Breaking Boundaries, B A Creative Ireland and a New Irish Arts Center In times of global shifts, when foundations of larger institutions shake, new voices are empowered to express a new identity. In Ireland, we have a new Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, whose background and identity is a manifestation of a New Ireland. A new initiative, Creative Ireland, has been launched to place culture and the arts at the center of public policy. What a time to come together to build a new Irish Arts Center—not just a new building, but a new way of engaging with the world, bringing people of all backgrounds together through the excellence and dynamism of 21st century Irish culture. What a time to express our identity as defined not only by our traditions, but how we share those traditions with others—other cultures, other ethnicities, and other immigrant communities. Our artistic home is an international Irish cultural embassy where boundaries are blurred, erased, reshaped, turned on their head. Boundaries are of course nothing new for great artists to navigate—boundaries of genre, of style, of experience, of identity. The New Irish Arts Center—our ethos, our community, and our platform—is unbounded. Unbounded by an old building, a new building, our Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, the island of Manhattan, and even the great State of New York. We are a gateway from Ireland to America, a throughway in a feedback loop toward a shared imagination, one that opens doors, transcends limits, and brings people together to celebrate their common humanity. We are a beating heart in a global diaspora that is dynamic and diverse, connected and engaged.
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ON THE COVER: Company SJ’s Beckett in the City: The Women Speak. For more information, visit pages 13 – 14.
Our fall season brings this all to life. We begin with the second installment of Movements, our new public affairs series, featuring former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power in conversation with The Hill’s Niall Stanage (page 10). We animate the urban landscape with Beckett in the City: The Women Speak, an astonishing, moving site specific work from Company SJ, directed by Sarah Jane Scaife and starring Bríd Ní Neachtáin, Michèle Forbes, and Joan Davis (pages 13 – 14). We hit the road with Liam Ó Maonlaí and Cassandra Wilson, bringing the fruits of last year’s extraordinary Masters in Collaboration Series to audiences in Chicago and Los Angeles (pages 25 – 26). We welcome back the beloved Camille O’Sullivan with a brand new show celebrating the music of Jacques Brel (page 18), and composer Trevor Knight with his wild Weimar riff on the words of Dorothy Parker, The Whistling Girl (page 24). We embark on our first festival partnership with National Sawdust, one of the most exciting new generative music spaces in the City (page 20). We continue wonderful IAC traditions like Muldoon’s Picnic (page 9), PoetryFest (page 22), our annual Winter Solstice Celebration (page 28), and a full roster of classes in music, dance, language, and literature (pages 29 – 31). And we unveil a brand new website at irishartscenter.org, a big step in the redevelopment of our digital platform. All of this is only possible with the support of wonderful people who believe in this work. Please become a member, join our Claddagh Circle (page 38), attend our Gala (honoring Steve Martin and Paul Muldoon, page 33), or get involved in the homestretch of our capital campaign (page 6), as we approach our historic groundbreaking for the New Irish Arts Center. Thank you for your enduring friendship and support. Make history with us this year—and enjoy!
Aidan Connolly Executive Director