Meet the Maker – this weekend!

Published on 16 October 2023

Meet the Maker returns this weekend, as Waitaki’s growing and vibrant artistic community opens the doors of their studios and craft spaces to the public for the third time.

This year’s programme has seen the number of participating artists and craftspeople grow to 36, after 16 took part in the first year’s event.

The 2023 edition will also see local artists Yvonne Gillespie and Annie Hampstead display their work at the former One Property Agency building on the corner of Coquet and Thames Street. Their pop-up gallery will be open on Saturday 21 October and Sunday 22 October between 10am and 4pm

This vacant retail space has been unlocked to house the two artists thanks to the work of Waitaki District Council’s placemaking lead, Cyndi Christensen, who says:

“Art is a great way to bring vibrancy to the heart of Thames Street. It has been great to collaborate with property owners and artists to reinvent this space for the Meet the Maker weekend. We are pleased to pilot this collaborative approach towards filling vacant spaces in our CBD, and look forward to working with other property owners, artists, community groups and business start-ups to bring new life to some of Oamaru’s vacant spaces”

Alan McClay of One Property Agency says: “I applaud the initiative by council to promote and encourage use of the empty spaces in Oamaru's CBD. We live in a great town and any efforts to bring life especially to the Main Street empty shops has to be good.”

Full details of Meet the Maker 2023, as part of this year’s Waitaki Arts Festival, can be found on the Oamaru Opera House or Waitaki District Council’s website, advertising in the Oamaru Mail or by looking out for the pink signs at artists studios.

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