Ormeau Baths Gallery (OBG) in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has reopened to the public following a £300,000 investment by The Arts Council of Northern Ireland.
The gallery’s first exhibition -– called Collectors’ Collections – will run until 22 June. It features contemporary Irish and international art drawn from the public collections of the Bank of Ireland and the Northern Ireland Civil Service.
The Bank of Ireland boasts a purchasing scheme to support up-and-coming artists as well as more established artists, while the art compilation belonging to the Northern Ireland Civil Service is one of the most important publicly owned collections in the country.
Arts Council chair Rosemary Kelly said: “This is a terrific opportunity for the public to see two exemplary collections of constantly evolving art brought together for the first time in Northern Ireland’s finest public art gallery.”
The Arts Council will manage the gallery until a representative board has been selected.
OBG closed at the end of February 2006, when its management company became insolvent. Details: www.ormeaubathsgallery.co.uk
Photograph: Arts Council of Northern Ireland chair, Rosemary Kelly, and arts development officer of visual arts, Iain Davidson
