Curator´s Role

Trinity College Dublin appointed its first Curator of the Trinity College Art Collections in November 2007, Catherine Giltrap. This new post enables the centralised and full-time professional management of the College’s art collections, encompassing all campus pictures and sculptures on display in private and public locations. The collections were formerly cared for in an honorary capacity by members of the academic and administrative staff. The Curator is part of the Office of the Secretary, and operates in consultation with the College Art Collections Advisory Group, which was set up in 2002 by Professor Roger Stalley and Michael Gleeson, Director of Strategic Initiatives.

Among the Curator’s duties are to create a central art collections management database featuring digital reproductions of the collections and to curate the exhibition of the collections throughout the campus. Catherine is also the point of contact in creating and assisting new displays or changes to artworks in all College offices and general areas. This includes acquisitions or donations of new portraits or any artwork once approval has been given by the Art Collections Advisory Group.  Colleagues can now also avail of the Curator’s assistance to arrange temporary secure storage for artworks during the redecoration or redesign of their offices.  The Curator’s remit covers copyright issues relating to the use of images of the College Art Collections, both historic and modern. 
Catherine is keen to advise and encourage staff and students alike to utilise the collections first and foremost as a resource for teaching and research, but equally as a visual support for publications, events and websites. It is the Curator’s hope to integrate the use of the collections into already existing College education and outreach programmes, while simultaneously initiating new ventures employing the collections as a “valuable communicative interface between the campus audience and the wider community”. Her ambition is to continue to create a stimulating environment for those who work, study, and visit Trinity College.

College Art Collections Advisory Group 2012-13

Dr. Terence Barry (Department of History)

Susan Bioletti (Keeper of Preservation & Conservation, The Library)

Dr. Peter Cherry (Department of the History of Art & Architecture)

John Coman (Secretary to the College)

Catherine Giltrap (Curator of the College Art Collections)

Dr. Bernard Meehan (Keeper of Manuscripts, The Library)

Dr. Yvonne Scott (Head of the Department of the History of Art and Architecture; Director of TRIARC)

Marcella Senior (former Assistant to the Curator, Portrait Collections)