Chairman of the Artists Open Studios Trust Neil Buddle also opened his own studio, Different Drum. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Chairman of the Artists Open Studios Trust Neil Buddle also opened his own studio, Different Drum. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Artists across Whanganui spent the weekend demonstrating their craft as the Artists Open Studios kicked off across the region.
Taking place over two weekends, 89 studios across the city opened up to the public for viewings, with a range of eclectic and comprehensive displays of art on show.
The eventis believed to be the largest of its kind in the country. It was conceived 21 years ago by a group of studio owners looking to create an arts event to become a drawcard for Whanganui.
The chairman of the Artists Open Studios Trust, Neil Buddle, moved to Whanganui six years ago after attending the event himself and says it has solidified itself as a staple of Whanganui's arts scene.
"Arts is a massive part about why this town is a vibrant and attractive place. The arts are part of it, but even culturally generally, Whanganui is an attractive place to be," Buddle said.
"Art is a means of communication, and lots of people form connections to this town through the arts somehow. I came to this town to view the open studios and ended up moving here."
Opening up his own studio each year, the printmaker hasn't seen the actual event in its entirety in recent years but enjoys putting his own studio on display.
"The weird thing is that I'm chairperson of the trust, but I haven't actually seen the event in six years. I might take next year off so I can actually see the event."
Nolan Clark has been teaching hyper-realistic painting on YouTube since 2009. Photo / Lewis Gardner
Also taking part this year is hyper-realistic painter Nolan Clark, who opened up his studio alongside father Dennis.
A professional artist, Clark works full-time as a painting instructor online, broadcasting live real-time painting lessons directly from his Whanganui studio to his 108,000 subscribers.
Focusing on the hyper-realistic and pop-art style painting, Clark says that his job is his passion.
"Our website has over 500 full-art tutorials on it, it's my fulltime job."
Asked about the significance of the event, Clark said it's not only great for him as an artist, but a valuable selling point for the district.
"We've been here five years so we've taken part in the last five events. We always have a nice flow of people through the doors," Clark told the Chronicle.
"We are trying to get Whanganui as an arts destination - we are promoting it like that. The event is a great way of putting it out there."
The Artists Open Studios event continues next weekend on both Saturday and Sunday from 10am-4pm. www.openstudios.co.nz
