As the sun poured through the RHA gallery on Saturday 20th May, Dr. Abigail O'Brien President of the RHA was delighted to award Jacquie Moore, Art Advisor and Head of Art Management at the Office of Public Works, the RHA Gold Medal for 2022.
The RHA has awarded a Gold Medal since 1994 to persons who have made significant contributions to the Academy in particular and to the arts in Ireland in general. A citation is given by either the President or a guest and the medal, which features a profile relief of the Academy's second President Francis Johnston, is given to the recipient.
"Jacquie Moore helped to establish the office of Arts Management within the OPW at a time when no other Government Department had expertise in collecting and managing State art. She directs the curation and management of the Irish State Art Collection, with more than 13,000 contemporary artworks of various scales and media, located in over 400 State properties nationwide.
In this role she collaborates with colleagues in the OPW in architecture, heritage, property and flood management, to name just some of the areas where contemporary artworks in all media are purchased or commissioned by the State.
She engages with artists at different stages of their careers and has a vast wealth of knowledge about the work which contemporary artists make. Her role in advising Government Departments, and public bodies, has hugely benefitted artists in Ireland.
As OPW art advisor Jacquie Moore works closely with other cultural institutions such as the Arts Council, the National Gallery of Ireland, Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane, Crawford Art Gallery, and local authority arts offices nationwide, to ensure that art is central to the experience of the public, and to the audiences who work in and visit State properties around Ireland.
Jacquie Moore oversees the Government's Per Cent for Art Scheme within the OPW's capital property portfolios. She commissions the official State portraits of Presidents for display in Áras an Uachtaráin as well as portraits of Taoisigh for Leinster House. She collaborates with the Department of Finance and Northern Ireland Civil Service to bring annual touring exhibitions all around the island of Ireland.
Jacquie Moore is hugely respected by the visual arts community in Ireland and there isn't a person in this room who isn't touched in their daily lives by the work which Jacquie Moore does on behalf of the OPW. She is a most worthy recipient of the 2023 RHA Gold Medal. " Dr. Abigail O'Brien PRHA, May 2023.
