Meet the Team

Ray has worked the Arts since leaving UCD in 1977. His work in the theatre has been seen in the UK, the US, South Africa and in France, Germany, Sweden and Spain. 

His work as Director of Axis Ballymun 2004-2011 helped to establish Axis as a premier Arts Centre in Dublin and changed his mind about the possibilities of Cultural access, inclusion and excellence. 

He was appointed City Arts Officer in September 2011.

Formerly working in Performing Arts/Street Arts production and stage management, she holds a degree in Communications and a post-grad in Cultural Policy and Arts Admin. 

She is project lead on a number of Arts Office initiated festivals including International Literature Festival Dublin, Musictown and more recently Brigit. She led and developed the city-wide multidisciplinary arts and commissioning programme for children, Children’s Arts in Libraries Creative Hubs, in partnership with Dublin City Libraries. 

She co-led the establishment of Dublin City Local Music Education Partnership, which oversees Music Generation Dublin City. On behalf of the Arts Office, she established and manages the Incubation Space Award, supporting research and development and collaborative practice. In recent years she has worked on the consultation processes that informed Dublin City Development Plan: Culture 2022-28, following which she has been project lead on the development of the Cultural Infrastructure Toolkit and Guidance.

For information and guidance on arts development and funding, strategic partnership for impact, or arts/cultural infrastructure development contact Sinead.connolly@dublincity.ie

She is a manager in the creative, arts, and education sector spanning two decades designing local, national and international programmes. As member of the team in Dublin City Arts Office, she supports strategic planning and development and delivers targeted programmes of work including policy, grants, research and bursary initiatives.  

She is proficient in public sector administration protocols and budget management and develops networks and relationships across with a broad range of stakeholders and agencies, governmental and non-governmental, trade union, business, voluntary, community groups offering advice, advocacy, initiation of new arts projects and advise around the implementation of the arts. 

She has an MA in History of Art and received the Joy E. Feinberg scholarship for outstanding leadership in the Master of Arts programme in Museum Studies, from John F. Kennedy University, Berkeley, California.  She is a curator of contemporary visual arts in education experiences for/with targeted audiences and offers training, mentorship and coaching in enquiry led approaches to mediating artwork for artists, teachers, community workers. 

If you are interested in Arts Training, Research and Development Opportunities that Impacts Educators, Artists and Young People contact Liz at liz.coman@dublincity.ie   

She is a graduate of University College Dublin and holds a BA (Honours) degree in History of Art and French, an MA in Irish Art and Architecture, a Ph.D. in History of Art and a post-graduate Diploma in Arts Administration. 

She has developed and delivered major exhibition collaborations with international museums in Europe, Russia and Australia. She is a published author and a regular contributor of scholarly articles and essays to international and national exhibition publications and art journals. She has delivered guest lectures, conference papers and contributed as a discussion panellist for a diverse range of audiences in Ireland, UK, Austria, Germany, Australia, Japan, and Italy. 

She has extensive experience of identifying, negotiating, developing and maintaining partnerships with external agencies, networks and individuals for the promotion of the arts. She can provide mentoring, information, advice and guidance around the field of arts development including commissions, exhibitions, public programming, academic partnerships, cross disciplinary collaborations and commissioned writing. 

If you are interested in arts development contact Margarita at margarita.cappock@dublincity.ie

She is currently training in Strategy and Innovation at the Smurfit Business School in UCD. Kelly works with professional and grassroots arts organisations on strategy development and is community arts liaison.

She has a PhD in contemporary Irish Theatre and Culture from Edge Hill University, UK. Her thesis titled "Northside Realism: Critique or Illusion?" explores the development and topography of Dublin city and aligns this with an interrogation of theatre that belongs to a school of Northside Realism. 

Previously a lecturer in Applied and Community Performance at various universities across the North West of England, her career has focused on the arts and performance for the development of communities and targeted demographics. She has delivered at conferences internationally including as keynote speaker as part of the Identity Matters series in Uppsala University in Sweden. Prior to her academic career, she toured internationally with the axis Arts and Community Resource Centre in Ballymun playing lead roles in two world premieres of plays by critically acclaimed playwright Dermot Bolger. She was also axis Theatre Artist in Residence in 2011/2012.

If you are interested in Arts for Development or Strategic Planning and Innovation for your organisation, contact Kelly at kelly.hickey@dublincity.ie 

Alison has a background in live arts with a BA in Dance Arts in Context from Fontys Hogeschool voor de Kunsten in the Netherlands. 

Over the past decade Alison has created and toured works across Europe and South America with a focus on immersive performances of dance and circus. In addition to her artistic endeavours Alison has worked extensively as a creative producer in Ireland, Portugal, Germany and the Netherlands including teaching creative production modules and courses at colleges and festivals throughout Europe. Alison has a passion for EDI policy and implementation which has led her to continued education in the areas of disability and inclusion including the Clore Leadership Program’s Inclusive Cultures course. 

If you are interested in information regarding the Creative Ireland program within Dublin City Council or have questions about accessibility within the arts you can email Alison on alison.clarke@dublincity.ie 

Rayne is a freelance curator and producer who has been highly engaged in the visual arts community in Ireland since 2004. Throughout her career, she has focused on creating opportunities for artists and audiences, collaborating directly with artists to develop new ideas, artworks, and infrastructure for the visual arts.

Rayne is curator and Director of contemporary art in education organisation Superprojects, where she develops major commissioned projects for children and young people with artists such as Alice Rekab, Garreth Kennedy, Aileen Murphy, Forerunner among others. 

Additionally, as Coordinator of the Contemporary Art Gallery Association, she has driven the development of the new Dublin Gallery Weekend initiative since 2023. Rayne has managed national exhibition tours across multiple venues, working to date with the Irish/Brazilian artist duo Wagner/de Burca, London Based Irish artist Marianne Keating, and is currently in the planning stages of a tours of the work of Irish artists Alice Rekab and Barbara Knezevic. 

Other Recent projects include developing feasibility studies for Dublin City Council’s Public Art team and for exhibition touring across seven Irish arts centres. In 2020, she produced TULCA's 2020 programme 'UnSelfing,' and curated the graduate showcase of the National College of Art and Design 2021. Rayne was Programme Curator of Temple Bar Gallery and Studios where she developed new directions for the artist programme from 2008 – 2018, and she was co-founder of the artist-led space Monstertruck 2006 - 2008.