Dublin Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More

Best art galleries Dublin museums supplies classes your area

Over the next few minutes we will be breaking down everything we know about art in Dublin in full detail and our first section will fully cover the best art galleries and museums near you.

After that we will get into a variety of other topics like art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, local sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.

You can jump straight to any section that interests you most by using the table of contents on the left and we are also including a Dublin art map with all of the spots we mention throughout the post pinned on it.

Europe has been discussed on our site frequently in the past.

Best Art Galleries & Museums In Dublin

If you want to check out the best art galleries and museums in Dublin you can head to:

The Molesworth Gallery is one of the top contemporary art galleries in Ireland hosting eight solo and two more curated exhibitions in the city centre every year. Corporate and private collectors can get a lot of value out of their advisory services that can help with auctions and tax issues and some of their works are also available to rent for corporate clients. Head over to Molesworth Gallery from 10am to 5:30pm Monday through Friday and from 10am to 2pm on Saturday.

The oldest gallery of modern and contemporary art in your area would be The Hugh Lane Gallery which has a large collection of paintings, drawings, and sculptures and also houses Francis Bacon’s Studio. It is closed on Monday and keeps mid day hours throughout the rest of the week and is always free to enter hosting a variety of art classes for kids and adults of all skill levels. From September through June they even have free weekly concerts on Sunday at noon.

At the Gallery of Photography they host many free exhibitions and public talks throughout the year in addition to offering photography classes. Finding open access to darkrooms and digital production facilities is not always easy but they are one of the few places in the area that you can, plus their instructors can train you in printing and production services.

Kids under the age of 18 are free to enter the Irish Museum Of Modern Art in Dublin but don’t go on Monday because they will be closed. Every Wednesday they put on their Explorer Family Workshops that are a big hit and their Studio 10 art making classes are available to adults of all skill levels.

The exhibitions at Rua Red often include workshops, artist talks, tours, screenings, and other activities while they have also subsidized studio space and instructors who put on various educational programs.

There are over 16,000 unique works in the vast collection at The National Gallery of Ireland which is free to enter and opens at 9:15am Tuesday through Saturday and 11am on Sunday and Monday. It is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the country and their on-site art library is one of the leading research centers for studies and history in Ireland. They also have a monthly education program called the Apollo Project that was designed by young people for young people.

Materials & Supplies Near You

The best local stores to buy art supplies and materials are:

Evans Art Supplies likes to consider itself as an ‘Aladdin’s Cave’ for students, craftsmen, and artists in your area to find whatever supplies and materials they need.

You can buy naturally made art materials at M Kennedy & Sons in addition to all kinds of studio equipment or you can try their free art lessons.

Not only does Artmines have a wide selection of supplies but they are also a great place to go for custom printing services and can handle large orders.

All City is the exclusive Irish distributor for Montana Colors which is one of the best brands of spraypaint on the market. They also sell a wide variety of markers and sketching products and other essential materials for the creative types and their instructors also give mural workshops.

Shows & Events

Some of the best art shows and events held in your area are:

Nearly 50,000 visitors check out The Festival of Curiosity for the immersive technology-themed events and exhibitions that take place in June. They are spread across 14 different venues around the city centre and you can expect to find pop-up installations, theatre, and other performance art throughout the day and secret tours and guided bicycle rides at night.

Culture Night is a free annual one night event that takes place in cities all across Ireland. Expect many of the best galleries and museums near you to open their doors late into the evening for free events, tours, performances, lectures, and more.

Every year between 150 and 200 local Irish and international artists gather for Dublin’s Art Source in November at the RDS Main Hall where numerous exhibitions showcasing the latest works in painting, sculpture, photography, drawings, ceramics, prints, and more can be found.

The Royal Hibernian Academy is where the VUE Contemporary Art Fair takes place each November when many of the best contemporary galleries in Ireland gather to showcase works by Irish and international artists.

Art Dealers & Appraisers

When you are trying to find a new piece for your collection or to figure out the true value of something visit one of these art dealers and appraisers in your area:

The specialty of Gormleys Fine Art is to source and acquire fine artwork for corporate clients with areas of expertise like supplying artwork for specific spaces, coordinating bespoke commissions, custom framing, and installation. They can provide advisory services for single pieces or large collections and their sister company Gormleys Auctions can facilitate sales by auction or private treaties.

