THE GREAT WALL OF ARKLOW
ARKLOW IS A BEACON FOR GRAFFITI ART. DEBORAH COLEMAN REPORTS
SOME of the top graffiti artists in the country made their way to Arklow recently for a graffiti jam event organised as part of the Seabreeze Festival. The event, brainchild of local artist Dara Kenny, welcomed artists from across Ireland to take part in a day-long graffiti session at the town’s popular graffiti wall at Arklow Sport and Leisure Centre.
‘We have a wall that would rival any of the bigger cities in Ireland and artists are aware of it and regularly come down to work on it. We wanted to hold an event that would incorporate a maritime theme so we went with ‘ The Lost City of Atlantis’,’ explained Dara.
The wall, which has an ever-changing and evolving facade, was covered over with paint sponsored by Topline Boland’s and then both local and visiting artists let loose and created a vibrant collection of murals all incorporating the chosen them.
One work in particular which has received plenty of positive feedback throughout Arklow and the online community is Kayde Middleton’s Poseidon masterpiece depicting the Greek God of the Sea.
‘All the art was done entirely freehand and with spray cans. We started at about 11 a.m. and finished up around 8 p.m.’ Dara added.
While the nature of the graffiti wall is that old works are erased to make way for new pieces, Dara says that that is the beauty of graffiti.
‘It is only ever meant to be temporary and all works make way for even better pieces. There’s great support for the wall in Arklow and everybody respects it,’ he said.
Dara thanked Boland’s for the sponsorship and said that it is hoped that the event will take place annually in the future.