A new arts trail offers a cross- district road trip full of colour and characters

A new arts trail, weaving through three neighbouring regions — Taranaki, Whanganui and the Manawatū — offers a crossdistrict road trip full of colour, characters and inspiration

THE LOWER WEST COAST of the North Island is home to a constellation-like scattering of galleries, open studios, home-cum-gallery cafés, and internationally recognized museums. Some, such as the Govett-Brewster in New Plymouth, shine brightly in the town centre; others twinkle off the beaten track, waiting to be discovered by the intrepid and curious.

Enter three neighbours — Taranaki, Whanganui and the Manawatū — who dreamed up a plan to connect the creative dots along their shared coastline. The plan took five years of planning and preparing, but the Coastal Arts Trail (coastalartstrail.nz) was born in January this year.

This is where travel and the arts intersect. Using Coastal Arts Trail maps and itineraries, travelers can design a self-guided journey by car and foot and take in some of the brightest and most underrated studios and galleries throughout the three regions. All that’s needed for this choose-your-own adventure is a little time — whether that’s a few hours or several days — to explore a few or all 50-something stops on the way.

And explore one must, for creativity is undeniable in this part of the North Island. In the Manawatū, originality flows through the region like its namesake river. Architecture, street art and galleries flood Palmerston North, though there are plenty of gems floating beyond the city. Towns such as Ashhurst and Foxton have been incubating their own arts scene for decades and are not to be missed for their small-town charm and art.

Head northwest and several creatives have seemed to wash up over the years on the banks of Whanganui. And who wouldn’t want to stay in this quaint riverside town? Strolling through is like tumbling down a rabbit hole to find larger-than-life crested penguins, river-inspired creatures and other works of whimsy clambering up the city walls.

This is in part thanks to Whanganui Walls, a biennial street art festival where international and local artists transform blank walls into murals for the public. In 2021, Whanganui was officially deemed a City of Design by the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, an international cohort of cities putting creativity and cultural industry at the heart of local development.

Then there’s Taranaki, a region heralded for galleries, op-shops and the much-anticipated WOMAD (World of Music Arts and Dance) festival, which usually (cancelled this year thanks to the pandemic) transforms New Plymouth every March into an extravaganza of song, crafts and colour. There’s a buzz in the air even when it’s not festival season. What’s that? A band jamming outside the food trucks on New Plymouth’s Liardet Street? Whether in the city or smaller towns such as Stratford and Ōpunake, one rarely has to hunt for the thrumming heart and soul of the region.

Visiting these regions with either a few hours to spare or ample time to explore? Here are a few highlights from the Coastal Arts Trail.