Limerick Art Society

Limerick Art Society, Munster

The Limerick Art Society is the oldest art society in Munster and Ireland. It was founded by the late Right Reverend Dr. Robert Wyse Jackson, in 1942, during the height of the Second World War. Due to its creative popularity and longevity, the Limerick Art Society is blessed with a large number of members, including some outstanding Irish artists. Of major interest to the Limerick Art Society are the practice and exhibition of oil painting, watercolours, acrylics, and drawing. Landscape, portrait art, still life, genre painting, marine subjects and flower studies are only some of the areas of involvement of the Society.

The aims of the Limerick Art Society are: to promote representational Irish painting in a wide range of media; to bring art to people of all walks of life; to help both beginners and practised artists to achieve artistic excellence. Members are invited to sell their works through the Society's online gallery - which includes works in oils, acrylics, pen & inks, graphite, pastel, water colour and mosaic.

Two Annual Art Shows

The Limerick Art Society stages two annual art exhibitions plus a packed Calendar of Events for artists and art-lovers. Historically, the Limerick Art Society has hosted Art Exhibitions at venues of cultural significance to Limerick, including The City Hall, The Hunt Museum and The Bishop’s Palace. The Society holds its main Annual Exhibition in the Limerick City Gallery of Art towards the end of each year.

Support

No visual arts organization could survive for 75 years in Ireland without enormous support from both members and other well-wishers. Special mention should be made of such art-lovers as Dr. Wyse Jackson, Ms. Dolly Stewart, Frank Colbert, Stan Downing, Phil Andrews, Dr. Edward M. Walsh, and Dr. Thomas Ryan, to name but seven.

The current President of the Limerick Art Society is Dr. Thomas Ryan PP RHA, the distinguished and devoted Limerick-born artist. Dr. Ryan gives regular public workshops in various media: watercolours, portraits in oils or pastel and landscapes in any medium. In 1992, the Opening Ceremony of the Society’s “Golden Jubilee Exhibition” was performed by the President of Ireland, Dr. Mary Robinson, in the Limerick City Gallery of Art.

To sum up, the Limerick Art Society is a major cultural amenity in Limerick and its surrounding areas. For any local artist, art-lover or art-collector, this amazing Society has a huge amount to offer in terms of art-instruction, exhibition opportunities and the companionship of like minded people. Highly recommended!

Officers and Committee

President: Dr. Thomas Ryan PP RHA
Chairperson: Prof. Eamonn McQuaid
Vice-Chairperson: Seamus Casey
Hon. Secretary: Margaret Ray
Hon. Treasurer: Mary Murphy
Hon. PRO: Gerardine O'Leary

Anne Bogue, Denise Coppola, Barbara Hartigan, Gerda Hughes, Anne McBride, Mary McCarthy, Stella Walsh.

Honorary Life Members

Brenda Andrews, Tom Greaney, Barbara Hartigan, Geraldine Healy-Hutchinson, Gerda Hughes, John Mackenzie, Christie Mannix, Roger McCarthy, Bernie O' Donnell, Frank O' Meara, Dr. Thomas Ryan PP RHA.

For more information about the Limerick Art Society, please visit their website at www.limerickartsociety.com or email info@limerickartsociety.com.

• For facts about famous artists in Ireland, see: Homepage.
• For the historical development of painting and sculpture, see: History of Irish Art.
• For a selected list of modern creative practitioners, see: Contemporary Irish Artists.
• For a personal view of the top 20 or so contemporary painters, see: Best Irish Artists.