Were We Listening?

Rebecca Carlton stirred up the community with a question that was also the title of her ceramic art installation: Are We Listening? The structure, installed at the Door County Economic Development Corporation in Sturgeon Bay, represented the world’s languages and sparked conversation about how we communicate through a months-long series of panel discussions Carlton organized. She brought together local communities, including musicians, writers, actors, filmmakers and visual artists. With the help of Friends of Gibraltar’s Vinni Chomeau, Carlton also got local students involved, helping organize writing workshops and a student exhibit, Are We Listening to Youth?, at the Link Gallery of Children’s Art at the Door Community Auditorium.

Young and Old On Exhibit at Miller Art Museum

Visitors of all ages could see themselves in exhibits at the Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay this year, beginning with Vestiges of the Tide, an exhibit that opened in January and explored senescence through portraits of the elderly. Come April, the museum was full of work by the next generation of artists, with the 50th Annual Salon of Door County High School Art highlighting work by 100-plus students from each of the peninsula’s five high schools.

Student Art on Exhibit

The creativity of local students was on full display this year. In addition to student exhibits at the Miller Art Museum and the Link Gallery, which both included work by students from all five local school districts, an exhibit at Green Bay’s Neville Museum showcased work by Sturgeon Bay students in elementary through high school, while an expanded fine arts fair at Sevastopol School included 1,200 artworks by about 240 students.

Student art also made an impact on the community. Sturgeon Bay high schoolers made skateboard decks to be auctioned off for Open Door Pride, while Gibraltar high schoolers made a decorative metal arch to decorate the new Kendall Park Playground in Baileys Harbor.

Local Artist Exhibits Solo at the MOWA

Sturgeon Bay artist Meg Lionel Murphy scored her first solo museum show this spring at the Museum of Wisconsin Art (MOWA) in Milwaukee. Titled Ecstasy and Escape at the Swan Song Motel, the exhibit displayed Murphy’s paintings in sets inspired by Sturgeon Bay motels.

Art Abounds in Sturgeon Bay

All signs point to a thriving art scene in Sturgeon Bay. Two new galleries, M Anderson Gallery and Shan Bryan-Hanson Studio and Gallery, opened over Memorial Day weekend, and a newly organized summer art crawl reappeared as a weekend-long celebration after starting as a one-day event just a year ago. The city’s focus on the arts was noticed by the League of Wisconsin Municipalities and Create Wisconsin, which awarded the City of Sturgeon Bay’s Local Arts Board with a Creative Community Champion Award in October. 

Art School, State Park Collaborate on Residency Program

This summer, Peninsula School of Art and Friends of Peninsula State Park in Fish Creek partnered to create Pen Park AIR, an artist residency program. An exhibit that opened in August celebrated the first two artists-in-residence (Maysey Craddock and Tomiko Jones) in the new program, while the exhibit before that commemorated PenArt’s previous artists-in-residence.

Leadership Changes at the Hardy Gallery

The Hardy Gallery’s executive director Sarah Zamecnik stepped down after putting together a historical art exhibit, on display August to October, to commemorate the Ephraim organization’s 60-year anniversary. Zamecnik’s replacement was Sturgeon Bay artist and former University of Minnesota-Morris assistant painting professor, Adam Fulwiler. 

Many Mediums at Woodwalk 

While visual art is the main attraction at Woodwalk Gallery, the Egg Harbor business also highlights works that can’t be taken home for display. In 2024, Woodwalk programming included a dance showcase, classical concerts by Midsummer’s Music, live entertainment from Door Shakespeare company members, and sets by musicians from the peninsula’s own Katie Dahl to the Washington-based duo Sway Wild.

Locals Give Edgewood Its Edge

Artist receptions are a highlight at Edgewood Orchard Galleries every year, and 2024 was no exception. Local artists guest-starred throughout the season, with the Fish Creek business featuring works by painters Ginnie Cappaert, Marc Anderson, Judi Ekholm, Stephanie Trenchard and Craig Blietz, as well as mosaicist Joseph Kaftan and glass artist Deanna Clayton.

New Painters Join Fine Line

Fresh faces at Fine Line Designs Gallery this year included Stephen Wysocki, a participant in the 2024 Door County Plein Air Festival; Steven McHugh, an abstract artist from Madeline Island, Wisconsin; and Colette Odya Smith, a pastel/watercolor artist from Milwaukee.