Director of the Lewis Glucksman Gallery Fiona Kearney, is the first recipient of the Jerome Hynes Fellowship, it was announced today.
The fellowship, worth around €71,000, is awarded to leaders in the arts and aimed at develop their knowledge and experience.
Previously known as the Fellowship for Ireland, its name was changed in honour of Jerome Hynes, former deputy chair of the Arts Council who died suddenly last year.
The fellowship was established by the British arts body, the Clore Duffield Foundation and supported by the Arts Council.
As part of her year-long schedule of special mentoring, Ms Kearney will be seconded to an organisation managing a high-level project.
She said the award was both a personal honour and one for the Glucksman Gallery.
"I look forward to using my experiences on the Clore programme to better serve the visual arts, and the cultural sector in Ireland," Ms Kearney said.
Ms Kearney (34) is a graduate of University College Cork (UCC) and TCD. She lectured in History and Theory of Art at the Crawford College of Art and Design in Cork before becoming involved in setting up History of Art as an academic discipline at UCC.