Culture
The Seabreeze festival is a three-day event in mid-July. The festival is a popular visitor attraction with many live shows and events at various venues throughout the town, ending in a fireworks display.
Arklow has been both the birthplace and place of residence for many artists such as Arthur and George Campbell who were born there sons of Gretta Bowen, a self-taught artist who had a unique and individual style devoid of pretensions or attached to any particular movement.
The seaside town has also been the backdrop for artists and philosophers such a Ludwig Wittgenstein who frequented the town for its beaches and vivid sunsets as lighting conditions here are excellent in particular during winter and summer months. Also the surrounding countryside and valley stretching back to the village of Avoca along the Avoca river is calming, leaving one with a sense of well-being, there is little doubt then as to why it is popular in art and poetry. Laterly Avoca village and the surrounding area were popularised in the T.V. show Ballykissangel, drawing many visitors from abroad who come to see where the show was filmed.
As a haven for inspiration and recuperation, Arklow was ideal for artists such as Lilian Davison, A.R.H.A. (landscape, portrait and Genre painter) Born in Bray in 1893 died 1954, Who painted subjects such as Jack B. Yeats, Sarah Purser, 'AE' George Russell, Austin Clarke and Joseph Holloway. She would visit the town regularly as it was and still is a popular beachside resort; during her many trips there she drew many sketches and painted scenes of the town and beaches in particular "The Netter, Arklow" which depicts a scene of a man repairing a net by the Harbourside with the harbour in the background; on the reserve-side of the painting is a sketch of children playing on the south beach.
Percy French, artist and poet, was also known to visit Arklow and Avoca so much so that he married there, He made many sketches and wrote poems describing his feeling for the place.
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Famous quotes containing the word culture:
“Unthinking people will often try to teach you how to do the things which you can do better than you can be taught to do them. If you are sure of all this, you can start to add to your value as a mother by learning the things that can be taught, for the best of our civilization and culture offers much that is of value, if you can take it without loss of what comes to you naturally.”
—D.W. Winnicott (20th century)
“Insolent youth rides, now, in the whirlwind. For those modern iconoclasts who are without culture possess, apparently, all the courage.”
—Ellen Glasgow (1873–1945)
“If mass communications blend together harmoniously, and often unnoticeably, art, politics, religion, and philosophy with commercials, they bring these realms of culture to their common denominator—the commodity form. The music of the soul is also the music of salesmanship. Exchange value, not truth value, counts.”
—Herbert Marcuse (1898–1979)