Whanganui's new arts facilitator is already busy getting immersed in the arts community.
The position has recently been made fulltime by the Whanganui District Council and taken over by Riah King-Wall.
"In a bit of a nutshell, I'm here to support the arts in Whanganui and that encompasses a number of different things," Ms King-Wall said.
"I think council identified a need for more artistic support for the different things going on."
Her role will essentially be helping artists with what they need.
"Things like finding funding, helping different groups and practices upskill and develop, and finding spaces."
Ms King-Wall also wants to help promote Whanganui artists.
"I want to get what's going on in the arts community out to other people, here, nationally and internationally.
"There's so much that goes on as well. It's so vast, the arts scene here."
Three weeks into the job, Ms King-Wall said her focus so far had been on meeting people and assessing what the community needs.
"I think that's a big part of the job to start out with," she said.
"There's a huge range of issues. You've got things from business support to how do you protect your intellectual property? How do you increase your online business?"
Ms King-Wall grew up in Katikati in Bay of Plenty which she describes as "a cute little town full of orchids and retirees".
She left to study a Bachelor of Fine Arts at Massey University in Wellington before completing her masters in Museum and Heritage Studies at Victoria University.
Following that she moved to Whanganui to work at the Whanganui Regional Museum as the programmes officer.
"I heard little rumblings about the arts being really good here but I had no idea how varied it was so that was really nice to come in to," Ms King-Wall said.
"We're really lucky there's a lot of great people and great facilities here."
Whanganui's lifestyle, particularly the cost of living, contributed to the healthy arts community in Whanganui, she said.
"I think it's a huge advantage.
"If people can have the time to spend on their work and their practice, that's a great advantage and it's nice that it's really close to other centres."
It was also helped having notable facilities like the Sarjeant Gallery and New Zealand Glassworks alongside the more grassroots and individual operators.
"It's a pretty small community to have alongside all those big things we've got."
Artists wanting to get in touch with Riah King-Wall can email riah.king-wall@whanganui.govt.nz or call 06 349 0001.