I suppose it was the holidays. That’s what I’ll blame it on, anyway. Somehow, Gabriel Byrne made a presentation at an event in Ireland a couple of weeks ago and it flew right by me!

I never cease to be amazed at how he slips in and out of places, carrying the flag for artistic collaboration, project partnerships, and thoughtful progress.

At a recent special event for  Business to Arts in Dublin (“Business to Arts brokers, enables and supports creative partnerships between business and the arts. We work with artists and arts organisations providing a range of training opportunities and coaching to help diversify income streams, grow audiences and improve efficiencies”), Mr. Byrne said the following:

When you look back at our cultural history, which we often take for granted, it can sometimes really be humbling and a source of wonderful pride to think of what we have actually contributed as a culture to the world from this small island.

We are, of course, aware of one particular contribution–and that would be Gabriel Byrne himself! smile

Shamelessly quoting the rest of the article:

Gabriel went on to talk about the vital role that the corporate and philanthropic community will play in ensuring that we continue to build on this rich history at such a difficult juncture for all aspects of society in Ireland and, importantly, to dispel some of the myths around ways in which business and the arts can work together. He commented that “When money and art go together and that doesn’t mean that art has to be censored, that’s a fear I think that a lot of artists have, you cease to be insular because you move out into the world. And when you move out into the world of ideas, it benefits you artistically, economically, socially and spiritually. That is something that is a gigantic contribution that will pay off down the years. And to be part of that, to be part of being responsible for making the world move in that direction is a wonderful thing to be involved in. The generosity of these people to say, ‘ok, we’ll put money into this’ I guarantee it will pay off in years to come from the artists point of view and from the business point of view. Artists and corporations must sit down together and see what common ground we have, and see how we can mutually benefit each other. I think it is the way forward.”

A call to action for all of us invested in working towards a sustainable model of both public and private support of the arts, and an inspiring evening for those who joined us.

I’m feeling inspired indeed. I love that part about moving OUT into the world of ideas. So often, we think we must only be interior and introspective about ideas, when the truth is that making ideas part of the community is really the way to make things happen. The way forward. Kudos, Mr. Byrne!

And here is a nice picture with a non-crooked tie.

StuartGabrielDeclanPeter_345Men in black talking “business to arts”

 

10 Comments

  1. Thank you verymuch for sharing this Stella.
    I had not heard about this before. It is great to read about how Gabriel works to support (Irish) art.

  2. twomoons

    OMG he looks good in that picture!!. Like Lozzie says….thud…one moment til I pick myself up off the floor in utter despair and devastation! The tie is tight to his neck and reasonably straight and his hair is short and he’s looking like he’s lost a fair bit of weight…hmmmm…..why aren’t you here Gabe?

    OK, I’ll tell my hypothalamus to go to bed now, and add that he’s my inspiration to do similar work locally and thanks to Business To Arts folks for making this availbale.

    Hugs, TwoMoons

  3. Stephanie

    Thanks Stella for the news.
    In the picture he look very good.

  4. Thanks so much for this picture. Although I cannot fault this man, the one thing that does drive me crazy is when his tie is not on straight. There’s a great English saying, “Don’t spoil the ship for a hapeth of tar”; he looks so handsome/sexy when wearing a suit, but it’s totally ruined, (for me at least), when his tie is not on correctly!! Great picture – great tie!!

  5. Aragarna

    gotta say, I love his “rebel” loose tie…

  6. Tina, I TOTALLY agree…much more handsome when his apparel is neat and tidy.

  7. I must admit that I am more interested in what he says than how his tie looks…

  8. lol, you are right Noraa…thans for getting us back on track.

  9. If you know me, then you know that I will say this: I am of two minds! Part of me howls to the skies in a rebel cheer when I see his undone tie. And part of me ignores the tie altogether in complete fascination with his words, his commitment to his craft, and his desire to be involved in the world. So I agree with all comments on this post.

    :-)

  10. I’m gonna stick my snooty nose right up in the air and say “One should not judge by appearances!” … though in Gabe’s case, he always appears to be utterly lovely to me, and I suspect that he probably **IS** utterly lovely, too.

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