The Model is a world-class tourist centre with a restaurant and coffee shop, a bookshop, a fantastic gallery circuit, a purpose-built performance space, and a suite of outstanding artist studios on the top floor, all with stunning views over Sligo Town and County.
This award-winning structure houses one of Ireland’s most famous public art collections, including one of the world’s biggest public collections of Jack Butler Yeats’ work. Norah McGuinness, Dorothy Cross, Alice Maher, Clodagh Emoe, Eamon O’Kane, Sean McSweeney, Estella Solomons, and Paul Henry are among the artists represented in the Niland Collection, which includes both traditional and modern works.
Each year, the Model’s famous contemporary art programme hosts a number of significant exhibits by well-known national and international contemporary artists. Martin Creed, Peter Wächtler, and Joana Hadjithomas & Khalil Joreige have all given solo presentations recently. The Model is recognised for its experimental, time-sensitive programming that critically addresses current topics like the refugee crisis. Other themed shows highlight current artists’ responses to philosophical problems that are relevant to everyday life. With new commissions, eight purpose-built studios, and an artists’ residence programme, The Model creates initiatives in partnership with artists and is itself a place of artistic creation. The Model also offers residence opportunities to Irish and foreign artists, authors, and musicians, most recently Yorgos Sapountzis, Nasan Tur, and Suzanne Walsh.
