Written by Local Matters

Art lovers, rejoice – the Mangawhai Art Trail is back this year and will be held as usual throughout the last weekend in February.

More than 30 artists working in a diverse range of media will be setting up shop and opening their doors at 19 different home studio, gallery and other venues to show off their works, methods and inspiration.

The 2022 weekend includes two new venues in Waipu and Waipu Cove, as well as three different sculpture sites. It will also incorporate ‘Finding Joy’, an exhibition at the Mangawhai Artists Gallery in Moir Street by Wendy Leach, Ian McGowan and Cliff McPherson. The three painters employ quite different artistic approaches, but were united in a common goal.

“Our original idea of finding joy assumed that much of 2021 might be Covid-free, which of course wasn’t the case,” they say. “So how to try to find joy in a Covid world? Each artist, nudged along by our chosen theme, has been able to find some joy in the studio in 2021.”

Other artists include first-time exhibitor Lisa Wintle, who will be displaying her detailed oil landscapes in a spot overlooking the estuary at the Pearson Street reserve.

There are free Art Trail maps and brochures available at many Mangawhai venues, or find them at www.mangawhaiartists.co.nz or www.facebook.com/MangawhaiArtTrail