Home comforts: Inside the new $60m Irish arts centre in New York

About five blocks from the lights on Broadway stands a large brown-brick building which was previously a garage that sold car tyres. Now it is a home for much of the Irish art scene in New York.

For about 50 years, the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan was known as an “off off Broadway” facility. It had a small 99-seat auditorium on West 51st Street, once a tough Irish neighbourhood, known as Hell’s Kitchen.

Among those who worked there before finding fame elsewhere were the directors Jim Sheridan and Terry George.

A little over a year ago, the dream of developing the Irish Arts Center into a more modern facility became a reality when it moved around the corner to a new $60 million building.

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The opening took place as the Omicron Covid-19 wave was building. The new centre continued to operate but there is now hope that patrons who may have stayed away last year will feel more comfortable about going back, given the falling Covid numbers.

Earlier this week, executive director Aidan Connolly and programming and education director Rachael Gilkey showed The Irish Times around the new facility, including its centrepiece – a flexible theatre space that has retractable seating with about 14 configurations approved by authorities in New York.

It can host up to 230 people standing while at full capacity there are seats for about 170.

Gilkey says it is designed to house theatre, music, dance and film screenings, as well as to provide a visual art space.

The centre is midway through a successful three-week run of Conversations After Sex, which won Best New Play in The Irish Times Theatre Awards in 2021.

The three-storey building, which retains the garage’s brick facade, has a library above the theatre which is also used as a classroom.

But, of course, all of this does not come cheap, either from a capital or revenue perspective, given it has about 25 staff.

Overall, the building cost about $60 million, of which the Irish Government contributed $9 million.

Culture Ireland, which promotes Irish arts worldwide, provides funding towards the revenue costs.

While the purpose of the building is to provide a home for the arts, there is also plenty of space for that other great Irish pastime – sitting and talking.

The theatre was deliberately raised one storey to allow for a bright airy space at ground level with a bar and cafe that serves comforts from home for those abroad. The menu board includes Irish cocktail sausages, Barry’s Tea and, of course, Guinness.

The cafe and bar are open 90 minutes before shows and operate for a couple of hours afterwards. Performers can mix and chat with patrons after a show.

It is all part of the experience as well as being a key part of the business model.

Gilkey says in addition to the theatre, dance, music and the visual arts, the centre also has an education programme with more than 40 classes offered online and in person.

“We offer a number of classes in the traditional arts. There are eight or nine traditional music classes – bodhrán, whistle, banjo, concertina, etc; we have five levels of Irish language classes; we have, in the literary arts, play writing and creative writing; and we also have dance – step dance, set dance and céilí dancing.

“Our classes are really taken by New Yorkers of all backgrounds with a cultural interest, and they may come [due] to an interest in Ireland and Irish culture, from any number of places.”

The Irish Arts Center will celebrate St Patrick’s Day with a concert from singer-songwriter Loah, who will be working with three local musicians.

On the same day, the centre will also run its traditional book giveaway programme across the five boroughs of New York.

“This will be the 12th year of our book day. We started by handing out books by Irish and Irish American writers donated by publishers. And each year we have handed out between 6,000 and 8,000 books across 15 locations in the city.”

She says this year they will be handing out books by LGBTQ+ writers as well as those by Irish authors.

In the summer, the centre will host a larger-scale production. “We will have a four-week run of Good Vibrations which is the Lyric theatre production about the punk-rock scene in Belfast.”

Gilkey says it will have a cast of 12 and will push the space of the new building to the limit.