Art to entice visitors to Margaret River

Wine and food are far from being the only reasons to visit Margaret River in Western Australia.

There are also fabulous surf beaches, tremendous natural beauty- and a thriving arts scene.

A record number of artists have signed up for this year's Margaret River Region Open Studios, an annual event that will run from September 1-25.

From Anniebrook to Witchcliffe, and Boallia to Eagle Bay, the Margaret River region will be a sea of Open Studios signs welcoming art lovers to the artists' usually private world of paint, canvas, kilns, fabric, fire, timber, charcoal, chainsaws, pencils, found objects, welding tools, looms, printing presses, clay, metal and millinery.

Chair Jim Davies said the response from artists to this year's Margaret River Region Open Studios event was a wonderful outcome.

“We've been bowled over by the number of artist registrations this year,” he said. “We thought there might be some uncertainty due to Covid, but I suspect the desire to share beauty and creation is more important than ever before to our artists and community.

“Our event has grown year-on-year and the word-of-mouth spreads through the artistic community.

“An astonishing 43 artists will make their Open Studios debut in September, which is another record broken, and 16 artists will have participated in all nine events, providing a rich and diverse offering for our visitors.” 

The 16-day event will showcase art in all its forms.

Visitors will find artists in family homes, old timber mill cottages, hobby and dairy farms, straw bale homes, a converted water tank, cottages, hay sheds, converted school bus, brewery, beach shack, industrial sheds, sea containers, shearing sheds, bush blocks, a 'Sheila shack' and more.