[spectre] Closure of Belfast Art Gallery

[Ned Rossiter]

[via d.jewesbury at ulster.ac.uk]

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                                      
a.boyd at artscouncil-ni.org

Roisin McDonough, Chief Executive                             
chief at artscouncil-ni.org

Noirin McKinney,Director Arts Development    n.mckinney at artscouncil- 
ni.org

Chris Bailey, Chair, OBG                                             
dir at nimc.co.uk