FOR the past nine years, Suzi Hancock-Janicki has been shipping her artwork out of the Whitsundays to display it in other regions' exhibitions.

But one day she thought, "Really? There are so many artists here. Why can't we have our own?"

And so the seed was planted for the Whitsunday Regional Art Show, which finally opened its doors to the public at the Reef Gateway Hotel on Friday night.

This inaugural exhibition started to take shape after the successful Anzac show run by Ms Hancock-Janicki and her Smart Arts team earlier in the year. It was the first time she had utilised the Gateway's "Reef Room" and the exhibition was a resounding success.

Consequently, she started "putting the feelers out" to gauge what interest there might be from other artists in contributing to a Whitsunday regional show.

"And I was overwhelmed," she said.

"I couldn't believe how many people entered."

Come Friday night, there were 323 works of art on display and not just from Airlie and the surrounds.

Artists came from as far afield as Townsville to the north and Mapleton to the south, with a random entry from South Australia even making the cut.

In fact, it was South Australian Katrina Hill who won the people's choice prize for her oil painting "Pippa", which Ms Hancock-Janicki described as refreshing and diverse.

"And she just couldn't believe that her one entry into her first regional Australian exhibition won first prize and people's choice," she laughed.

All up, over 650 people browsed the exhibition over the long weekend, with the opening night function a sell-out event.

"I think that's because it was so open - it was a very welcoming show and you didn't have to be a member of anything," Ms Hancock-Janicki said. "The culture it bought to our town was awesome and it was really good to see how many kids were coming through and having a look."

With the first regional show now firmly under her belt, Ms Hancock-Janicki says she's "definitely" planning to make it an annual event.

"I've learnt a lot from something this size - I'll have a bigger team next year and it's only going to grow and get better," she said.

"I didn't do this for (my own business) Smart Arts, I did this for our region to have its own show and ideally I'd like to fill the restaurants and hotel rooms next year."

Ms Hancock-Janicki paid special tribute to all who helped make the show a reality including Whitsunday Regional Council, Wilmar and the various businesses that provided funding or support.

"And there were even some individuals who also put money in - it was extremely generous," she said.