Where to See Australian Craft in Margaret River Open Studios (Sept 2026)

Every September, about 150 artists across the region open their studios to whoever wants to come in. There's no ticket, no booking, no entry fee. You drive up, the door's open, the maker's working, and you can walk straight in and watch.

In 2026 the event runs from Saturday, 12 September to Sunday, 27 September. Sixteen days, 10am to 5pm each day, from Busselton all the way down to Augusta. It's the largest open studios event in Australia, and from where I sit it's also the most honest cross-section of the regional art scene you can see in one trip.

Photo: David Stanley, CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

The simple version: artists open their working studios to the public for a fortnight. You drive to their address (a converted shed, a barn behind a winery, a railway carriage in a paddock, a house studio on a hill) and you walk into the room where they make the work.

That's it. There's no curator, no white-walled gallery between you and the maker, no shopfront politeness. You're in the space the work comes out of. Often the maker is mid-piece. You can ask anything. You can usually buy directly. Sometimes you can't, because everything's been committed already, and that's fine too. The point isn't always to buy. The point is to see how it happens.

Margaret River Region Open Studios 2026 program puts the full map and artist list online about six weeks before the event. The map is your weekend.

Photo: Stuart Sevastos, CC BY 2.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

You can't see 150 studios in a weekend. Don't try. Here's how I'd structure it.

Pick a cluster. The map breaks the region into zones: Busselton, Dunsborough, Yallingup, Cowaramup, Margaret River, Augusta. Pick one or two zones for the day. Yallingup alone usually has fifteen to twenty studios open, which is a full Saturday if you do it properly.

Pick mediums. Care only about painting? Filter the map to painters. Want to see timber and ceramics? Do that. The variety is huge: painting, ceramics, sculpture, photography, textiles, glass, leather, jewellery, printmaking, woodwork. Nobody sees all of it. Choose.

Allow forty minutes per studio. Some you'll be in for ten minutes. Some you'll be in for an hour because the conversation is interesting. Forty is the average. That means eight studios in a generous day is plenty.

Eat in between. The wineries and the cafes are open at the same time. Use them. The day works better as a slow loop than a sprint.

People sometimes feel awkward at their first open studio visit. They shouldn't. Here's the protocol from this side of the door.

You walk in. The maker will probably look up, smile, and go back to what they're doing for a second. That's not them ignoring you. It's them finishing a brush stroke or a cut so they can talk to you properly. Wait twenty seconds. They'll come over.

You don't have to buy anything. You don't have to know about the work. The good question is always what are you working on right now? From there the conversation runs by itself. We open the studios because we like talking about the work. You're doing us a favour by asking.

Kids are welcome. Most studios are well used to children. Glass and ceramics studios have rules about not touching the hot stuff; we'll tell you what they are when you arrive.

The studios are open because we want you to see what the work actually costs in hours. Once you've seen it, you understand the prices on the gallery wall.

The Yallingup cluster is the densest set of studios in the region, and it sits inside ten minutes of two coasts, three caves, and a dozen wineries. It's the obvious base.

The gallery on Blythe Rd is one of the Yallingup studios on the trail. Doors open 10am to 5pm through the fortnight. The workshop viewing window means you can watch the build mid-piece — the live studio is the whole point. Pamela's at the front. Alan Fox is in the next studio across, blowing glass. Julia Carter's paintings are in the same room. You can do four studios in an afternoon from here without driving for more than five minutes between them.

A note for the drive: Google Maps sometimes misdirects via Wildwood Rd. Stay on Bussell Hwy, turn at the Carbunup store, then Blythe Rd. The Open Studios map is more reliable than Google for the smaller studios that don't have a clear street frontage.

the Yallingup gallery loop is the gallery trail that runs year-round, useful for trips outside September. the Yallingup art trail is the walking version.

Open Studios started in 2007 as a small experiment: a few dozen makers opening their workshops for a weekend. By the early 2010s it had crossed a hundred artists. It's now over 150, runs for two weeks, and pulls visitors from the eastern states and overseas.

The reason it grew: the region had quietly become one of the densest concentrations of working artists in Australia. People came here for the wine and stayed for the cheap rent on a shed and the quality of the light. By the time the wine industry was mature, the art scene was mature alongside it. Open Studios is what made the second story visible.

why so many makers ended up here is the longer answer to why are they all here.

Western Australia arts and culture events lists Open Studios as one of the South West's anchor cultural weekends.

Spring in the South West in September means cool mornings, warm middays, possible afternoon rain. Layers. Closed shoes, because some studios are on gravel drives or in working sheds with sawdust on the floor. A small backpack is enough; most makers will wrap and post for you if you buy something larger than a coffee mug.

Photo: Lasthib, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Bring cash for the smaller pieces. Under $50 things are often easier with cash. For anything serious, every maker has a card machine. A few accept transfer; ask.

A few things to be realistic about.

Some studios you'll arrive at and the maker won't be there for half an hour. They've stepped out, the door's still open, someone else is minding the space. Wait. They come back.

Some work will be priced above what you imagined. That's because the maker is working full-time, in good timber or good pigment, and the price reflects the time. The price isn't negotiable. The story behind the piece is.

And some studios will surprise you with pieces you weren't looking for, by makers you'd never heard of. That's the whole reason to do the fortnight. The maker you don't yet know is the one whose work you'll end up living with.

Photo: Harry Foley, CC BY-SA 4.0 · via Wikimedia Commons

Two weeks, every September. Mark the calendar.