For the second year in a row, the Raglan Arts Weekend had to pull the pin on its highly anticipated open studio self-guided trail, due to COVID restrictions. Labour Weekend should have seen large numbers of art aficionados visit the 42 artist studios, but it was an eerily quiet weekend in town instead.
It was a major disappointment for the artists, organisers and RAW fans alike, especially after the high of the Preview Exhibition opening the week before.
The Opening Night was well attended with nearly 100 people, and a record amount of artwork was sold in the three days it was open.
However, all was not lost over Labour Weekend as support for the event came pouring in on social media over the weekend. “It was like a really big cuddle from the community; so many shops and outlets were showcasing our RAW talent on Facebook and Instagram,” says Nicky, RAW co-ordinator.
“The artists themselves also had various little art drops and online exhibitions to promote the artworks they would have revealed over the weekend.”
The physical event has been postponed to Easter, 16 – 18 April 2022. In the meantime, work is being done to get the art into some sort of online exhibition.
“This was always in the pipeline, but with the uncertainty around COVID going forward, we’d like to bring this forward and start working on it now. It’s all about future-proofing our event and staying current with the times,” Nicky adds.
Details on the online initiatives will be revealed as soon as possible. For those that want to buy artwork now, visit the RAW web site at www.raglanartsweekend.nz. There are examples of each RAW artist’s art plus their respective web sites and contact details.
