Joy on faces speaks volumes

Artists Open Studios is a great Wanganui event. Why cant we do it every weekend? Photo/Bevan Conley

Everyone agrees we have some clever people in town.

The Artists Open Studios we held a few weeks back was a mind-blower for everyone who came. The yellow flags were out all over town with traffic gridlock outside some artists studios.

The artworks I saw were of astonishingly good quality that would stand up anywhere, and apparently a lot of money changed hands. So many people were having such a great social occasion that they wanted to do it every week. Then I wondered why we didnt.

Clearly there was a huge amount of organisational work taking place behind the scenes these things dont just happen.

There was a very professional Arts Trail Guide and a useful website and nearly everyone was in it that should have been there.

The only complaints I heard were from the artists themselves saying that organising artists is worse than herding cats and, of course, the costs involved. Is it true that the collective noun for a group of artists is an indecision, or is it a disagreement of artists?

I understand that at least two people have left the organising committee due to the demands on their time and energy. Thanks to all of the organisers you did well.

As New Zealands Arts and Heritage Capital, I believe Wanganui has the making of something really worthwhile here. The joy I saw on the faces of the visitors to the studios speaks for itself, not to mention the artists themselves who were there to meet their public, to show their wares, to make their living and have a good time. Many artists took several weeks worth of takings in two days.

Is it not possible to hold the open studios every weekend? No, people put down the palette knives this is a serious discussion.

This is not the sort of thing that volunteers should be expected to organise. It would need to be done professionally, and well.

While some people at the last Artists Open Studios had the very informative (but expensive) guide book, many more were looking up directions to the next site on their cellphones. Huge savings could be made by automating the guide book by making it available on cellphones.

Artists could decide if they were in or out for any particular weekend by being included or not in the web pages. But they would have to be there if they said they would be.

Most artists work from home and many are open on the weekends now. What would be the difference if we were to organise it for every weekend, or even every Saturday?

It would need to be every week, not every second or third. People are basically too lazy to check up on the programme.

Many artists struggle to make a living, but so many have told me that they find sales and marketing to be a drag if I wanted to be in sales I would work downtown.

But the hardest part of sales is getting people to come to your shop in the first place. Surely if the difficult part of the equation was done for them, and participating artists could stay home on some days and enjoy the fun part of selling their art it would be far more satisfying and profitable.

And think of the visitors that would come to town with their money and do the rest of their shopping while they were here again and again.