Three purpose-built studios secure a lasting workspace for artists close to Dublin’s Grand Canal.

Aoife Dunne, Bassam Issa Al-Sabah, and Siobhán O’Callaghan announced as inaugural artists.

IPUT Real Estate is proud to announce the opening of the new, purpose-built Wilton Park Studios, securing a permanent home for artists in the city. The three dedicated studios, located close to the banks of the Grand Canal, will continue IPUT’s mission to provide vital cultural infrastructure within the city.

Since their establishment in 2019, Wilton Park Studios have provided rent-free working spaces to some of Ireland’s most exciting contemporary artists, including Una Sealy, Leah Hewson, Corban Walker, Alan Phelan, Alan Butler and Sarah Wren Wilson. The studios have been funded entirely by IPUT Real Estate and artists are selected in partnership with the Royal Hibernian Academy (RHA).

The new own-door studios, designed by architects Lawrence and Long, mark the next chapter in this initiative. Each studio has been conceived as a secure and inspiring space where artists can work daily throughout a two-year residency period.

The first three residents to take up these new studios are:

• Aoife Dunne, an innovative digital artist whose immersive environments merge sculpture, video, costume, sound and performance. Her commissioned work Brain Chamber premiered on IPUT’s Living Canvas at Wilton Park.
• Bassam Issa Al-Sabah, an Iraqi-born, Irish-based artist who works across digital animation, painting and sculpture to explore memory, war, resistance and perseverance. His films have been screened both in Ireland and internationally.
• Siobhán O’Callaghan, a Dublin-based visual artist whose work investigates identity, the human form and art’s potential for storytelling and commentary. She has exhibited at the RHA Annual Exhibition and the Royal Ulster Academy and has won multiple awards.

IPUT on Culture and Creativity

Speaking about the new studios, Niall Gaffney, Chief Executive of IPUT Real Estate, said:

IPUT has been investing in Dublin for more than sixty years, and we know that great cities only thrive when there is space for culture and creativity. The new artists’ studios are one of the ways in which IPUT Real Estate is committed to sustaining the cultural legacy of the Wilton Park area. We commissioned Irish artist James Earley to design the ceiling for the covered street linking Lad Lane to Mary Lavin Place, and earlier this year we inaugurated a Writer-in-Residence programme at Wilton Park.

Patrick Murphy, Director of the RHA, added:

The provision of free, secure studio space in the heart of Dublin is a wonderful opportunity for any artist right now. We are delighted to collaborate with IPUT in selecting artists for these residencies, and confident that the new purpose-built studios will ensure long-term, sustainable support for the next generation of Irish artists.

IPUT’s Commitment to the Arts

IPUT Real Estate has established itself as a pioneering supporter of the arts in Ireland.

• From 2021 to 2023, IPUT’s Living Canvas at Wilton Park was the largest outdoor digital arts screen in Europe, presenting work by more than 100 Irish and international artists. Today, through a partnership with the Irish Museum of Modern Art (IMMA), Living Canvas continues on site at IMMA, showcasing art in a democratic, accessible way.
• In January 2025, the inaugural IPUT Writer-in-Residence, Naoise Dolan, took up residence in a live-work space at Wilton Park.
• IPUT has commissioned major public artworks for Dublin, including Dipping the Other Wing by Eilis O’Connell, commemorating Mary Lavin at Wilton Park, and City Gates by Charles Tyrrell at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay.