Municipal Collection

Kildare County Council’s municipal art collection is an eclectic assemblage of paintings, prints and sculptures.  Many of the works date from the 1970s, when Kildare County Council, under the Arts Council Joint Purchase Scheme, purchased a series of contemporary works.  The collection boasts work from some of Irelands most acclaimed visual artists including Evie Hone, Patrick Pye, Patrick Collins, Charlie Brady, Sean Mc Sweeney, Robert Ballagh, Norah Mc Guinness, and many more. 

The Council continue to purchase work to further develop the collection.  Recent acquisitions include work by Laurence Riddell, Paul McKinley, Fergus Feehily, Gillian Lawler, Trevor Geoghegan and Naimh O'Malley.

In 2005, Kildare County Council embarked on a cleaning, restoration and cataloguing programme of the collection. 

Arising from this work, ‘A Collection Uncovered’, selected works from the collection were exhibited in Riverbank Arts Centre in 2005.  The exhibition was launched by Martin Gale, RHA (the Municipal Collection features two early Martin Gale paintings).

Following on the success of this exhibition, a further 2006 exhibition entitled ‘A Collection Becoming’, featured new acquisitions in the collection, complementing the existing collection.  Acclaimed flautist Brian Dunning was guest speaker at the launch.  Artist Paul Mc Kinley curated both exhibitions. 

Section 1

Click to view notes and comparisons by artist Michael Kynaston