Women on Walls
You cannot be what you cannot see
Women on Walls celebrates visibility and belonging. At Accenture, we embrace inclusion to drive innovation and reinvention. These portraits honour women whose stories inspire progress and remind us that inclusion for all is not just a value — it’s the foundation for a future where everyone can thrive.
Dr Michelle Cullen / Managing Director and Inclusion & Diversity, Accenture in Ireland
About the campaign
Women on Walls is a campaign that seeks to make women leaders visible through a series of commissioned portraits that will create a lasting cultural legacy for Ireland. In July 2024, University College Cork joined the campaign. Accenture’s Women on Walls at UCC is the fourth chapter of this journey.
Our subjects
Coordinator of Cork Traveller Women's Network, a grass-roots community organisation that works for Traveller rights, leadership, culture and heritage.
In her own words: “I am proud of my history, my culture and my family and who I am. I want my children to be proud of who they are and to make a better life for Travellers in Cork.”
Feminist activist and founding member and CEO of the Sexual Violence Centre Cork.
In her own words: “I’d love to eradicate sexual violence. But if victim blaming could be eradicated, that would be great. It’s never the victim’s fault.”
Medical doctor, barrister and Senior Dublin District coroner who held the Stardust inquests.
In her own words: “The presentations brought home to all of us [...] the impact of this disaster on so many lives. I sincerely thank the families for allowing us to participate in their most private and treasured memories.”
Musician, broadcaster, educator, arts advocate, social entrepreneur and co-founder of the Cork Pops Orchestra.
In her own words: “While we know all about the power of music, we are constantly knocked out by the openness of our young audiences to music, and the impact of it on the older people and the staff in the care homes we visit.”
Psychologist, three-time UCC graduate and Programme Director of the Cork Migrant Centre.
In her own words: “It always starts with listening, understanding [migrants’] many emotional and practical needs and then creating the activities and programmes and the enabling conditions to address these.”
Pioneering educator, defender of the poor and founder of the Presentation Sisters religious order.
In her own words: “I often think my schools will never bring me to heaven, as I only take delight and pleasure in them.”
Novelist, memoirist, playwright, poet and short-story writer.
In her own words: “I am seen as a genteel romantic writer. But the reality is I am a savage writer with a savage eye. I write about the things we are not supposed to speak about.”
Sports journalist, disability activist, motivational speaker and student of law.
In her own words: “All decision makers, lobby groups, legislators and so many others should see what the Paralympics brings to those with a disability. Independence, pride, visibility and a general sense of ‘We’re disabled, and?’”
Consultant palliative care physician and head of palliative care at University Hospital Kerry.
In her own words: “If you were asking me what has palliative medicine done for me, it has made me realise that we have to live today and enjoy today and that we should go to bed, all of us, at night, feeling there was something good about today.”
Volunteer co-ordinator of Cork Penny Dinners, a charity that offers food and support to anyone in need.
In her own words: “Nobody goes hungry on our watch.”
Therapist/activist at the Sexual Violence Centre Cork.
In her own words: “As long as we just look at the victim, we’re not looking at the context in which they were assaulted. We’re not looking at how it can be stopped.”
Our artists
Gerry Davis was born in Cahir, Co. Tipperary, in 1985 and studied painting at LSAD from 2005 to 2009. He is based in Limerick, where he was a founding member of Wickham St Studios. His work spans realist and imaginative painting, drawing on autobiographical experience and observation of contemporary life. In 2016, Gerry was awarded the Hennessy Portrait Prize, which led to working full-time on commissions and exhibitions. The following year, his portrait of Henry Shefflin was unveiled at the National Gallery of Ireland. He has had solo exhibitions at The Source Arts Centre, Galway Arts Centre, Pallas Projects, the Bourne Vincent Gallery, Limerick City Gallery of Art, and, most recently, the Lord Mayor’s Pavilion in Cork. His work is in the collections of The Arts Council of Ireland, the OPW, and the University of Limerick, and he has exhibited internationally in China, the UK, and New York.
Julianne Guinee is an Irish figurative and landscape painter based in Buttevant, County Cork. Rooted in classical oil techniques yet edged with contemporary critique, her paintings of women and children in domestic spaces hold both tenderness and unease, inviting reflection on motherhood, memory, loss, and resilience. She has worked full-time as an artist since 2019, following a career in primary education. Guinee exhibits throughout Ireland, including at the Royal Hibernian Academy, and in 2025 appeared on Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year.
