The President of the Academy, Des McMahon PRHA, and Academy Members are delighted to welcome Jimmy Deenihan TD, Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht who will officially open the 181st RHA Annual exhibition, on Tuesday 24 May.

Now in its 181st year, the RHA Annual exhibition returns once again with a record 585 artworks on exhibit at the RHA gallery, this Summer. The RHA Annual exhibition is the longest running and largest open submission exhibition in the country. Academy Members, invited artists and works selected through an open submission process are exhibited together giving the visitor and discerning art collector an unparalleled opportunity to view work by some of Irelands best-established and most promising artists.

Painting, sculpture, print, photography and architectural models are viewed side by side and in 2011 the Annual Exhibition will include works by Mick O’Dea RHA, Liam Belton RHA, Pauline Bewick RHA, David Crone RHA, Stephen McKenna PPRHA, Martin Gale RHA, Carey Clarke PPRHA, Eilis O’Connell RHA, Alice Maher RHA, James Hanley RHA, Vivienne Roche RHA, Andrew Folan RHA. Richard Gorman RHA, Amelia Stein RHA and Carolyn Mulholland RHA. Invited arists include Amanda Coogan, Stephen Brandes, Oliver Comerford, John Devlin, Mary Kelly, Bea McMahon, John Minahan, Geraldine O’Reilly, Jennifer Trouton, Cristina Bunello, Joe Butler, Comhghall Casey, Leo Higgins and Gillian Lawlor.

The Annual exhibition also offers one of the largest prize funds associated with an exhibition in Ireland. This year a total prize fund of over €52,000 is distributed over a 17 individual awards the most noteworthy being the Hennessy Craig Scholarship of €10,000 awarded to a painter under the age of 35, the Curtin O’Donoghue Photography prize of €5,000, the Ireland-US Council and Irish Arts Review Portraiture Award of €5,000 and the AXA Insurance Prize for Drawing, €5,000.

The exhibition opens with a series of events:

SUNDAY 22 MAY
1 – 2pm, Prize Giving Ceremony
Artists and guests, Benefactors and Corporate Supporters, by invitation only.

2 – 5pm, Varnishing
Preview for artists, Academy Members and Friends of the RHA, by invitation only.

TUESDAY 24 MAY
6 – 8pm, Grand Opening
The exhibition will be opened by Jimmy Deenihan TD Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

ADMISSION IS FREE and the exhibition is supported by a full colour catalogue, costing €20, available at reception. This year, the Academy is delighted to offer FREE lunchtime tours with RHA Members every Thursday.