DUBLIN.- IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art), The Dean Dublin and Press Up Hospitality Group announced today (Wednesday 10 February 2021), a new creative partnership at the Dean Arts Studio.

The Dean Arts Studio is a new, multi-disciplinary hub located on Harcourt Street in the heart of Dublin city centre. It is a practical response to the contraction of accessible, affordable city workspaces for artists of all disciplines, due in part to the loss of cultural spaces through development.

Both established and emerging practitioners across visual arts, literature, photography, sound, music and more will begin to take up residency this year. The Studio will be fully funded by The Dean Dublin and Press Up Hospitality Group, and the fourteen studios and office spaces will be gifted to artists, cultural institutions and arts organisations.

IMMA is delighted to be joining this dynamic and exciting creative collective as lead cultural institution partner. The gift of four studios from the Dean to IMMA has enabled IMMA to extend its Residency Programme by awarding year-long residencies at the Dean Arts Studio to Elayne Harrington, Elaine Hoey, Salvatore of Lucan and Brian Teeling.

Commenting on the partnership Annie Fletcher, Director, IMMA said; “Supporting artists in the provision of space for research and making as well as display has always been central to IMMA’s mission. IMMA and the Dean have forged a strong partnership over the past five years and it fantastic to be able to develop this collaboration further.”

Continuing, she commented that “IMMA has been steadily producing innovative programming under the current conditions and we are excited to move towards reopening the IMMA onsite studios which were temporarily closed due to the pandemic. In tandem with The Dean Arts Studio these combined residencies for artists show a deep commitment to supporting Irish based practice at such a critical time.”

Aileen Galvin, Project Lead, the Dean Arts Studio said: “We know how privileged we are to be in the position to provide a city centre arts hub in Dublin. This was an early 2020 project that was stopped in its tracks. We worked with the arts community to explore practical ways that we can be supportive of artistic practice in the city and the Dean Arts Studio is the first result of that. It is an investment in our creative community, and we hope removing the stress of workspace rent and bills can give artists a bit of headspace to get on with the work of making and creating. It isn’t the cure-all solution to commercial development vs cultural contraction, but it is a step forward. We are delighted to welcome IMMA and these incredible artists to the Studio. We hope their DAS experience will be happy and productive and filled with possibilities and opportunities.”

The second year of IMMA programming for IMMA’s spaces at the Dean Arts Studio will be realised through an open call which will be announced in Spring 2021. Programming opportunities for IMMA’s onsite studios will be announced later today.