Artist workspaces to be opened across Dublin

Lord Mayor of Dublin Caroline Conroy and Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Catherine Martin T.D., have announced details of a €9 million Capital Works programme called Space to Create.

This initiative will develop 60 artist workspaces in the Capital with funding support of €3 million coming from for the Dept. of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, €3 million from Dublin City Council and €3 million from philanthropic donation.

 Space To Create sees Dublin City Council (DCC) identify buildings that can be refurbished to create new artist workspaces. The shortage of workspaces is particularly acute in Dublin and Space to Create will see artists provided with turnkey workspaces and/or opportunities to use performance, gallery space, and flexible office spaces.

The artists involved cover a range of art forms from visual arts, performance, literature, design and dance.

The first artists, Ella Clarke and Alan Mongey, will be moving into their new workspaces in the coming weeks, while the remaining 12 artists will be in place by December 2024. Ella Clarke commented at the launch “this new studio is five minutes from my home in Artane and will transform my practice as a dancer, teacher and choreographer. As well as giving me time back, the quality and size of the space will be an inspiration and a step change in my career.”

The former Filmbase building at 2 Curved Street Temple Bar, where today’s announcement was made, is already home to six arts organisations and will take on additional tenants after essential refurbishment and upgrading. In addition to Filmbase and Artane Place, DCC is working to open up further unused sites. These include the Council owned 8 and 9 Merchants Quay which will also undergo a refurb to provide 21 artists workspaces and the former Eden restaurant in Temple Bar which will accommodate six artists, while a vacant site on Bridgefoot Street will house twenty new temporary units for artists. More than half of the spaces will be in use before the end of 2024 and the remainder in early 2025.

Speaking at the launch of Space to Create Lord Mayor Caroline Conroy, commented: “Artists are central to what makes Dublin unique. Dublin City Council have been aware for some time of the deficit in Artists Workspaces due to the closure of many studios and performance spaces in recent years. Through the Artists Workspaces Committee, a comprehensive long term plan has been set out to try and address the shortfall. First through the Development Plan and the provision that 5% of all new developments in Dublin will be allocated to creative/cultural and community use and through engagement with developers to look at sustainable spaces for the Arts.

“Through schemes like this where buildings are revived and refurbished to become low-cost opportunities for artists to work in the City. Dublin City Council knows that much more remains to be done but hopes today will be seen as a good start and a statement of intent to be sure that our City remains enriched by working artists and a platform for their imagination.”

Speaking at the launch, Minister Martin commented: “I am strongly aware of the pressures that artists and creatives have faced in finding suitable workspaces, especially here in our capital city.  From consultations between my Department, local authorities and relevant bodies, I am aware of the challenges faced in the Arts sector and in particular the increasing demand and shortages of Artist workspaces. That is why I am so pleased that my Department is assisting Dublin City Council to increase the availability of artist workspaces and support artists by providing an affordable and suitable working environment.

Much of our cultural infrastructure is initiated by our local authorities and they have been a crucial resource in the delivery of arts and culture interventions over many decades. Their collaboration and commitment in supporting a vibrant and accessible arts sector and their response to the needs within communities is fully recognised and appreciated by the Government. My Department will continue to liaise with Dublin City Council and other local authorities on further options to meet demands for artist workspaces, building further on today’s positive announcement.” 

Labour Arts spokesperson Marie Sherlock welcomed the funding announcement, but warned that “the age-old reliance on philanthropy to support the Arts must not be the linchpin to the city’s arts strategy and that the 60 places are a tiny share of the overall demand for artistic space in Dublin.”

Senator Sherlock said “our capital city has been suffering from a chronic shortage of secure, affordable workspaces for artists and cultural workers for some years and it is some years since the city last announced the permanent provision of artist spaces.”

“It is important that the 60 places should be the start of the rollout of artist spaces and not the limit of the City Council or Government’s ambition. We know from DCC’s Artist Workplace Findings Report in 2020 which surveyed nearly one in five of the city’s artist population and found that 41% were actively seeking a secure workspace.”

The successful artists who will be availing of the artist spaces at Artane Place are: Alan Monge, Caitriona Ni Murucu, Cara Thorp. Chris Jud. Ella Clark, Emma Monton, Gemma Kan, Jennifer Dwyer, Lynda Devenney, Malene Jacobson Brazel, Martin Cahill, Sharon O’Callaghan, Sinead Lawlor and Tom O’Dea.