This week signals the start of the popular Raglan Arts Weekend (RAW), with the opening of the Preview Exhibition on 1st October 2021, revealing 84 artworks from the seaside town’s top art talent.

The exhibition will run for three weeks ahead of RAW, which is planned for the three-day Labour Weekend from the 23rd to 25th October 2021.

Every year, thousands of visitors head to the sunny seaside town to get a taste of the creativity and artistic talent that Raglan is known for. Armed with trail maps, visitors plan self-guided routes around the beautiful West coast town and its immediate surrounding areas, visiting artists in their unique studio spaces and buying art, some of it which is internationally recognised and of a very high standard.

The Old School Arts Centre gallery space, the hub for RAW, this week becomes ‘home’ to several RAW showcase artworks, as well as the extremely popular 300x300s which will be sold for $200 each, a fraction of their usual price, to raise funds for the not-for-profit event. This year’s exhibition theme is: ‘And Then We Paused/ Reflections of a Covid World’ and interested parties have to be quick to secure pieces before they are snapped up.

“The theme was decided upon pre-Delta, when NZ was largely Covid free after the first lockdown,” says Nicky Brzeska, RAW Co-ordinator. “It’s even more appropriate now with the current state of affairs, and we know it will resonate with a lot of people who are keen to get an artwork that illustrates this complex snapshot in time,” she says.

This year’s event is the biggest yet, at 42 artists, including 13 new artists, and covers a really broad range of media: sculpture, painting, photography, metal work, encaustic, print making, illustration, pottery, weaving, textile art and designer jewellery.

RAW is moving from strength to strength with the advertising and grants that are backing the popular arts festival, including a grant for the second year running from the highly respected Chartwell Trust. This year, the team has developed a new “Raglan Arts Guide’ booklet, launched a new web site and purchased professional branded artist signage with the funding.

The Preview Exhibition will be open every day from 1st October (including weekends) from 10am until 2pm until 25 October 2021 at the Old School, 5 Stewart Street, Raglan.

RAW will be held over Labour Weekend 23-25 October 2021 - studios will be open 10am until 5pm.

All details can be found at the new web site www.raglanartsweekend.nz

© Scoop Media