Support for our fundraising activities and ongoing donations to the Building Fund are vital.
You can make a donation at the Arts Centre or directly into our Bank Account.
Name West Cork Arts Centre
Bank Allied Irish Bank, Skibbereen, Co. Cork
NSC 93 63 75
Account Number 46407484
Reference WCAC’s Building Fund
IBAN IE23 AIBK9363 7546 4074 84
Swift Code (BIC) AIB KIE2D
WCAC qualifies for the Tax Relief on Eligible Charities Scheme. Charity Number 10257.
Donations of €250 and over qualify for tax relief.
Irish donors who are self-employed may be able to deduct the amount of their donation from their taxable income.
In the case of corporate donations, the company will claim a deduction for the donation as if it were a trading expense.
If you are an Irish donor and a PAYE taxpayer, your gift could go even further - at no extra cost to you. WCAC can claim back the tax on any donations of €250 or more.
All proceeds of sales of artworks listed below and artists' publications go into the Building Fund.
A limited edition print by Diana Copperwhite, leading Irish artist and Winner of the AIB Prize 2007.
Diana Copperwhite
Remote Time Lapse, 2008
Digital print on Hahnemühle Museum Etching 350gsm archival quality artist’s paper
Sheet size 36.5 x 43 cms
Image size 20 x 27 cms
Limited edition of 100
€150, unframed
Also on sale at WCAC are a collection of postcard-sized original artworks, donated by artists from all over Ireland. You may purchase these artworks at WCAC for €40 / €60. Artists include Cormac Boydell, Angela Fewer, Nigel Rolfe, Monica Boyle, Sarah Iremonger, Maud Cotter and many, many more...
Details of upcoming fundraising events can be seen here and in the local press.
The following news story was first published in the Southern Star newspaper of Saturday 21 August 2010.
Art Auction at Mary Ann’s Bar and Restaurant
By Carol Gilbert
“A rip-roaring success!” was the description of the art auction held last week in Mary Ann’s Bar and Restaurant, Castletownshend, to help fund the new West Cork Arts Centre building. With an incredible €150,000 raised in only one and a half hours, the future of the new building looks even more secure.
Over 80 lots were despatched efficiently and in timely fashion by auctioneering duo, the experienced Charlie McCarthy and, first timer with the gavel, Sophie Camu, former Director of Impressionist and Modern Art at Sotheby’s in Paris, London and New York.
With Maeve McCarthy assisted by a group of young and willing local porters, the smooth running of proceedings was assured and the capacity crowd, standing room only, enjoyed an entertaining, fast flowing auction as the hammer fell for some remarkable sums, a Basil Blackshaw going for €10,000 and a Bill Crozier for €8,000. Adding to the excitement, there were telephone bids on some lots, with calls from as far away as Singapore.
The auction will help fund the Jim O’Driscoll Gallery in the new arts centre building. Helen Collins, one of the organisers commented, “The late Jim O’Driscoll, was an extraordinary man. He was a renowned Senior Counsel with a very wise and humane approach to people and life’s problems. I would describe him as an alchemist – he certainly had the magical power of transmuting the struggling world of the beautiful artist to a world of appreciation and support with his own encouragement; by opening the doors of many reputable establishments including the West Cork Arts Centre.”
The high regard Jim O’Driscoll was held in, including his own profession, was underlined by the number of senior counsel and barristers who came from all over Ireland to participate in the auction.
Coilin Murray, Rachel O’Keeffe and Helen Collins, organised the auction and are delighted with the result and extremely grateful to everyone who either donated to the auction, bought work or helped in any way.
As a footnote to proceedings, during her visit to the West Cork Arts Centre last week, Minister Mary Hanafin handed over €20 from her purse to buy a raffle ticket for Coilin Murray’s Cambodia Series etching. The Minister will forever remember her visit to West Cork as she had the winning ticket and this beautiful piece of work is now on its way to her office.
AUCTION INFORMATION
More than seventy paintings, prints, photoworks and sculptures were auctioned to help fund a gallery space in the new West Cork Arts Centre in memory of the late Jim O’Driscoll SC.
