They have won the prize ... now the pressure is on.
Fine Arts Whanganui - a collective of artists that only came together last year - has been challenged to produce an event that puts Whanganui on the map nationally.
On Wednesday night in a buzzing War Memorial Centre, they won the Den of Dragons competition initiated by Whanganui and Partners marketing manager Lyn Cheyne, scooping $15,000 worth of promotion, guidance and mentoring and the right to stage their event - the Visual Art Symposium - in October 2017.
The symposium is the idea of Fine Arts Whanganui's steering committee of Jane Toy, Marie Grice, Alys Davidson and Craig Hooker, with Ms Toy and Ms Grice making the successful presentation to four top events professionals who responded with some tough questioning of the concept before declaring it the winner.
Five other projects made the final, and they also impressed, giving the judges - or "dragons" - a difficult task in making their top choice.