Jacquie Happ is certainly not alone in her passion for Margaret River Region Open Studios, but her knowledge, experience and position as MRROS vice-chair made her the ideal candidate to step up as chair for the 2026 event when the position became available.
Associated with MRROS since its inception in 2014, the arts administrator and ardent advocate for arts in the region has been involved in initiating and supporting arts projects across the Busselton-Dunsborough area for more than 30 years, resulting in being awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2024.
Among her many roles, she is the City of Busselton’s cultural development officer and runs Anniebrook’s Happs Pottery with master potter and beekeeper husband Myles.
This year’s MRROS event guide features more than 150 artists, 33 for the first time, from Busselton to Augusta and everywhere in between, opening their creative space to visitors from September 12 to 27.
Participating artists include ceramicists, painters, printmakers, sculptors, mosaicists, photographers, glassmakers, jewellers, metalworkers, milliners, textile creators, furniture and timber craftspeople.
“Artists showing their art or selling their art is brave to start with, and then to open your home studio to complete strangers is even more exposing,” Busselton-raised Jacquie says.
“You get to see their processes. You get to look in their studios, and it’s not necessarily the polished gallery that you’re expecting, it’s the warts-and-all tour behind the back door. But I think the loveliest thing is that you get to talk to the artist and hear why they do it, and sometimes you can support them by buying art.
“It’s not about getting a deal, it’s about falling in love with something on a wall and saying, ‘Oh, this is why I love this piece because there’s a story behind it’. My husband bought a painting last year at an exhibition, and when we read the story behind it, I bawled my eyes out thinking, ‘Wow, it’s not about being worth money, but it’s worth everything that I feel every time I look at that painting that’s in the lounge room’.”
The couple met at the Dunsborough Hotel 35 years ago and they opened Happs Pottery on Caves Road during the noughties while they raised their four children, with Myles continuing the family artisan trade started by his parents who founded the nearby Happs and Commonage Pottery in the 1970s.
“It’s a pretty ramshackle little gallery, and we built this massive shed where we do pottery lessons,” Jacquie says.
“Of course, I’m biased, but he makes beautifully formed, practical, functional ware in beautiful glazes that are strong and robust. We tell people to just put them in the dishwasher. Don’t put them away in the cupboard but use them every day because they are made to be used.”
While Jacquie has more recently joined her husband at the pottery wheel, enjoying the meditative nature of the throwing process, their open studio will solely feature Myles’ pottery, including a range of salad presentation bowls he has been working on.
“On Saturdays and Sundays, he’s sharing stories from the wheel, where it’s free to come and listen to him talk,” Jacquie shares.
“You’ll get a cup of tea or a cup of coffee and a scone, which he’s probably going to make because he’s very good at making scones. He’s been thinking about all the stories that he’s heard over the years from other potters.
“People can come in at 9am, have a cup of tea and a scone, catch up with other art appreciators and find out who they’ve been to see. We’d love other ceramicists or potters to come in and talk about what they’re doing as much as what Myles is doing, because it’s always interesting hearing what else is going on out there.”
As a beekeeper with 200 hives, Myles’ love of the cooperation and collaboration of a hive working together to achieve a common goal has similarities to the hub of activity to be experienced through MRROS this month, where the program also includes the launch event Art Party at newly opened Wayfinder Winery and Farm in Cowaramup.
A feature on the night will be the silent incognito art auction, where the mystery of the artist is revealed only after the artwork is sold.
“We have 25 artists who’ve each done a 12-inch painting,” Jacquie explains.
“We get the canvases donated by Jacksons, where artists creates their artwork but don’t sign it. People who come to the Art Party can bid on them in a silent auction. It means you’re actually buying it because you love it, not because of the artist’s name.”
Free event guides are available at The Art Gallery of Western Australia and Jacksons Drawing Supplies.
Margaret River Region Open Studios is on September 12 to 27. More at mrropenstudios.com.au.
