A message from Dr Caroline Campbell, Director, National Gallery of Ireland
Dear Visitors, Supporters, Friends, Volunteers and Colleagues,
As I begin my term as Director of the National Gallery of Ireland, I would like to renew the Gallery’s warm welcome to our audience and partners in Ireland and around the world.
It’s been energising to join the Gallery as the winter holidays approach. December is a time to reflect on the year gone by, and to look forward to the year ahead. It’s also a season when our galleries are packed with exciting exhibitions and programmes, enjoyed by many visitors. By the end of 2022, we will have welcomed more visitors to the Gallery than we did in 2019, before the pandemic. This is an important milestone for us to reach.
I first visited the Gallery in 1989 with my mother, who brought me down to Dublin on the train from Belfast. I was very excited, as it was my first real visit to the city. I was dazzled by the architecture, and the height and grandeur of the rooms. I couldn’t believe that it was free, and we could just walk in off the street, and see great art at close range.
Looking back, I can see how that visit changed my life. It set me on a path to study art history and to follow a career as a curator, and now as the Gallery’s first female director. But it was also an initiation into the deep pleasure that art can bring. Since that encounter in 1989, galleries have been places that have sustained and delighted me. I know many of you feel the same.
My vision for the National Gallery of Ireland is shaped by my experience of it. It’s always been a warm and welcoming place, where I’ve felt comfortable, where I’ve been able to visit at different stages of my life, and where there’s been happiness and fun for all members of my family. I’ve come here with my parents, and I’ve brought my children here in their turn. It’s an outstanding place to experience art, and I believe we need to shout from the rooftops about the Gallery’s superlative collection and continue to develop it into the future.
The National Gallery of Ireland is also a beacon of excellence, with highly-respected curators, conservators, educators and other professional staff, who dedicate their lives to caring for our national collection, and to sharing it with our audience, on site and on digital platforms. Over the coming years, the realisation of the fourth phase of our Master Development Plan is another important goal. It will equip the Gallery with its first dedicated Education Centre, state-of-the-art Conservation and Scientific laboratories and purpose-built exhibition spaces. These will be key to continuing the development of this great museum as a resource for this island and beyond.
As I look forward with optimism, it is important to recognise and celebrate the past. I thank all the previous Directors for their vision and achievements. I specifically acknowledge my immediate predecessor, Sean Rainbird. The Gallery has developed in so many ways during Sean’s time, and I salute his commitment to the museum over the last decade.
I can already see that exciting times are ahead for the Gallery. I look forward to building upon them with a new strategic plan for the period 2024-28, which we will develop in 2023. For now, I wish you all the very best for the festive season, and a happy New Year.
Dr Caroline Campbell
Director
National Gallery of Ireland
December 2022