Whyte’s Irish Art & Collectables Auctioneers is a great specialist art and collectibles auction house providing free and confidential advice or valuations by appointment and they will travel to appraise big collections or single items that are of high value.

At Duke Street Gallery you will find a nice mix of works from young and contemporary artists to more established international artists plus they host silent auctions and can offer interest free payment plans and commissions.

Walking Tours

Art walking tours can be a lot of fun when the weather is nice:

The Icon Walk will take you past original public artworks that were created by a variety of local artists. This walk has been endorsed by the UNESCO City of Literature Office as a great way to celebrate Irish literary talent and culture.

The Public Art Walking Tours generally takes place in the summer on the second Sunday of the month starting at 1pm when you can learn a little about history and a whole bunch about the great public art near you.

Sculptures & Statues

Framing art supply stores Dublin lessons near you studios

You may also want to take some photos of these statues and sculptures:

  • Molly Malone Statue on Suffolk St
  • O’Connell Monument in the North Inner City
  • The Oscar Wilde Memorial at Merrion Square Park
  • Universal Links on Human Rights at the Junction of Amiens St & Memorial Rd
  • Phil Lynott Statue on Harry St
  • The Famine Memorial at St Stephen’s Green Park

You can find the Molly Malone Statue in Dublin near Trinity College along Suffolk Street and Irish sculptor Jeanne Rynhart was the creator and unveiled it in 1988.

John Henry Foley conceived the O’Connell Monument back in 1866 but it wasn’t completed until 1883 when Thomas Brock finally got the job done.

The Oscar Wilde Memorial was commissioned by Guinness in 1997 and it sits in Merrion Square Park today.

You can find the Universal Links on Human Rights sculpture near The Customs House at the corner of Amiens Street and Memorial Road, Tony O’Malley designed this piece after it was commissioned by Amnesty International in the mid 90’s.

The Phil Lynott statue was put up to commemorate the frontman of the popular band Thin Lizzy and you can check it out on Harry Street near Grafton.

Local sculptor Rowan Gillespie was the designer and creator of The Famine Memorial which you can view in the Docklands.

Dublin Art Classes

Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults the best art schools in Dublin would be:

Sandymount School of Art is a boutique studio that provides classes for kids and adults of all ages as their instructors can do one on one classes or private group courses.

MyArt provides both dance and visual art lessons to children or adults of all ages including portfolio preparation courses, camps for children ages 5 to 12, and private classes.

The National College of Art and Design offers the widest range of art and design degrees at undergraduate and postgraduate level in Ireland with over a thousand full time students and more than five hundred who are taking night classes.

Trinity Arts Workshop is a student society of Trinity College and has a variety of drop-in evening and weekend classes to choose from that are filled on a first-come first-serve basis and anyone is welcome to attend.

Hugh Lane Gallery from our best museums in Dublin list also offers art classes for all ages and all levels.

Studios For Rent Near You

You can try to rent local art studio space at:

Gallery of Photography, Project Arts Centre, Rua Red and The Douglas Hyde Gallery from our first list also have studios for rent.

Framing

For art framing services in Dublin try out:

The city centre studio at Dublin Picture Framing specializes in custom picture framing for any purpose and they create frames for some of the biggest businesses and galleries in your area.

Frame Factory Picture Framing does great work for custom framing of pictures, artwork, jerseys, or just about anything you may want to be framed and you can search through their huge selection of ready-made frames or their 3,000 different combinations.

AM Frames has a very well respected conservation service plus they do custom framing, glass replacements, and do great work with preservation.

For a bespoke framing service consider Liam Slattery Picture Framing who has a large variety of mouldings and mounts to choose from along with their restorations and cleanings.

Gormleys Fine Art from our dealer list is another good option for custom framing. We have also written about:

Have Fun Enjoying The Dublin Art Scene

At the moment that is all we have to share about the full art scene near you. We listed the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers that you may want to check out.

If you made it this far you might just know quite a bit about the local art scene yourself. Feel free to share your own tips, or to let us know if we may have gotten anything wrong in the comments.

We hope you enjoy your time at the best Dublin art galleries, museums, supply stores, or doing whatever else you plan to do with the info.

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This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.

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