
Anna O'Sullivan, Director and Chief Curator
Anna O’Sullivan is the Director and Chief Curator of the Butler Gallery in Kilkenny, Ireland where she also manages the Butler Gallery Permanent Collection.
Read morePrior to joining the Butler Gallery in 2005, Anna spent over twenty years in New York, first as curator of Performance Art at the avant-garde arts venue Franklin Furnace and then as Director of the Robert Miller Gallery. Anna has worked with many internationally-renowned artists and artists’ estates to realise projects and exhibitions including Alice Neel, Eva Hesse, Lee Krasner and Patti Smith at the Robert Miller Gallery and Mary Reid Kelley and Patrick Kelley, Cartoon Saloon, Fischli & Weiss, Michael Snow, Marilyn Lerner, Bob and Roberta Smith, Hans Op de Beeck, Ian Burns, Louise Bourgeois, Werner Herzog, Tony O’Malley, Barry McGee, Jeanne Silverthorne, and Eve Sussman at the Butler Gallery. Anna has written many catalogue essays and published catalogues on Irish artists including Richard Mosse, Tony O’Malley, Barrie Cooke, Michael Beirne, Gypsy Ray, Jane O’Malley and Stephen McKenna.
In 2013, Anna was the Commissioner and Curator of the Irish Pavilion at the 55th Venice Biennale with Richard Mosse as the artist representing Ireland. She has been a visiting lecturer at various third level institutions and served on many artist review panels including the Arts Council of Ireland and Culture Ireland. Anna graduated from the National College of Art & Design Dublin and also studied at the Whitney Museum of American Art Independent Study Program, New York and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Whilst in New York, she was a member of ArtTable Inc. (organisation dedicated to advancing the leadership of women in the visual arts) and served on benefit committees for non-profit art spaces such as Art in General and the New Museum of Contemporary Art (1995-2005). Anna was a board member of the Kilkenny Arts Festival from 2005 - 2020.

Rebecca Reynolds, Development Director
Rebecca has twenty years’ experience working across the SME, Multinational and Not-for-Profit sectors and is skilled in strategic management, project management, team management, fundraising, marketing, communications and development roles in the arts, heritage and charity sectors.
Read moreRebecca has worked on projects with Waterford’s Theatre Royal, Kilkenny Arts Festival, The Heritage Council, Visual Carlow, National Opera House, and from 2014 – 2019 prior to joining Butler Gallery, was a Senior Manager with Focus Ireland, Ireland's leading Homeless Charity. Rebecca has strong CSR and Corporate expertise with a MA in Arts & Heritage Management from Waterford Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) focused on Marketing & Strategic Management from Dublin Institute of Technology and Trinity College.
Rebecca's appointment was made possible thanks to the Arts Council RAISE initiative, which supports Arts Council funded organisations to grow and develop by building capacity to generate significant new private philanthropic investment.

Hollie Kearns, Learning and Public Engagement Curator
Hollie Kearns is the Learning and Public Engagement Curator at Butler Gallery. Hollie developed an independent curatorial practice working with Commonage and Workhouse Union in Callan, Co. Kilkenny where she worked directly with artists to commission new work.
Read moreThis work was most often about public participation and inclusion. Hollie has a strong interest in heritage and the built environment, and projects included public access to heritage sites Landing Place (2013), and a series of projects at Callan Workhouse (2012-2016); artist commissions in heritage contexts such as Callan Workhouse; planning processes for town development such as Forecast (2014) and Courtyard Screen (2016), and engaging people with diverse support needs in the design of housing and inclusive neighbourhoods such as Nimble Spaces (2013-2016).
In collaboration with her colleague Rosie Lynch at Workhouse Union, Hollie also curated gallery exhibitions such as Pattern Exchange at Temple Bar Gallery (2015) and events at art organisations such as Leap Year at National Sculpture Factory (2016). In 2017-2018 she was a project manager with the Irish Walled Towns Network, a Heritage Council of Ireland initiative. Hollie has also worked in the disability sector, supporting young people with an intellectual disability to access community services for their own independence which has given her a great interest in universal accessibility and inclusion.

Ailís Feehan, Operations Manager
Ailís holds a BA hons Degree in Fine Art & Sculpture from Limerick Institute of Technology and joined Butler Gallery in 2004 as Gallery Administrator.
Read moreAilís previously worked with Temple Bar Gallery and Studios and with designer, Pat McCarthy. As Operations Manager, Ailís is responsible for supporting all areas of the organisation including office management, finance and reporting, marketing, education, visitor services and exhibition and collections management.

Pauline Swaine, Visitor Services Manager
Pauline joined Butler Gallery in 2004 as a volunteer with a strong customer service background and passion for visual art and public engagement.
Read morePauline became a full time member of the Butler Gallery team in 2006. Since then Pauline has developed her expertise and expanded her role to manage the visitor experience including the delivery of gallery tours, event coordination, front of house and volunteer management and community engagement activities.

Steven Aylin, Head Technician
With over 25 years’ experience of working in the visual art space, Steven is an experienced technician who has developed a knowledge of galleries from the inside.
Read moreAn educator, coordinator, artist and facilitator, Steve brings a broad set of skills to Butler Gallery.