a moderated Q&A session.

Key Discussion Points:

The National Mandate: How state bodies identify work for public collections.
The Philanthropic Route: How private societies support artists.
Professional Visibility: Best practices for documentation, archives, and getting “on the radar” without gallery representation.
Cross-Border Opportunities: Navigating the acquisition landscape across Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain.

Speakers

The Arts Council Collection

The Arts Council Collection was established in 1962 and comprises over 1,400 pieces of modern and contemporary Irish visual art. Artworks in the Collection span diverse disciplines including painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, print, film, performance and installation. Approximately 50% of the Collection is on display across Ireland at any one time – works can be seen as part of temporary exhibitions in museums and galleries, as well as in public buildings such as hospitals, universities and schools as part of an ongoing public loan programme.

The Collection team comprises Eoin Dara (Head of Collection), Ben Mulligan (Collection Manager) and Grace O’Boyle (Collection Officer). Through the acquisition and subsequent exhibition of excellent contemporary work, we support artists and act as custodians of great art on behalf of the people of Ireland.

Eoin Dara

Eoin Dara is an Irish curator and occasional writer based in Dublin, working as Head of Collection for the Arts Council of Ireland. He studied at the University of Edinburgh and is an alumnus of the ICI Curatorial Intensive programme. Dara was previously Head of Exhibitions at DCA (Dundee) and Curator at the MAC (Belfast). His writing has been published recently in Frieze and Elephant Magazine, and he has been part of recent juries and selection committees for Hayward Gallery, LUX, and the Irish Pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland

The Arts Council of Northern Ireland is the lead development body for the arts in Northern Ireland. It has held a collection of art since 1943. Its current contemporary collection comprises of over 750 artworks and represents the practices of visual artists at different stages in their careers, from emerging to established. The Collection supports a range of artistic disciplines including painting, sculpture, craft, print, photography, video and digital art. The artworks held are by artists from Northern Ireland or by artists living and working in Northern Ireland. The Collection’s aim is to reflect artistic practice that is innovative and challenging, and that contributes to the development of visual arts practice in Northern Ireland.

Joanna Johnston

Joanna Johnston is the Visual Arts & Collections Officer at the Art Council of Northern Ireland, where she has worked since 2009. In this current role she leads on curating the exhibition programme for the ACNI Collection, working in partnership with arts centres and galleries across the region. She has a key role in supporting new acquisitions for the Collection and dealing with a range of institutions across the Island, UK and internationally in the loan of works. Since 2019, she has been responsible for the growth of an education- based art lending scheme for post-primary schools and oversees new content creation for the ACNI Collection Instagram and Art UK. Joanna is graduate of Fine Art from the Belfast School of Art, with a specialism in Lens-Based Media.

The Contemporary Irish Art Society

Founded in 1962, the purpose of the society was to encourage a greater level of patronage of living Irish artists by raising funds to purchase their artworks which were then donated to public collections. The society has continued to support Irish artists through the purchase and donation of artworks to institutions throughout Ireland. Some 40 public institutions have received works by contemporary Irish artists, amongst them, the Crawford Gallery, Limerick Municipal Gallery, The Hugh Lane, The Butler Gallery, Kilkenny, IMMA, as well as hospitals, and other official bodies. In recent years, the CIAS has expanded its reach by partnering with the Western Development Commission/ConnectedHubs.ie and corporate sponsors to deliver the successful “Art In the Hubs” programme.

Joan Mulvihill

Joan Mulvihill is a member of the CIAS National Council and is a professional artist living and working in Mullingar, Co. Westmeath. Since joining the CIAS, Joan has been responsible for leading the Art in the Hubs programme which has been recognised twice at the Business To Arts Awards. The CIAS partnership with the WDC ConnectedHubs.ie and corporate sponsors has allowed the the CIAS to acquire over 60 new works over the past 4 years which are now on hanging in over 40 co-working hubs throughout Ireland. Joan is also a founding board member of the Ar Seiz Avels Foundation in Brittany. Through her work there, Joan has created international exhibition opportunities for contemporary Irish artists.

The Contemporary Art Society

The Contemporary Art Society (CAS) is a London-based charity founded in 1910 to promote contemporary art in the UK. Since its foundation, it has facilitated the donation of over 10,500 works of fine art and craft into public collections and currently has a membership of 78 museums across the UK: from Plymouth in the South to Orkney in the north, from Swansea in the West to Norwich in the East. Over the years, the CAS has acquired work by many leading artists including Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon, David Hockney, John Akomfrah,  Lynette Yiadom-Boakye and Grayson Perry.

Christine Takengny

Christine Takengny holds Master’s degrees in Art History, Education and Curating. Since 2011, she has been Senior Curator of Museums Acquisitions at the Contemporary Art Society, where she develops contemporary art and craft collections for 78 museums across the UK. She has previously held curatorial positions at the Serpentine Gallery, Iniva, Gasworks, October Gallery, the Royal Academy, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, and Ulmer Museum. Christine has led workshops in Belfast as part of the Career Enhancement Programme, supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. She also developed Curating Fictions, a series of talks at the Whitechapel Gallery.

In addition, she has worked as a consultant for LOBE (Berlin), served as a collection advisor for the UK charity Paintings in Hospitals, and advised on Arts Council England’s Ambition for Excellence programme. She has also been a member of the selection panel for Guest Projects’ curatorial programme.

Who Can Join?

Professional artists at all career stages.
Curators and arts administrators interested in acquisition processes.

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Booking Information

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