Selected from art colleges all over Ireland, the RDS Visual Art Awards will bring together 13 of the best visual art graduates of 2017 at a free exhibition running Wednesday, October 25 – Monday, October 30 in the RDS Concert Hall. The RDS Visual Art Awards Exhibition will exhibit some of Ireland’s best emerging artists chosen from hundreds of visual art students who graduated from art colleges across Ireland this year. Nick Miller will curate the exhibition which will be open daily from 10.30am – 5.00pm, with late opening Wednesday 6.00pm, Thursday 8.00pm and Friday 6.00pm.

There are a number of talks and tours running alongside the exhibition which are free to attend but must be booked in advance:

• Curator Tours of RDS Visual Art Awards Exhibition with Nick Miller, free to attend, booking required, first come first served basis: October 26, 1pm and October 27, 1pm in the RDS Concert Hall.
• Free public lecture by Nick Miller, sharing his thoughts on ‘Painting and the World as you Find It’ as part of the RDS Library Speaker Series, October 26 at 6pm, RDS Library.

A team of independent curators viewed the end-of-year degree shows in selected colleges around the country. They longlisted artists, who were then invited to apply for the 2017 RDS Visual Art Awards. A panel of five judges, including Nick Miller, nominated by the RDS, RHA, IMMA and National Gallery of Ireland, selected artists from these applications for inclusion in this curated exhibition in the RDS Concert Hall. Other judges include:

• Noel Kelly – Chair of the Judging Panel, CEO of Visual Artists Ireland
• Seán Kissane – Senior Curator, IMMA
• Colin Martin – Professional artists & RHA Head of School
• Lesley Tully – NGI Board Member

The selected artists will have the opportunity to win a share of the €27,000 prize fund. The judging panel will select the winners of the €10,000 RDS Taylor Art Award and the €5,000 R.C. Lewis-Crosby Award which will be announced at the launch of the exhibition. New for this year is a three-month residency award (summer 2018) in partnership with the Centre Culturel Irlandais (CCI) in Paris. The Director of CCI will select the winner from the exhibitors who have applied for the residency. This award is sponsored by Mason Hayes & Curran who have a strong record of supporting Irish artists.

The RDS Arts Programme is an important part of how the RDS fulfils its philanthropic mission to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically.

See www.rds.ie/visualart for more information.