Magic, Fun, and Remembering Ruckle

By Irish America Staff
November / December 2018

17th annual Imagine Arts Festival set to open with Art Exhibitions, trails and a Tremendous Trad Weekend

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The 17th annual Imagine Arts Festival opened in Waterford on October 18th for 10 days of magical fun, spooky happenings, mega music gigs, theatre, dance, spoken word, art exhibitions, and a litany of literary events with some of the country’s top authors.

One of the participants on the festival’s “spooky happenings.”

The festival officially commenced with the opening of an exhibition at Garter Lane Gallery dedicated to the life and works of the late great American artist and Waterford resident Ernest Ruckle (1940–2018). The retrospective exhibition “Meeting Mr Ruckle” included original artworks, photographs, and a range of media to highlight his artistic impact and lasting contribution to the culture of Waterford.

Born in Neptune, New Jersey, on May 1, 1940, Ruckle arrived in Waterford in 1986 and choose to make the city his permanent home for the next 32 years. During this time he not only painted some of his most important works but also interacted with the rapidly developing local art scene of the ‘80s and ‘90s in a number of crucial areas such as visual art, theatre, printed material, and collaborations with local artists. ♦

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