Whanganui's Red Door studio closes, artists look to new opportunities

Debby and Peter Shepherd have bid farewell to the Red Door Gallery in Putiki Drive which will now be home to a graphic artist. Photo / Bevan Conley

The white, wooden building with the red door in Whanganui's Putiki Drive has come to the end of another era after serving as an art gallery for almost four years.

It will soon have a new name and purpose as owners Peter and Debby Shepherd have moved on to pastures new.

The Shepherds opened The Red Door Gallery at 88 Putiki Drive in early 2018 as a co-operative space for mixed media artists to sell work alongside their own.

Debby specialises in textile and pewter art while Peter has earned national attention for his inventive repurposing of metal and wooden objects to produce everything from jewellery to large pieces of garden art.

"We will still be offering work for sale and sharing exhibitions with other artists," Debby said.

"We believe the new owner is a graphic artist from Levin. We don't know what the plans are for the gallery space but we're glad it will still have an artistic purpose."

Originally built as a house in 1912, the building was once the Putiki Store. Before the Shepherds bought it, it was home and studio to world-renowned glass artist Kathryn Wightman.

A number of Whanganui's most innovative mixed-media artists have been part of The Red Door Gallery co-operative.

Artist Julie Coffey said she had thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Red Door family.

"It has been a fabulous life of showcasing marvellous and varied art," Julie said.

"I've loved this part of my art journey with a grand and talented bunch of artists, and will be sad to leave, but who knows what might come next for all of us along the art and creative pathway."