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The Arts Council at a hastily convened meeting on 13th February
informed the Chair of Ormeau Baths Gallery (http://www.obgonline.net)
that the Council would be withdrawing funding from the Gallery with
immediate effect.
Ormeau Baths Gallery is the most significant venue for visual arts in
Northern Ireland and is one of the largest specialising in
contemporary visual arts in Ireland. In the 10 years since it was
established OBG has raised the profile of Northern Irish visual art
practice both at home and abroad, and has presented the work of major
international artists to audiences in Northern Ireland. Its closure
will have a significant effect on the arts community in Northern
Ireland as well as the image of Northern Ireland internationally.
This extreme step is the culmination of a series of actions taken by
the Arts Council which date back to the Board of Ormeau Baths
Gallery’s decision in December 2003 to withdraw from the Arts
Council’s proposed City Centre Arts Centre to be sited at Talbot
Street. OBG’s decision was made after careful consideration and taken
in the best interests of the visual arts sector.
It is indicative of the way that the Arts Council conducts business
that our decision prompted a senior member of the Arts Council
executive, to instruct staff to “make life difficult” for Ormeau
Baths Gallery. Ormeau Baths Gallery unwittingly presented the Arts
Council with an opportunity when a number of administrative and
procedural errors were identified in our draw down of Lottery
funding, a situation which is not uncommon among comparable arts
organisations but one which led the Arts Council to take prolonged
and disproportionate action against Ormeau Baths Gallery.
During the last two years Ormeau Baths Gallery have put in place
stringent financial control mechanisms and have been reporting
monthly to the Arts Council who have been releasing grant income on a
monthly basis.
Ormeau Baths Gallery has co-operated with the Arts Council throughout
this process, in order to build confidence and re-establish a
constructive working relation between the two organisations. The
executive of the Arts Council have however continued to undermine the
Board and management of Ormeau Baths Gallery and have sought to
create an impression to its own Council that Ormeau Baths Gallery was
a cause for ongoing concern.
The Arts Council in a letter from the Chief Executive dated 9th
September 2005 sought further reassurances and requested that a
“complete restructuring of the Board and staff restructuring” be
carried out. The Board of Ormeau Baths Gallery accepted this proposal
and was in the process of implementing this request when the decision
was made to withdraw funding.
The Arts Council have cited non-compliance to this request as the
reason for withdrawing funding, and make reference to a letter from
the Director of Ormeau Baths Gallery detailing a timetable for
implementation. Ormeau Baths Gallery, having changed its Memorandum
and Articles of Association, was about to place a series of public
advertisements to call for new Board members, a process which would
be conducted by an external recruitment agency. The letter indicated
that when in place this new Board would appraise management and
staffing structures and institute necessary changes by November/
December 2006.
It appears that the Arts Council could not accept the logical
chronology of this approach. The Arts Council did not impress upon
the Board of OBG that this would result in the withdrawing of all
funding but instead were unavailable for discussion, despite repeated
efforts to contact them to progress the recruitment process.
The Arts Council’s emphasis on staff restructuring would now appear
to have less to do with a wish to enhance staffing provision at the
Gallery as was articulated to OBG, but rather a continuation of a two
year long process to discredit and remove both the Board of Ormeau
Baths Gallery, Hugh Mulholland its Director, and his staff.
The manner of the enforced closure of Ormeau Baths Gallery and the
effect this will have on the arts infrastructure of Northern Ireland
raise serious issues of confidence in the Arts Council and its
executive. To register your support for Ormeau Baths Gallery or
question how this decision sits with ACNI’s Visual Arts Funding
Policy which states that the Council:
“wishes to see Northern Ireland develop as a centre of excellence for
the production, presentation and critical analysis of contemporary
visual arts. It encourages quality, innovation and experimentation
to develop a culture in which visual art is respected and valued”
Please e-mail:
Rosemary Kelly, Chair
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Noirin McKinney,Director Arts Development [EMAIL PROTECTED]
ni.org
Chris Bailey, Chair, OBG
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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