Visual Art: Accessible Events at The National Gallery in May

There are several accessible events coming up at the National Gallery in May 2024.

Tour of Silent City for people who have a hearing impairment or are Hard of Hearing

Thursday 2 May 5.30pm to 6.30pm
Location: Courtyard, National Gallery of Ireland

This free tour, exploring some highlights of the Gallery’s permanent collection and our new exhibition, Silent City, is for individuals who are hard of hearing or have hearing impairments. This tour is fully accessible to people who are hard of hearing and use a tour guide system with T-loop capabilities. A Hard of Hearing tour of the permanent collection or other temporary exhibitions takes place at 5.30pm on the first Thursday of every month.

ISL Tour of Silent City

Thursday 9 May 6pm to 7pm
Location: Courtyard, National Gallery of Ireland

Join the Gallery’s Irish Sign Language tour guides for a look at highlights from the Gallery’s national collection plus their new exhibition Silent City.

As the Gallery endeavours to make activities and events accessible to the deaf community, they wish to welcome members of the ISL community to the Gallery. This tour is exclusively in Irish Sign Language and will not have any translation available.

An ISL tour of the permanent collection or other temporary exhibitions place at 6pm on the second Thursday of the month.

Curator’s Introductory Talk: Vermeer Visits

Wednesday 15 May 1pm to 2pm
Location: Online via Zoom

Discover more about the exhibition Vermeer Visits with exhibition Curator Dr Lizzie Marx. The National Gallery of Ireland unites The Frick Collection’s Mistress and Maid by Johannes Vermeer with the National Gallery of Ireland’s Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid for Vermeer Visits. This is an unprecedented opportunity to unite the works, as the Frick’s Vermeer – one of the highlights of its holdings – has rarely travelled outside of New York. While the Frick’s period home is under renovation, Vermeer’s Mistress and Maid will make an exceptional trip to Dublin.

This free talk will take place online via Zoom, a link will be sent via email to all ticketholders before the event, booking closes one hour before the event.

The talk will be recorded and made available on the Gallery’s YouTube channel until the exhibition ends. This event will be accompanied by an Irish sign language interpreter and will be close captioned. Please contact education@ngi.ie with any queries.

Audio Described Tour of Silent City

Thursday 16 May 6pm to 7pm
Location: Courtyard, National Gallery of Ireland

Join the Gallery’s highly trained tour guides for an audio described exploration of the national collection and their new exhibition Silent City.

Visitors will be guided through key parts of the Gallery building and focus on several highlights on display incorporating audio description and discussion. Devised specifically to enrich the experience of patrons with a visual impairment visiting the Gallery. All public tours are fully accessible to people who are hard of hearing and use a tour guide system with T-loop capabilities.

Audio Described Public Tour

Saturday 18 May 1pm to 2pm
Location: Courtyard, National Gallery of Ireland

Join the Gallery’s highly trained tour guides for an audio described exploration of the national collection and temporary exhibitions.

Visitors will be guided through key parts of the Gallery building and focus on several highlights on display incorporating audio description and discussion. Devised specifically to enrich the experience of patrons with a visual impairment visiting the Gallery. All public tours are fully accessible to people who are hard of hearing and use a tour guide system with T-loop capabilities.

Quiet Drawing Sessions for Adults: Cityscapes

Saturday 30 May 6pm to 7.30pm
Location: Education Studio, National Gallery of Ireland

Join artist Zoe McCormack in this workshop where you will view the works in the exhibition Silent City and find inspiration for our own work.

In this 1.5 hour workshop, you will be invited to explore, sketch and be inspired by works in the Gallery. You might like to recreate an artwork you see, or merge interesting parts of multiple works together to create a completely new piece of art. Zoe will be available help to develop your idea and guide you through the process if needed.

You will experiment with materials such as oil pastels, chalks, charcoal and pencils. All neurodivergent adults at all levels are welcome, no previous experience required. Zoe McCormack is an autistic art facilitator and is the founder of The Autistic Art Club. She has been running creative workshops for autistic adults and children since 2020. She is also the art facilitator for AsIAm adult support and wellbeing service, and has worked with many organisations across Ireland to bring neuro affirmative art and creative supports to autistic children and adults across Ireland.

Read the National Gallery’s visitor guide for details of what to expect on your visit to the Gallery.

Image credits:

Jack Caffrey, The Pimlico Project, 2021

Gregory Dunn, Benburb Street, 2012. Copyright: the artist.

Johannes Vermeer (1632–1675), Mistress and Maid, ca. 1666−67. The Frick Collection, New York. Photo: Joseph Coscia Jr.

Anthony Haughey, Settlement V, 2011, 2020. National Gallery of Ireland Collection. Copyright: Anthony Haughey.