Royal Hibernian Academy Elects New President, Abigail O’Brien PRHA
The Royal Hibernian Academy, which operates one of the nation’s largest public galleries, RHA School and Studios, marked an event of great importance in its history when artist, Abigail O’Brien was elected as the 24th President of the Academy at its Annual General Meeting, October, 2018. Elected to RHA Membership in 2006, Abigail O’Brien, now the first ever female president in the Academy’s 195-year history, was delighted to accept.
In her inaugural address, O’Brien stated that “I am delighted and honoured to have been elected as the new President of the RHA. It is a huge responsibility, one which I have given much consideration and which I take most seriously. I take it seriously because the Royal Hibernian Academy has a unique place in the Irish arts and in Irish public life. Because it has an incredible history and exciting future.”
During her term, O’Brien intends to continue to build awareness and recognition of the RHA among the wider public, to widen the Membership of the RHA within the younger generation, develop new and engaged audiences, encourage new patrons to support the RHA and inspire new and discerning art buyers and collectors. She believes that the RHA has the tools and talents to achieve these goals through its invigorating exhibition and education programming, RHA School and Studio programme, its standards and its heritage.