Born in Tennessee, Vanessa Jones is a visual artist living and working in Dublin, Ireland. She received her BA in Fine Arts in 2003 from the George Washington University in Washington DC. Since completing her MFA in 2021 at NCAD, her paintings have received multiple including the R.C. Lewis-Crosby Award, the Centre Culturel Irlandais Residency in Paris as well as the Arts Council Ireland 2022 Next Generation Artists Award. She is also the winner of the inaugural self-portrait Sequested Prize, 2021 based in London, UK. Her portraits have been shortlisted from 2021-2023 in the Zurich Portrait Prize at the National Gallery Ireland, and she has exhibited in solo and group shows at the Royal Hibernian Academy, the Kerlin and Molesworth galleries in Dublin as well as the ISA Gallery in Indonesia at BIRAMA 3/4 at Art Jakarta Gardens 2024 and Tutur Bentuk 2023. Her works are in multiple private and national collections across Europe, America and Asia, and she is currently a part-time lecturer in the Painting Department at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin, Ireland.
Vera Klute is a visual artist based in Co. Kilkenny. She was born in Germany but lives in Ireland since 2001. Her work utilises a range of different media such as sculpture, painting, drawing and video animation. Themes span from formal portraiture and public sculpture to kinetic installation.
The artist is well known for her portraiture and has received many high-profile commissions for paintings as well as busts. She has two portraits in the National Gallery’s portrait collection and is represented in the National Self-portrait Collection, the Kings Inns, as well as the Royal Irish Academy, the Office of Public Works and the Arts Council. She has undertaken numerous portrait commissions for universities including the RCSI, UCC, DCU, UCD and UL.She has received a number of awards including the Anita Young Bursary (2022), the Hanley Sustainability Energy Award (2021), the Solomon Fine Art Award (2020), the Hennessy Portrait Prize and the Hennessy Craig Scholarship (both 2015), the K+M Evans Award (2013) and was shortlisted for the RCSI award.
She has had solo exhibitions at the RHA, the Butler Gallery, Limerick City Gallery, the Molesworth Gallery, QSS Gallery and the LAB. She has received several Arts Council Bursary Awards and was elected member of the RHA in 2018.
The journey so far
Women on Walls began in 2016 with the RIA. Five portraits of leading female academics were commissioned–the first in their 230-year history. In 2019, Women on Walls at RCSI celebrated the pioneering achievements of eight women leaders in healthcare. In 2021, DCU unveiled the third chapter of artwork for Women on Walls commemorating five women pioneers in science. In July 2024, University College Cork joined the campaign. Accenture’s Women on Walls at UCC is the fourth chapter of this journey.
Royal Irish Academy
In 2016, Accenture in partnership with the Royal Irish Academy, commissioned five portraits of leading female academics. The finished artworks are on public display in the Royal Irish Academy, the first portraits of female subjects to grace the walls in the Academy’s 230-year history. The five portraits were unveiled at a special event on 7th December 2016 and consist of four individual portraits of the first four female Members of the Royal Irish Academy, elected in 1949. The fifth portrait is a group portrait of eight female scientists, who are recipients of the European Research Council Starter Grants 2012 – 2015 and were chosen as representatives of a generation of outstanding young female scientists working in Ireland today.
Due to the level of public interest and historical significance of our campaign, a documentary was commissioned to tell the story of Women on Walls at the Royal Irish Academy.
Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
In 2019, RCSI, Accenture and Business to Arts unveiled a series of new portraits that recognises the pioneering achievements of a group of eight extraordinary women and aims to enhance the visibility of historical female leaders in healthcare to inspire future generations. In March 2018, artists were invited to submit a proposal to Business to Arts, project managers of the initiative. A selection committee identified six artists that were commissioned. The group of artists worked with RCSI archivists and team to research their subjects and complete the portraits. The portraits are now hanging in the Board Room of RCSI on St Stephen’s Green in Dublin’s city centre.
Dublin City University
Accenture’s Women on Walls at DCU recognises the pioneering achievements of a group of extraordinary women and enhances the visibility of female leaders in STEM. Now completed, the new portraits hang in The Future-Tech Building located at DCU’s Glasnevin Campus. The flagship building is at the forefront of DCU’s international reputation for excellence in science, computing, and engineering disciplines.