This article is from page 19 of the 2006-07-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 19 JPG
KILFENORA artist and lecturer at the Burren College of Art, Tom Molloy, has been shortlisted for the first-ever Irish-American Arts Awards, which will be presented in New York later this month.
The awards, which were launched by the former US Ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, in January, are the brainchild of a group of expats currently living in America who are hoping to promote the positive impact that Irish people have had in America in recent times.
Mr Molloy is the Head of Painting at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan and has been teaching at the school for the last 10 years.
“We are delighted for Tom. He is one of the most important artists practicing in Ireland today,” said Professor Timothy Emlyn Jones, Dean of the Burren College.
“He is an artist of considerable standing and I’m not surprised that he was shortlisted. I just hope that he wins it.”
Tom is currently represented by the Rubicon Gallery in Dublin and has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally. Though he shies away from the spotlight, his work can be found in the collections of the Irish Museum of Modern Art and the Arts Council of Ireland.
“He doesn’t seek attention but he gets it because of the quality of his work,” continued Professor Jones. “It is important that everyone who teaches at the college is a practicing artist with a good reputation. Tom is wellknown in America but he is also very well thought of all across Europe.”
Born in Waterford, Molloy graduated with a BA and a Masters in Fine Art from the National College of Art and Design in Dublin in 1992. He has presented a number of finely conceived and discrete projects at the Rubicon Gallery since 1995 and has exhibited selectively in public spaces in Ireland.
The others to be nominated in the over-35s category are Meg Cranston from Los Angeles, Maud Cotter from Cork, Maureen Gallace from New York and Mary Kelly from Dublin.