The artists who have very generously donated to the Jim O’Driscoll Memorial Art Auction are Jo Ashby, Basil Blackshaw, Johnny Blain, Brian Bourke, Cormac Boydell, Aidan Bradley, Cecily Brennan, Campbell Bruce , Michael Bulfin, Katie Burgess, Bernadette Burns, Tom Climent, Pat Connor, Barrie Cooke, Maud Cotter, Dorothy Cross, William Crozier, Jill Dennis, John Desmond, Maurice Desmond, John Doherty, Mickey Donnelly, Michael Farrell , Bridget Flannery, Tom Fitzgerald, Mike Fitzharris, Martin Gale, Rachel Gallagher, Tim Goulding, Anita Groener, Charles Harper, Pat Harris, Etain Hickey, Ian Humphreys, John Kingerlee, Matt Lamb, Brian Lalor, Jason Lee, Mary Lohan, John Minihan, James McCarthy, Donna McNamara, Séan McSweeney, Michael Mulcahy, Cóilín Murray, John Philip Murray, Sinéad Ní Mhaonaigh, Hughie O’Donoghue, Gwen O’Dowd, James O’Leary, Jane O’Malley, Tony O\'Malley, Majella O’Neill Collins, Geraldine O\'Sullivan, Margaret O’Sullivan, Peter Perry, Jim Savage, Patrick Scott, Terry Searle, David Seeger, Maria Simonds-Gooding, John Simpson, Jacqueline Stanley, Mary Swanzy, Donald Teskey, Christine Thery, Jim Turner, Charles Tyrrell and Sarah Walker.
Galleries and collectors supporting the auction are Nuala Fenton of the Fenton Gallery (Basil Blackshaw), Taylor Gallery (Michael Farrell), John P. Quinlan of the Vanguard Gallery (Eamon Coleman), Catherine Hammond Gallery (Hughie O’Donoghue), Fergus O’Mahony, Warren Gallery (Matt Lamb and Aidan Bradley), Marion O’Driscoll (Maurice Desmond), Angela Flowers (Tim Mara), Catherine Field (Brigitte Saflund) and Limerick Printmakers (Limerick Printmakers’ Box Set).
Jim O’Driscoll, who died suddenly last year, was an enthusiastic supporter of both the arts and artists in Ireland. Not only did he build up a hugely impressive contemporary art collection over his lifetime but many artists also counted him amongst their friends. He was also a great supporter of emerging artists. Jim was a man of good humour, quick wit and an unerring eye for the best artwork in any exhibition. A senior barrister by profession, he was very popular amongst his colleagues and was regarded as a first-class advocate. Jim O’Driscoll was also the longest serving member of the bar in Munster.
Although he was professionally based in Dublin for many years, Jim O’ Driscoll regularly visited his home in west Cork where he and his wife Marion were familiar faces at many an exhibition opening at West Cork Arts Centre. He was also a director of the Fenton Gallery in Cork for ten years.
With the universally positive and generous response from so many artists and galleries who donated artworks to this auction and the anticipated sales on Wednesday 11 August, the memory of Jim O’Driscoll, Barrister and Patron of the Arts, is likely to live on in a gallery to be named after him in the new West Cork Arts Centre.
It is expected that construction of the new building for the arts in West Cork will commence in Spring 2011 as full planning permission was granted earlier this year. The West Cork Arts Centre’s building development project is funded by grant-aid from the Department of Arts, Sports and Tourism’s ACCESS II Programme, Cork County Council, a philanthropic donation from Willliam and Judith Bollinger and other generous donations from the west Cork community.
“Jim was a wonderful enthusiast and great supporter of the arts”. - Patrick Scott
“Jim was a great man with a palpable and genuine enthusiasm for art and life and a generosity of spirit that is sadly missed”. - Hughie O’Donoghue
“Thirty four years ago, Jim called to my door. He had never been to an artist’s studio before. He was fascinated. A week later he called back - and the next week… Finally after seven weeks he bought his first ever painting.
So I suppose, his lovely widow Marion could blame me for ‘his glorious obsession’.” - Maurice Desmond
“Jim’s passion for the arts gave not only great encouragement and support to the artists who knew him, but has also left a lasting legacy of greater acceptance and understanding of the creativity that has always existed in West Cork”. - Terry Searle
“The contact with Jim’s humour, love of life and his great contribution to the West Cork and Dublin art world will always be with me, and recollected”. - Jacqueline Stanley
