Mount Art Group president Allan Robert was one of the less-visible victims of the Rena grounding.
The day before members were due to hang paintings for their annual exhibition, they were told the Mount Surf Club was required for Rena clean-up operations.
Mr Robert said the annual exhibition, aptly christened"Rena-scheduled", was staged six months later at the Mount Maunganui Lifeguard Service building on the corner of Adams Ave and Marine Parade.
More than 100 paintings are on show and for sale.
Mr Roberts said: "Finally being able to hold the exhibition is fantastic. We thought holding it in the school holidays was a good idea and it seems it was the right move as already we have had quite a few more people coming in and hopefully that will also translate into lots of sales," he said.
