Arnold & Hilda

A celebration of the life and works of Arnold Marsh and Hilda Roberts (HRHA) and their lasting influence within the arts and education in Waterford. This exhibition coincides with the release of Marsh’s memoirs, ‘The Happy Belfast Man’ (Lilliput Press) and features over fifty works of art as well as archival material, photography, ceramics and textiles from private lenders and the Waterford Collection of Art.

Marsh (1890 -1977) is best remembered as an educationist and headmaster of Newtown Quaker School, Waterford. He travelled extensively, including working gold mines in Northern Ontario, on railway construction in British Columbia, as a lumberjack in Alaska and as an extra in the Douglas Fairbanks movie ‘A Modern Musketeer’. He was eventually ‘inducted’ into the US Army at Camp Lewis, Washington, and sent to France to join the front line before returning to Ireland to marry fellow Quaker, Hilda Roberts.

Roberts (1901-1982), a pupil of Patrick Tuohy, studied fine art in London and Paris. Predominantly a painter and illustrator, Roberts got her first commission at the age of seventeen, when she illustrated the Lorimers’ translation of Persian Tales. Roberts was a prolific artist throughout her lifetime, obtaining numerous awards as well as representing Ireland in the 1932 Summer Olympics.

November 17th 2023 – February 3 2024