Since our launch on March 28th, 2000, the NewIrishArt website has pioneered the online presentation of original artwork of and about Ireland. It has always been a free service.
Operating as an open platform, NewIrishArt assists artists by leveraging Internet technology so that their work can be exposed to the largest audience.
Following academic research [TCD, 2004/2005] into the way the Internet might benefit the arts sector in Ireland (encompassing the Artist Workflow, Universal Service and ICT Convergence) the purpose of the website was refined to three primary goals...
1. Support visual artists by helping to get their work seen.
2. Increase the enjoyment of (visual) arts.
3. Encourage participation in (visual) arts.
Professional, amateur and emerging artists are equally supported and welcome to share the New Irish Art platform.
The idea is simple and the operation is performed with dedication and professionalism by the New Irish Art Project team.
A number of testimonials are published on the website to indicate what impact our work has had and how it benefits the arts community.
More than 850 artists show their artwork on NewIrishArt and an audience of thousands visits the website every week to enjoy the work on display. Because of the fundamental quality and richness of content, leading Internet search engines consistently rank NewIrishArt very highly.
We owe our continuing success to hard work and dedication, to all of the artists who show their artwork and to the many art lovers who visit to NewIrishArt to enjoy it.
The New Irish Art website encourages Professional, Emerging and Amateur visual artists to show their work together on one platform.
We produce high quality presentations that are designed to make the most of the technology available. We want all of our visitors to enjoy seeing artwork online.
Artists on the New Irish Art platform can concentrate on the art and leave much of their technology requirements to us. We endeavour to keep rolling out the finest tools that support presentation and promotion of original artwork. We have kept up with the latest trends so that the artist and the visitor get exactly what they want.
All gallery pages on the website can be individually promoted via links to the most popular Social Networks, Bookmarking and Email to friends and relations. Most galleries also have a free, downloadable PDF catalogue that shows off the work and includes the details (Title, Medium and Dimensions).
All galleries on the New Irish Art website have been reviewed and approved by the artist. All the works presented have been prepared and uploaded to a stringent Quality Assurance process that ensures an even, smooth viewing experience.
A number of testimonials are published on the website to indicate what impact our work has had and how it benefits the arts community.
The Team at New Irish Art have been doing this for more than 2 decades (Since, March, 2000). We expect to keep on doing it as long as we have the support of artists and a growing audience for the content. Our statistics continue to evidence a strong and steady growth that is the envy of others.
The New Irish Art website does not sell artwork nor does it take any payment or commission on sales that may follow the presentation of work on the site.
We encourage art lovers to purchase from a trusted gallery or from the artist direct. Gallery owners and artist agents play a crucial role in maintaining the quality of work and in making visual art accessible to the public.
We recommend that viewers get to see work before committing to buy. Images presented on the web are subjected to many distorting factors that could make the presentation differ widely from the actual work.
It is not possible for online presentations to replace the role of the local gallery. For that reason alone, supporting your local gallery is a right choice.
There is a contact form in every current artist Gallery, after the Biographical section. This should be used to establish direct contact with the artist. Most of our artists would be delighted to work on a commission basis and are very helpful folk indeed.
Many websites are built from scratch with methods to quickly capture and retain personal information about their members. New Irish Art does not collect any unnecessary data from its artists nor do our visitors have to register. In the ever blooming cloud of social networks on the Internet, data is best kept private if it is to be kept safe. Our approach to this area is that less is better, we will never need your personal data to show your work or to let you see work.
New Irish Art does not plant "cookies" on visitor's machines and, though it is common practice elsewhere, we do not collect personal data from any of our visitors.
The copyright of the work shown on the New Irish Art website is protected by international law. The artwork displayed on the site MAY NOT BE USED by ANYONE without written consent from the copyright owners.
Copyright Law protects the original work done by those who produce these presentations, we would have no hesitation in pursuing any person suspected of such an infringement through the courts.
The New Irish Art website has changed many times throughout its years of operation. It will continue changing as our artists and our audience requires and as technology enablers allow.
In every iteration of the website's evolution changes have been made for better use of the screen, faster delivery of images and for continuous improvement of the "viewing experience".
The World Wide Web and computer screens are not the ideal way to view original artwork. That shouldn't mean that viewing art via this medium must be boring and restricted. We believe that the media should be exploited to the fullest so that each viewer gets the best enjoyment possible.
At the end of 2014, the New Irish Art website was redesigned to become more responsive (easier for access on small screens) and uses compliant HTML5 with CSS level3 and is now based on the Bootstrap template
The most recent upgrade of the site was released in celebration of the project completing it's 24th year of operation and brought the design up to the latest technologies available.
The easiest thing to do these days is to get a website that looks sexy and smart, indeed there are plenty of offers to get you started with your online presence.
Having a website that looks smart is good, however the main purpose of any website should be to reach the desired audience. Having a poorly visited website is as good as having an exhibition in a shed hidden in the woods.
So we check on performance. That means that we see where our audience is coming from, we can see (after 24 years we should know our audience) what interests each visitor. We should be confident that every visitor can find the site, can make their way around the site and we should see that visitors return.
The performance of the New Irish Art website has been recorded over more than a decade and shows us that our audience is not only growing but also staying longer to look at more artwork.
In recording performance, we capture no personal data and we have used no marketing or advertising to attract visitors. All of our growth is organic and visitors come to the site because they like the content and how it is presented. The can find us easily and they can get around our pages quickly.
The future looks bright for New Irish Art.
So many people have now found that seeing visual art online is far better than not seeing it at all and with restrictions imposed on moving around, more people are getting to like the online show.
The New Irish Art project is geared towards growth, in whatever shape is needed to keep the artwork of Ireland out in front of all Internet users.
As well as keeping one eye on the technology as it advances, we look to see what additional areas of interest are out there, what is the next step for our artists? What do our visitors want?
The project already works with more than 850 artists and is interested in collaborating with others in this area who have something to contribute. When we started this project so long ago, we imagined that others in the sector would have ideas about using the Internet in the same way. Perhaps, one day?
For us, the future is much like the past, keep at it, grow bigger and better in every way possible.
We know that there must be likeminded people out there who may wish to join us and develop the project as the independent platform that raises the water for all boats, big and small.