Irish Arts Center Hosts Ireland's Prime Minister, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, For Tour Of New Building

Irish Arts Center (IAC), renowned for presenting dynamic, inspiring, collaborative experiences of the evolving arts and culture of Ireland and Irish America in an environment of warm Irish hospitality, today welcomed Ireland's Prime Minister, Leo Varadkar, for a tour of the institution as it nears the end of its second full year of programming in its state-of-the-art new 11th Avenue building. While on site, Varadkar toured a building-wide double exhibition of paintings by Colin Davidson, and announced $2.1 million in additional funding toward the transformation of IAC's intimate previous venue, around the corner at 553 West 51st Street, which will ultimately adjoin the 11th Avenue building. 

Irish Arts Center's new building, opened in December 2021, is the culmination of a more-than-a-decade-long transformation of the organization into one of New York's most beloved multidisciplinary cultural institutions. It signifies a new era in the cultural life of the global Irish diaspora, and provides an important new canvas for the development and presentation of the performing arts in New York City. The building's centerpiece is a flexible performance space for theater, dance, music, visual arts, interdisciplinary work, residencies, and special events. The building also includes a new studio for classes, rehearsals, and community gatherings; an intimate, warmly appointed library classroom and patron lounge; and an atrium bordered by the building's interior historic brick façade.

Designed by New York-based architects Davis Brody Bond (National September 11 Museum, The Ronald O. Perelman Performing Arts Center), with consultation and support from Ireland's Office of Public Works, the new building is an historic collaboration between the people of Ireland and New York. The Irish government contributed $9.4 million of the $60 million capital budget for the 11th Avenue new building, which included $37 million from the City of New York and the remainder provided by the State of New York and private donors.

Placing what he described as “a beautiful building” in the context of the Irish government's Global Ireland strategy, the Taoiseach remarked, “When our diaspora lives abroad, often they and their children and grandchildren stay connected to Ireland through culture and the arts. Equally importantly, for people who have no Irish heritage or connection to Ireland, it's often the way they discover Ireland for the first time and fall in love with it. For that reason, we said we would support the new Irish Arts Center. Congratulations on doing such a wonderful job here, and I hope the Center goes from strength to strength.”

Two exhibitions of Colin Davidson paintings are on view throughout the new building. Silent Testimony, an exhibition of large-scale portrait paintings, reveals the stories of eighteen people who are connected by their individual experiences of loss through the Troubles, the turbulent 30-year period in Northern Ireland from the late 1960s onwards. Curated by Kim Mawhinney, Senior Curator of Art at National Museums Northern Ireland, the exhibition fills IAC's theater with the multitude of stories intimated in Davidson's stirring portraiture (September 16–October 8). Alongside Silent Testimony, newer works from Davidson will be on view in Selected Paintings and Drawings, also curated by Mawhinney, September 16–December 17. On October 4, IAC will unveil a newly commissioned Davidson creation to commemorate the 25th Anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement: a portrait of Senator George Mitchell, the special envoy to Northern Ireland who co-chaired the talks leading to the historic peace agreement.

About Irish Arts Center

Irish Arts Center, founded in 1972 and based in Hell's Kitchen, New York City, is a home for artists and audiences of all backgrounds who share a passion or appreciation for the evolving arts and culture of contemporary Ireland and Irish America. We present, develop, and celebrate work from established and emerging artists and cultural practitioners, providing audiences with emotionally and intellectually engaging experiences—fueled by collaboration, innovation, adventurousness, authenticity, and the celebration of our common humanity, in an environment of Irish hospitality. Steeped in grassroots traditions, we also provide community education programs and access to the arts for people of all ages and ethnic, racial and socioeconomic backgrounds