Research underway at The Model

Formal presentation of The James A. Healy Art Collection by Mr. Cormac H. O'Malley. L-R Alderman John Fallon, Chairman, Sligo County Council; Mr P.J. Doyle, Deputy County Manager Mr Oliver Dowling, Exhibitions Officer, The Arts Council; Mrs. Moira Kennedy O’Malley, New York; Miss Nora Niland, Librarian and Curator; Mr Cormac K.H. O’Malley, New York

The Model is currently undertaking some personal research into one of Sligo’s most dedicated and hard working citizens; Nora Niland.  The research will contribute to the visibility and identity of the Niland Collection which is housed in The Model.

In the 1950s, Nora was instrumental in establishing the Sligo Municipal Art Collection, which today bears her name.

As county librarian Niland spotted the importance of the connection between Sligo and the Yeats family. With this in mind she borrowed five works by Jack B. Yeats from The Capuchin Annual to exhibit for the duration of the first Yeats Summer School in 1959.  Niland soon realised that these five works were an important addition to the cultural life of Sligo and resolved to raise the money required to buy them.  Although it took her two years, Niland’s determination ensured that the paintings remained in Sligo and formed the nucleus of what has now become The Niland Collection. Nora went on to add more of Yeats’ works in the years that followed,  making the collection one of the most significant holdings of the artist’s work in Ireland.

Many of these works record personal experiences and memories of Yeats childhood in Sligo, and coupled with the addition of further works by his father John Butler Yeats and his sister Elizabeth Yeats, serve to celebrate the Yeats family’s enormous cultural legacy to Sligo.  Over time works by other important Irish artists were added making the collection of the best holdings of twenthieth century Irish art in the country.

The Model would like put a call out to people around Sligo that may have known Nora, met her at meetings, or have worked with her. We are looking for photographs, original letters or stories about the woman who inspired one of the most important collections of Irish twentieth century art works.

If you have any information, photos or memories you would like to share please contact Denise Rushe at The Model on 071 9141405 or email deniserushe@modelart.ie

A sneak preview of young model The Interview project

This summer, young model have been very busy bees with tons of projects on the go exploring experimental music, film and video, installation and public art. Most recently they have busy planning for their latest exciting project The Interview- which sees the group interviewing and filming the artists represented in the prestigious Niland Art Collection. The project is the 8th they will have undertaken, and is the most ambitious yet.

This important piece of documentation will be mediated through the opinion of young model and will be presented on an international level through audio and visual podcasts on The Models new web site due to come on line late 2009.

Through interviewing the artists, the collection should become more familiar and friendly especially when the public can put a face to the painting/sculpture.  What is crucial to this documentation is that the outcomes are fresh, relevant and full of young opinions that challenge the artist being interviewed.

Next month young model will travel to Galway to interview artist Dorothy Cross in her studio.

Since The Model building is still closed for redevelopment the group have a studio in Sligo town called Wolf on Arm, an old pharmacy. See what else they have been getting up to this year: Read More>

Jack B.Yeats Summer Exhibition

Jack B. Yeats - The Sea and the Lighthouse

As we announced on our blog a few weeks ago, we have an exhibition of Jack B. Yeats works drawn from The Niland Collection opening next week – on Friday evening in fact. The works are being exhibited as part of the Yeats Festival Season. The exhibition entitled Jack B Yeats; The Sligo Paintings will be hosted by Sligo Art Gallery and features many of the finest and best loved Yeats paintings from The Niland Collection.

This is the first opportunity The Model has had to show these works in Sligo this year and all are welcome to attend the free exhibition which runs 6 days a week from Saturday 25^th July until August 15^th at the Sligo Art Gallery, which is in the Yeats Memorial Building on Hyde Bridge.

During the temporary closure of The Model the works from The Niland Collection have been on tour to other galleries, notably to the National Gallery of Ireland where they were seen by thousands of visitors over the course of 2008.  Many of the Jack B. Yeats works require particular environmental controls to allow them to be shown which has prevented the exhibition possibilities tin Sligo this year, but we are thankful of the support of the Sligo Art Gallery in hosting this particular exhibition and are especially delighted to have the works on show to coincide with the busy summer period, and the 50^th Yeats Summer School.

This show will examine the influence of both the people and the landscape of Sligo on the painter and will feature favourites such as Leaving the Far Point, The Sea and the Lighthouse and The Metal Man.

Reared in Sligo by his maternal grandparents, Yeats spent much of his time travelling the town and county with his grandfather who owned a shipping business. The landscape and the characters he encountered during this time made a deep and lasting impression on the young artist, and he returned to the memories of his Sligo days for inspiration for his work again and again through out his life.  In his later years Yeats acknowledged the deep influence of Sligo on his work when he said that he had never created a painting that did not have in it “at least a thought of Sligo”

The Model will also be holding free children’s art workshops exploring Yeats and the Sea on Saturday the 25th July, 1st & 8th August.  The workshops take place in The Glasshouse Hotel but must be booked with The Model in advance on 071-914 1405 as places are strictly limited.

The Model is currently planning a major Jack B. Yeats retrospective which will open at the newly renovated Model in June 2010 and from there will tour nationally and internationally.

The opening reception for Jack B Yeats; The Sligo Paintings will take place at 5 pm on Friday 24 July and all are welcome.