‘See what the process is like’: Perth Autumn Studio Tour returns this fall with 24 artists at five countryside stops

Studios scattered through the countryside around Perth will open their doors this Thanksgiving weekend, giving visitors a chance to meet local artists, watch them at work and explore their creations.

The 34th Perth Autumn Studio Tour will take place on the Thanksgiving weekend on Saturday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 11, 2026. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. visitors will have the chance to tour five studios which will host 24 artists and their work.

The tour began over three decades ago when a small group of artists wanted to share their work in a more personal and authentic way by inviting visitors into their studios.

Guests can explore a wide range of fine art, pottery, textiles, jewellery, woodworking, metalcraft, and more. The studio tour attracts more than 1,500 visitors each year.

Lanarkist caught up with Bridget O’Flaherty, one of the organizing artists, to learn more about the tour. Her studio is one of the five stops on the tour, and she’s been an organizing member since its inception. She has worked in the Perth area for 35 years and has owned her studio for 30 years.

“When people get the opportunity to come and visit where you live and where you work, and see alternative ways of living and being, and alternative practices for creating, I think that it helps to inform people that there are other ways of being that don’t always connect directly to consumer commercial practices,” she said.

O’Flaherty shared that after organizing the tour for so many years, the planning comes easy. But there are still new aspects to the tour they’ve been adding throughout the years.

“This year primarily, we’ve been really trying to encourage demonstrations from the different artists,” she explained.

“One of our artists last year brought his spinning wheel, and that will happen again this year, and there will be other demonstrations being done so that people get a chance to see what the process is like and how how folks are actually approaching the artwork.”

The artist doing the spinning wheel demonstration runs the company October Knits and is one of the four artists who will show their artwork at O’Flaherty’s studio. O’Flaherty herself will also do a demonstration of linen processing.

As well as the five studio stops, there will be a harvest lunch available for purchase at Brooke Valley School from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The lunch is a fundraiser for the school, offering hearty, homemade food.

O’Flaherty explained that the school has been involved with the tour for many years. The one-room school house is a non-profit, which offers alternative arts-based learning and is run by the parents of the attending children.

Four to six artists will be showing their work at each stop on the studio tour, and be available to talk about their work and practice.

“I think [the tour] gives people the opportunity to just slow down a little bit as well. They get out in the country, they’re driving there amongst nature,” O’Flaherty expressed.

“It’s a different experience when you are able to have those more personal connections with the person who’s doing the creations in the space that they live and work, and you’re able to identify with those processes in a different way.”

Organizers suggest visitors bring cash, as some of the artists won’t be able to accept debit or credit.

For more information, visit the Perth Autumn Studio Tour website.