Celebrating its 70th year supporting the arts in Ireland, the Arts Council has welcomed the renewal of the arts sector in 2022 and paid tribute to the creativity and resourcefulness of the sector over the difficult pandemic years.

In a year marked by significant recovery in the arts as the country emerged from the pandemic, the Arts Council continued to support artists and helped rejuvenate audience interest through significant partnerships and investment in local authority arts offices, arts centres, and festivals over the last 12 months.

The Council’s concerted programme of support in 2022 included the launch of numerous initiatives, campaigns and policies that have helped re-ignite the arts sector, and encourage audiences to embrace the joy of live events once again. This campaign has also helped artistic organisations and arts workers that are the lifeblood of the sector, to harness their funding over the year to showcase the very best of the arts in Ireland.

Director of the Arts Council, Maureen Kennelly, said: ‘The arts sector in Ireland continues to demonstrate an extraordinary capacity to adapt and innovate in an ever-evolving environment. Over the last 12 months, the Arts Council’s activity has enabled artists, arts workers and communities re-explore the essence of the arts in Ireland and the sheer joy of live performance after the extremely challenging pandemic period. I very much look forward to 2023 and further renewal in the arts sector.’

The Chair of the Arts Council, Prof. Kevin Rafter, said: ‘Artists and arts organisations delivered great work throughout 2022 despite the ongoing disruption of Covid-19 and pressure from cost of living increases. Facing into 2023, the Council remains hugely ambitious for the sector. It wants to see an annual budget of €150m to help deliver key initiatives including a new all-island dance company and ambitious plans for artist workspaces across the country.’

Over the last 12 months a core Arts Council goal has been to revitalise the arts landscape in Ireland by helping artists and artistic organisations recover and renew through practical assistance and funding for a wide range of activities. This has significantly focused on bringing back audiences to in-person events and celebrating and promoting artistic expression in all its forms, to communities all across Ireland.

Key developments over 2022 included:

• A new partnership established between the Arts Council and Dublin Port Company with the goal of delivering 5,000 square metres of workspace to over 2,500 professional artists, practising in all areas of the arts, within the Flour Mills Master Plan Site. The project is underpinned by the policy objectives of the Arts Council’s 10-year strategy Making Great Art Work, the Government’s Project Ireland 2040 and the Dublin Port Masterplan 2040.

• The Council’s 17th edition of Culture Night / Oíche Chultúir took place in September. The annual, all-island public event, which is organised by the Arts Council and local authorities for the public free of charge, celebrated creativity and the arts, promoting the ethos of Ireland’s rich and varied culture and how it can be treasured and nurtured in people’s everyday lives.

• The Arts Council launched its Read Mór gifting project in Heuston Station, Connolly Station, Busáras, Cork, Galway, Sligo and Waterford, which provided travelling passengers with one of 21 different books by Irish-based authors and publishers to inspire their imagination. Passengers were encouraged to share the joy of reading when they had finished their book and regift it to another.

• The Arts Council was delighted to announce the appointment of Colm Tóibín as the Laureate for Irish Fiction 2022-2024. The role seeks to acknowledge the contribution of fiction writers to Irish artistic and cultural life by honouring an established Irish writer of fiction, encouraging a new generation of writers, promoting Irish literature nationally and internationally and encouraging the public to engage with high-quality Irish fiction.

• Over the year the Arts Council also launched a number of new policies such as the Architecture Policy, ‘Championing Architecture’, the Spatial Policy, ‘Place, Space and People’ and Dance Policy, ‘Advancing Dance 2022-2025’. The architecture policy outlines a vision for an Ireland where the creative practice of architects is valued and championed, while the new dance policy increases the capacity of the dance sector in Ireland through action and investment, as well as recognising dance as an integral part of our cultural life.

• The Live Is campaign, running from 16th November 2022, is a national advertising initiative to support arts centres, theatres, and all types of related arts venues that have seen reduced audience attendance of up to 20% relative to pre-pandemic figures. A key part of the Arts Council strategy, Making Great Art Work, the Live Is campaign reminds audiences of the unique joy and excitement that comes with attending live arts performances, and runs across national and local media in addition to a widespread digital campaign.

2022 was also a particularly significant year for the Arts Council, with the organisation marking seventy years since its first meeting in 1952. As the national development agency for the arts, the Arts Council continues to expand and develop audiences for the arts with significant partnership and investment in local authority arts offices, arts centres, festivals, the establishment of Creative Schools to nurture young creators, and the stewardship of Culture Night since 2020. Additionally, the Arts Council Collection, established in 1962, aims to support working artists and to enable the public to engage with these works of art through exhibitions. It now holds over 1,200 works.

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