It was a very successful long weekend in Whanganui and New Plymouth for Artist Open Studios this year. The weekend began with a great Air Chathams experience before we lifted off in another way - with a visit to the Durie Hill Elevator.
We found the food along the way to be excellent, the weather perfect, and our driver Graham from Take it Easy Tours really got into the swing of things. He discovered a whole new world of "arty" people in his home town he never knew existed.
The Artist Open Studios happen every year across two weekends in March. Around Whanganui and its environs you can find around 80 artists and collectives to visit.
We usually visit a couple of artists not on the trail as well. This year we snuck a visit in with the fabulous Andrea du Chatenier, spent time with James Kirkwood and had a behind the scenes visit with Glen Hayward. We managed to seperate Emma Camden from her headphones briefly for a chat as well.
You can never expect to visit all the studios, and we didn't try. But we did fit in a range of things, including the Saturday morning Farmers Market, Rick Rudd's Quartz Museum, as well as more than one visit to Drews Ave for a visit to local watering holes Porridge Watson and Teal Lounge.
We spent time at Te Whare o Rehua Sarjeant Gallery with the Director to learn about the history of the buildings - new and old. Such an amazing extension both inside and out. The greater city layout of the building on the axis directly facing toward Mt Ruapehu and back across Maria Place to Cooks Gardens.
The building reflects the awa and the people of the area.
Highlights included an exhibition by recent Tylee Cottage resident Jade Townsend.
Tylee Cottage has and continues to play such an important part in bringing artists to Whanganui. They come, enjoy the community, and many have stayed on and become part of the fabric of the city.
Whanganui's architectural history comes to the fore, and has helped the city become recognised as a UNESCO City of Design.
From Whanganui we travelled through Hawera to visit the new Library and Gallery Centre by Warren and Mahoney.
On to New Plymouth and a night in the city with an always amazing dinner at Social Kitchen.
Our morning in among the art included a visit to the Govett Brewster Gallery, St Josephs's church to see some quite amazing Michael Smither murals, and a stop at St Mary's to visit the new building celebrating peace and reconciliation.
