{"id":216491,"date":"2025-12-05T08:50:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-05T08:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/216491\/"},"modified":"2025-12-05T08:50:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T08:50:09","slug":"dozens-of-artists-to-lose-studios-with-closure-of-the-complex-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/216491\/","title":{"rendered":"Dozens of artists to lose studios with closure of The Complex \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dozens of artists working in Dublin<\/a> have been given notice of eviction from their studios in a blow to the city\u2019s cultural scene.<\/p>\n

About 30 artists based in studios at The Complex, an arts centre in Smithfield in north inner-city Dublin, were informed the venue was closing down on Wednesday and given an eviction date of January 14th.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just losing a venue, a gallery, artist studios, a workplace, but it\u2019s also this community of people that would be scattered. I think it would be a huge loss to Dublin and to Ireland,\u201d said George Hooker, a film-maker and studio artist who has been based in The Complex since 2020.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the last 15 years or so we have been watching places like this disappear one by one to be replaced by nothing. It\u2019s very, very difficult for artists in Dublin to find a place like this.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a separate setback for artists, Ormond Art Studios, a hub for eight artists that is supported by the Arts Council<\/a>, announced on the same day that it was losing its venue on Ormond Quay and seeking a new space.<\/p>\n

Vanessa Fielding, the chief executive and artistic director of The Complex, said it was still possible for the arts centre to secure a permanent base on the site if sufficient funding is secured.<\/p>\n

The Complex had an agreement with a developer to buy the site and develop it into a 500-seat performance venue, art gallery and 16 studios, she said, but this depended on Government funding that has not come through.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had a partnership and it depended on a certain set of funding led by the Department of Finance, which has not been confirmed. The landlord is not willing to wait any more because they want to sell the building,\u201d Ms Fielding said.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Complex is situated on Mary’s Abbey in Dublin City Centre. Photograph: Dara Mac D\u00f3naill <\/p>\n

Comment was not immediately available from the Department of Finance.<\/p>\n

In July 2024, The Complex made a submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media detailing the challenges associated with running an arts space of its type in Dublin\u2019s inner city and requesting support for independent arts spaces in Ireland.<\/p>\n

\u201cRents are expensive,\u201d the submission read. \u201cWe pay \u20ac120,000 per year and in addition are paying back rent arrears from Covid of \u20ac2,000 per month over three years years. <\/p>\n

\u201cIncome from year-long leases to the studio artists brings in \u20ac114,000 towards this cost, including subsidy of \u20ac18,500 from the Arts Council.\u201d<\/p>\n

Based inside a former fruit factory, The Complex is the latest in a series of cultural sites to close in Dublin. <\/p>\n

It comprises 18 artist studios, a gallery and a large warehouse performance space with a capacity of 350 people. The venue hosts theatre, music, exhibitions and sport.<\/p>\n

A petition<\/a> to save the venue has reached more than 7,000 signatures, and the venue is likely to hold an event before Christmas protesting its closure.<\/p>\n

Hooker, who does digitalisation work in the studio and has photographed comedian Tommy Tiernan and former president Michael D Higgins on site, said the timing of the announcement was difficult in the run up to the Christmas holidays.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is completely turning my life upside down. I have a daughter \u2013 she\u2019s four months old now. I\u2019m losing the place where I work,\u201d Mr Hooker said.<\/p>\n

Artists affected by the closure held a meeting after receiving the eviction notice and were determined to protest, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a feeling of frustration and really strong sense that we can\u2019t let this happen,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cProtest is absolutely necessary. Art is a powerful form of resistance, a powerful way of changing society for the better, so I think there\u2019s probably no better group of people to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens of artists working in Dublin have been given notice of eviction from their studios in a blow…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":216492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[42383,16838,22779,52,18,117,19,17,1874,5493],"class_list":{"0":"post-216491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-arts-council","9":"tag-christmas","10":"tag-department-of-finance","11":"tag-dublin","12":"tag-eire","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-ie","15":"tag-ireland","16":"tag-michael-d-higgins","17":"tag-tommy-tiernan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115666107005302935","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}