Whanganui Artists Open Studios 2025 hailed a success as co-ordinator hands over baton

Charlie Meyerhoff will stepped down as Artist Open Studios event co-ordinator to focus on her role of general manager at Mainstreet Whanganui Inc. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown

Artists earned $309,000 in sales from the 2025 edition of Whanganui Artists Open Studios.

Event co-ordinator Charlie Meyerhoff said the annual art trail event attracted more than 800 visitors to the opening Saturday alone.

Half of the artists earned between $1000 to $6000 from sales with one earning $56,000.

Eighty-six studios participated.

A post-event commission went to 39% of the artists, “keeping the money in the city”, Meyerhoff said.

Meyerhoff will step down as event co-ordinator in December after four years, to focus on her role as Mainstreet Whanganui general manager.

“The four years have been awesome, I’ve loved co-ordinating the event,” Meyerhoff said.

“I want to make sure I’m giving my new role all of me.”

Whanganui Arts @ The Centre acted as a starting point for the 2025 Artists Open Studios trail in Whanganui.

Meyerhoff said the event’s board “is in a really solid place at the minute” with Lynne Vinsen at the helm.

The board is putting together the next 5-10 year strategy for the event.

Meyerhoff said it was important the event continued to thrive, given Whanganui’s Unesco City of Design status.

“We have a lot of the other trails in the North Island contact us to ask how we do it,” she said.

“It is important that we look at ways to keep growing so we keep being the pioneers in the art trails.”

Registrations for artists and businesses opened September 1 and will close September 30.

The 2026 Artist Open Studios will start on March 14.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.

This story has been edited to correct the total amount earned by artists.