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Crafts Council shows its mettle
The Crafts Council of Ireland has come under severe criticism in recent weeks over renovation works and there have been calls for the Council to be disbanded. Mary Cody speaks to the Chief Executive of the Crafts Council of Ireland, Úna Parsons about the renovation works and more importantly the work that the Council does.
MANY people living in Kilkenny are not aware that the headquarters of the Crafts Council of Ireland (CCOI) are on their downstep or, to be more precise, in the Castle stables.
Apart from the galleries (there are two) at the back of the Kilkenny Design Centre, the headquarters of the organisation are quietly located in the old stables where staff under the guidance of their CEO, na Parsons are creating innovative and exciting plans to rejuvinate the craft industry.
The jewellers of the future are immersed in perfecting their pieces for their final assessment and staff are busy organising a number of upcoming exhibitions, several of which will take place during the Kilkenny Arts Festival.
The CCoI has partnered with Kilkenny Arts Festival to create for the very first time a craft strand as part of the overall festival programme to recognise and celebrate the contribution of craft to the cultural landscape, both in Ireland and Internationally.
"As Kilkenny is a centre of craft excellence and home to so many of our celebrated craftspeople, the Crafts Council of Ireland is delighted to be working in partnership with the Kilkenny Arts Festival this year," said na Parsons, "In tandem with Sterling Irish, there will be a variety of other craft exhibitions in the National Craft Gallery including the work of celebrated potter Jack Doherty, and Object, an exhibition which will feature contemporary Irish craft juxtaposed alongside work from the Arts Council's collection. With a number of craft related talks and educational workshops also taking place, there will be something to appeal to all ages and interests throughout the festival."
In recent weeks, the headquarters were heavily criticised for spending f220,000 on renovations. However, after a tour of the headquarters it is apparent that there is nothing lavish about the renovations - they are tasteful, practical and simple.
Moreover, it is obvious that the team working there are driven to push forward and make the crafts industry one of the successes in these recessionary times.
"This year our aim is craft education and awareness and to make crafts accessible and to develop crafts industries. The current recession has presented significant opportunities for the growth of the craft sector as consumers make a conscious effort to support local enterprises and seek out Irish products. While everyone is cautious in their purchasing habits, the new consumer trend we have seen involves investing carefully in well-made objects produced to last and which will become family treasures.
"The fantastic range of Irish craft available means consumers have the choice to buy beautiful, unique items – be it crockery for your home, jewellery or clothing to wear or that special wedding gift - at a variety of price points.
"The recession is also leading to new careers in craft as many people have decided to up-skill or re-skill, making the growing crafts sector an important contributor to the Irish economy."," added Una.
Ms Parsons and the other staff at the CCOI are only too happy to show me around their recently renovated headquarters and as far as my naked eye can see there is nothing extravagant at all about the work done. Renovations to the kitchen, toilets, relocation of offices, creation of storage space, painting and some necessary decoration work.
A bright and airy space has been created as a welcome area and a boardroom has also been created on the ground floor. The renovations have been funded by the craft council's annual budget. Essential storage space has also been created. "The board agreed on the renovations at the start of the 2008 budget and funding was approved. The buildings hadn't been painted in years and the decoration was dowdy and old-fashioned. As a working environment it wasn't suitable. New office space has also been created and we have moved both our public affairs and communications office and our finance office into a new space," added Una.
The recent renovation project included upgrading all existing wiring and piping, painting internally, recarpeting and reorganising the office layout in order to comply with health and safety work regulations and to offer a new members area for visitors to the offices including a library and archive, as part of the organisation's plans to continually improve and increase the services offered to its members and clients.
One of the criticisms levied at the CCOI was employing Peter Ting, an english designer for his 'curatorial skills'. However the CCOI are happy to stand over this and describe Peter as 'a mentor'. "Peter was selected last July. He has done a lot of work with us previously and with craft enterprises throughout Ireland. He has a great eye for craft and is a talented ceramicist. He was appointed to work on the redesign, redecoration and curation of craft in the members area, boardroom, library and archive, and office space. Peter Ting was selected because of his combination of skills which include his previous design work for craft enterprises in Ireland, his curatorial design experience and his ability to incorporate craft into real working spaces.
After being shown around the new headquarters it is clear that the money has been money well spent. Furthermore, ,Una explains how not only has she managed to carry out the renovations within her existing budget but has also managed to hire eight extra staff. "The way money was spent before was inefficient. Previously a lot of money was spent on outsourcing and employing outside people on a consultancy basis. Obviously to have people working within the council is more efficient as it adds to our knowledge base," added Una. The present head of the CCOI refers to the calls by the former chairman, Cyril Forbes to disband as 'a non story' and Ms Parsons refuses to speculate on the motivation behind his actions.
The CCOI are all too aware that they need to push their public image and make themselves known and accessible to people of all ages and backgrounds. "We are trying to raise perception and promote the craft industry and get craftspeople to tell their story. In the past the only public relations we did was in relation to the gallery and not for the whole industry. This is a big shift in promoting the craft industry as a whole and it is very important that we do it as often craftspeople do not have the money themselves to do it. They have defending their marketing costs of €58,000.
"This investment of €58,000 is being used to increase sales of craft in Ireland, which benefits our members and enhances the value of Irish craft. The Irish craft industry is valued at f122 million and we believe this investment in marketing and communications, which has already generated media coverage since January valued in excess of f500,000, represents excellent value for money," she added.
"We have identified the needs that are out there and we are just at the beginning of addressing those needs. The craft industry is in decline and this is a wake-up call. The industry didn't develop during the Celtic Tiger and one of the reasons for that is that we didn't spend money on PR during the boom. At the moment there is a major transformation happening within the organisation. If we are serious about promoting the crafts industry and developing it then we have to stand up and be counted like the farmers," she added.
Construction work was undertaken by Kilkenny-based Eugene Foley Construction Ltd late last December. The bulk of the work was undertaken by Kil-kenny-based companies and covered project management, building works, electrical and mechanical work, carpentry, plumbing, painting, kitchenette fit-out, storage and IT.
The offices of the CCoI were refurbished in 2005 and this project involved a different area of the headquarters than the space that was revamped earlier this year. It related to the relocation of the CCoI Jewellery & Goldsmithing Design & Skills Course to the first floor in the main headquarters building in order to accommodate the opening of a second gallery space at ground level as part of CCoI's National Craft GalleryThe body is the national design and economic development organisation for the €122 million euro crafts industry in Ireland. It has 1,7779 members and 55 member organisations. It is estimated that there are approximately 5,000 working craftspeople in Ireland.
Preparations are already underway for 2011 - the Year of Craft - when the World Crafts Council will visit Ireland.
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