Focussed support for creative arts is in the pipeline for the Docklands
Business to Arts, a membership-based registered charity, in collaboration with Dublin City Council and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, have set-up the Docklands Arts Fund. The fund is a pilot scheme “which aims to enhance and grow the practice and appreciation of quality arts experiences in the area of Dublin Docklands.”
The Docklands Arts Fund is currently building up a stock of resources and looking for new sponsors and patrons. Like the Business to Arts mother organisation, the Docklands Arts Fund may provide funding, advice, networking opportunities, and discounted training courses to recipients.
The aim is to partner local artists, educators, and residents with patrons and sponsors to invest in their art and cultural projects. Business to Arts seeks to source patrons from among their members and from interested businesses and investors.
Andrew Hetherington, Chief Executive of Business to Arts, is the man in charge of growing the Docklands Arts Fund. Hetherington, a former corporate banker, has been working with Business to Arts since 2007 and became its Chief Executive in 2014.
Business to Arts has had considerable success over the years with worthy arts projects and cultural festivals of all sizes and types across the country. Notable headlining events are the Dublin Fringe Festival and GAZE Film Festival. It is hoped this success will be replicated in the Docklands area in the near future.
Business to Arts, the organisation which co-funds the Docklands Arts Fund, started out in 1988 as COTHU, The Business Council for the Arts. Business to Arts supplied over €700,000 to finance arts projects throughout Ireland in 2012. The Docklands Arts Fund will continue that combination of philanthropy and private investment in art and focus it on Dublin’s Docklands area.
Business to Arts is appointing a Docklands Development Manager, who will oversee much of the financial and logistical development work for the Docklands Arts fund.
The manager will help to maximise the fund’s development in the area, by keeping a close eye on opportunities and personally promoting patronage to the fund.
Anyone interested in contributing to the Docklands Arts Fund, or simply wishing to find out more about it, should contact Business to Arts on 01 672 5336 or email info@businesstoarts.ie.
By Keith Murphy
