Sligo's municipal Niland Art Collection, which includes some of the finest paintings by Jack B. Yeats and works by other leading 20th-century Irish artists, finally found a fitting home last night with the opening of the Niland Gallery.
The gallery is part of the refurbished Model Arts and Niland Gallery where £3 million has been spent. Formerly known as the Model Arts centre, the 150-year-old school building was in need of repair before work started at the end of 1998. It is now one of the finest arts centres in the State.
One woman who would have been pleased is Nora Niland. The former county librarian ensured that the people of Sligo would have the "cultural property" that was rightfully theirs. Appointed county librarian in 1945, she established the Sligo County Museum and collected important Yeats memorabilia. She was also involved in starting the Yeats Summer School.
Recognising the talent of Jack B. Yeats long before many others, she set about collecting his paintings. During the first summer school she borrowed three paintings, An Island Funeral, The Funeral of Harry Boland and Communicating with Prisoners, and then spent two years collecting the money to buy them from the owner.
Since then the collection has steadily grown to include some 250 works, among them 36 by Jack B. Yeats. Other artists represented include Paul Henry, Sean Keating, Estella Solomens, Louis le Brocquy and Sean McSweeney.
Nora Niland died in 1988, and until recently the Niland Collection was held in a gallery above the county library, a space that didn't do it justice.
The director of the Model Arts and Niland Gallery, Una McCarthy, points out that the new Niland Gallery is designed to international museum standards and provides proper environmental conditions. It can therefore also accommodate large touring exhibitions.
The collection is held in trust by the local authorities, and both Sligo Corporation and County Council made significant financial contributions towards the refurbishment costs.
Since the opening in October, Ms McCarthy says, about 12,000 people have visited.