Temple Bar Gallery + Studios (TBG+S) is a contemporary gallery and visual artist studio space located in the centre of Dublin in Temple Bar.

History

Founded in 1983 "by artists for artists", Temple Bar Gallery + Studios’ mission is to: create, exhibit and engage. The original studios and gallery were located in a former shirt factory; this was overhauled by Irish architects McCullough Mulvin and completed in October 1994. The current building contains a contemporary visual art gallery and thirty artists studios. "Temple Bar Gallery’s physical character is noticeably susceptible to architectonic interventions, as many artists have fruitfully noticed. It is an off-square space, with pillars, openings, a shop-front aspect and other departures from white cube purity..." Since 2007, TBG+S has been part of a residency exchange programme with HIAP (Helsinki International Artist Programme). The studios hosts a Finnish artist and selects an Irish artist for a studio residency in Finland. In 2008, the Finnish photographer Heli Rekula spent her year there. In 2010, then-Director Marian Lovett was terminated from the position she had held at TBG+S since 2001. The gallery claimed it had made her position redundant after an Arts Council budget cut. She proceeded to seek legal action via the union IMPACT and in October 2012 the "claim by the former chief executive of a Dublin art gallery that her redundancy was 'a sham' has been upheld by the Employment Appeal Tribunal. The tribunal awarded €30,000 to Marian Lovett for unfair dismissal from her position as chief executive of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios." That same year, Claire Power became the next Director and Rayne Booth was hired as Programme Curator, a position she held until 2018. In 2013, a sculpture by Irish artist Garrett Phelan consisting of a metal arch bearing the words Our Union Only in Truth was added to the roof of the building. The commission was funded through an online crowd funding campaign. In 2014, Clíodhna Shaffrey was made Director, and the studios debuted their Recent Graduate Residency which continues to this day. It provides recent Irish graduates the opportunity and resources to develop professionally via a stipend, travel award, and free studio space. TBG+S also received an Allianz Business to Arts Awards 2014 for Best Small Sponsorship the same year. In 2019, Michael Hill was appointed Programme Curator. Artist Niamh O'Malley was curated by TBG+S to represent Ireland at the 59th Venice Biennale, opening in April 2022.

Organisation

Temple Bar Gallery + Studios is a limited company with charitable status. The voluntary Board is formally elected by the artist membership and comprises four artist members and five external professionals with different expertise and business acumen. TBG+S is a not for profit registered charity and receives much of its funding from the Arts Council of Ireland. TBG + S provides "subsidised work spaces for professional visual artists". Artists must apply for Membership (six or three years) or Associate Membership/Project Studios (1 Year) and are reviewed by a Board appointed panel.

Selected past exhibitions