January 29, 2026 - The Miller Art Museum announced today that the Dome House Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist Residency will return for its sixth year, with the 2026 residency scheduled for August 2 through September 27, 2026. The application deadline is Friday, April 17, 2026.
Launched in 2021 in partnership with the Quinlan/Wagner family, the eight-week residency offers Midwest visual artists a fully immersive live/work experience at the Dome
House, an iconic, artist-designed structure nestled in the dunes along Lake Michigan near Whitefish Dunes State Park. The program supports focused creative development while emphasizing meaningful public engagement through workshops, artist talks, open studios, and other unique programming.
Over the course of five years, the program has evolved into a sought-after opportunity for emerging and mid-career artists, attracting applicants who are interested in producing ambitious new bodies of work deeply informed by place, process, and public engagement. The program has become a pillar of the Miller Art Museum’s mission to connect artists and community through meaningful opportunities to explore, celebrate, and advance the visual arts.
November 7, 2025 – The Miller Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of Measured Light, a sublime solo exhibition by Ellison Bay–based master photographer Daniel Anderson, on view in downtown Sturgeon Bay November 22, 2025 through March 28, 2026. Featuring 11 black and white landscapes, Measured Light inaugurates the museum’s newly reimagined Gerhard CF Miller Gallery, which has shifted to advancing contemporary art. The exhibition honors Anderson’s lifelong exploration of light, form, and precision, an artistic journey that bridges the darkroom and the digital studio with equal mastery. An opening reception will be held Friday, November 21, 2025, from 5 – 7 pm to celebrate the exhibition in tandem with the opening of Patrick Farrell | Ever After. Light refreshments will be served and live music will be provided by Craig Schultz.
Master photographer Daniel Anderson charts a lifelong arc from large format analog craft to exquisite digital control with unwavering clarity. Focused on landscape, whether vast vista, midground focus, or detailed study, his work celebrates the grandeur of natural space through tonal precision, compositional discipline, and deep reverence for light. Across more than fifty years of pursuit, Anderson has refined a vision that bridges the alchemy of the darkroom with the refined control of the digital studio. His black and white landscapes transform the natural world into a study of structure and stillness, each tonal shift deliberate, every highlight precisely tuned.
November 7, 2025 – The Miller Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of Patrick Farrell | Ever After, the first comprehensive museum survey of the Wisconsin painter’s five-decade legacy, from
formative studies to late allegorical masterworks on November 22, 2025. The exhibition will be on view in downtown Sturgeon Bay through March 28, 2026. A public reception is scheduled for Friday, November 21, 2025, from 5–7 pm. Light refreshments will be served and live music will be provided by Craig Schultz.
Patrick Farrell (1940-2016) was an American painter whose unwavering discipline and devotion to his craft defined a self-taught pursuit of artistic mastery. Born in Hardwood, Michigan, and raised in Cudahy, Wisconsin, he left home at seventeen with an eighth-grade education. A childhood affinity for art was rekindled by simple necessity when he began creating works to decorate his first apartment. What started as a hobby soon became a calling, and with a leap of faith, he turned a pastime into a profession. Following an uncharted creative path with a singular purpose, he drew steady strength from his mother and older sister Charlotte, whose closeness grounded his independence and resolve.

September 19, 2025 – The Miller Art Museum invites the public to the opening reception of its 50th Juried Annual on Friday, September 26, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the museum’s downtown Sturgeon Bay location at 107 S. 4th Avenue. This milestone exhibition showcases 58 two-dimensional works by 54 Wisconsin artists, highlighting the rich diversity of the state's contemporary visual arts scene. Welcome remarks and awards will be presented at 6pm.
The Juried Annual, one of the state’s longest-running juried exhibitions, has been a pillar of the Miller Art Museum’s annual exhibition program and serves to support and celebrate regional visual artists. Established in 1975, the exhibition was created to elevate artists from Door County and the greater Northeast Wisconsin region, offering both visibility and recognition within the broader community. Over the years, it has expanded in scope to become one of the Museum’s most anticipated and beloved exhibitions—enriching Door County’s cultural fabric while bringing together artists from throughout the state. This year’s call garnered a record 346 submissions from 186 artists, with the pool narrowed to a carefully curated selection of 58 works by jurors Dan Anderson, Fred Stonehouse, and Stephanie Trenchard. The selected works encompass a range of media, including painting, mixed media, and photography, reflecting the dynamic and evolving landscape of contemporary art in Wisconsin.
August 29, 2025—The Miller Art Museum is pleased to announce an engaging series of public programs throughout the month of September as part of its Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist Residency Program. The month’s events offer the community multiple ways to connect with 2025 artist-in-residence Douglas Pendleton while showcasing the residency’s role in Door County as a vibrant space for creativity, conversation, and artistic exchange.
The month kicks off with Figure & Form: Portrait Drawing Workshop on Wednesday, September 3, from 3 - 6 pm. Guided by Pendleton, this three-hour session will offer participants a thoughtful introduction to the art of portraiture. Working from a live model, the workshop will provide both beginners and experienced artists the opportunity to refine their skills in the inspired setting of the Dome House. Materials will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring their own to ensure they have everything they need.
