June 13, 2025 – The Miller Art Museum has announced that its call for submissions for the 50th Juried Annual Exhibition, is now open. The longstanding exhibition is open to emerging and established artists, inviting entries from artists aged 18 and older who live and work in Wisconsin. The exhibition will be on view this fall in downtown Sturgeon Bay.
Celebrating five decades in 2025, the Miller Art Museum’s Juried Annual is one of the longest-running juried visual art exhibitions in the state. It offers artists from across Wisconsin a meaningful platform for statewide recognition, the opportunity to network among peer artists, and visibility to a highly engaged and supportive audience in Door County—a destination widely known for its vibrant arts community.This year’s call for entries mirrors the success of past exhibits—such as the 49th, which featured work by 69 artists from across the state. Participants are eligible for nearly $2,000 in cash awards, including the prestigious Gerhard Miller Award of Excellence and the Bonnie Hartmann Award for Outstanding Creativity.
June 6, 2025 - The Miller Art Museum in downtown Sturgeon Bay is pleased to announce Douglas Pendleton as its 2025 Dome House Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist in Residence. Pendleton, a Detroit-based painter, will be in residence on the Door Peninsula from August 3 – September 28, 2025.
Now entering its fifth year, the Dome House Artist Residency Program honors the legacy of artist and Dome House visionary Al Quinlan. Designed as a creative retreat for working artists, the Museum’s program supports early- to mid-career visual artists from across the Midwest by offering time, space, and resources to pursue new work in an immersive and inspiring environment.
Pendleton was selected from a competitive pool of 40 applicants by the museum’s Artist Selection Committee and will receive a $500 stipend as well as access to the 5,073-square-foot live/work Dome House. His residency will culminate in a public program and presentation of new work in late September.
“The opportunity to work in Door County represents a meaningful chance to shift the rhythm of my practice and deepen my relationship with painting from observation,” said Pendleton. “I plan to immerse myself in the landscape—spending extended periods working en plein air—and reflect on how that direct engagement can inform my studio work. Ultimately, I hope to develop large-scale work that weaves together figurative elements with visual language drawn from place.”
June 6, 2025—As the Miller Art Museum celebrates its 50th year serving Door County and the surrounding region, the organization is proud to announce two key additions to its team, reinforcing its commitment to the Peninsula’s creative community. Door County-based artist and creative professional Leah Karrels has been named the new Dome House Artist Residency Program Coordinator for the Dome House Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist Residency, which is presented in collaboration with the Quinlan family, and William Patterson University student Abigail Herring has been appointed as the museum’s Summer 2025 Curatorial Intern.
“These appointments reflect a larger vision for the museum’s future,” said Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Executive Director. “We’re entering a new chapter at the museum—one that requires thoughtful, talented people to help bring our developing programs to life. These appointments are not just about filling roles—they’re about expanding our impact.”
May 23, 2025—The Miller Art Museum is honored to announce the acquisition of Sabbath at Sea (1991), a major oil painting by the late celebrated Door County artist Charles L. “Chick” Peterson (American, 1927–2022), into its permanent collection. The work, a masterful evocation of reverence and reflection aboard a Grand Banks schooner, was generously donated by Janet and Peter Nixon and stands as a significant addition to the museum’s holdings of Peterson’s work and legacy.
The painting is currently on view in downtown Sturgeon Bay as the centerpiece of Magnus Opus: Masters of the Figure from the Permanent Collection, a special anniversary exhibition featuring more than 20 works from the collection that honors five decades of the museum’s work collecting, curating, and celebrating the visual arts in Door County. Guest Curator Suzanne Rose reflects on "Sabbath at Sea" as a masterwork of quiet conviction, underscoring Peterson’s lifelong commitment to craft, observation, and narrative. The painting anchors Magnus Opus, which highlights the figure not just as subject, but as an enduring artistic practice. Rose describes the exhibition as a celebration of mastery born from repetition and devotion—a tribute to artists who return again and again to the human form in pursuit of truth and empathy.
Wisconsin Fiber Artist Mary Burns and Regional Figurative Masters Take Center Stage in Downtown Sturgeon Bay in Exhibits Opening May 24, 2025
May 15, 2025—The Miller Art Museum is pleased to announce the opening of Women and Water: Woven Portraits from Around the World, a compelling exhibition by Wisconsin fiber artist Mary Burns, opening May 24, 2025. This exhibition, featuring 29 handwoven Jacquard portraits, is guest curated by Wisconsin artist and photographer Suzanne Rose, and 
celebrates women from around the globe who are dedicated to water advocacy, science, and stewardship. An artist reception is scheduled for Friday, May 30, 2025, from 5 – 7 pm to celebrate the opening of the exhibit and Magnus Opus: Masters of the Figure from the Permanent Collection, featured concurrently on the Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine. The event is free and open to the public.
Magnus Opus: Masters of the Figure from the Permanent Collection, a special exhibition honoring the museum’s 50th anniversary, features a curated selection of figurative works by Rose, drawn from the museum’s permanent collection, that includes a stunning new acquisition by the late celebrated maritime artist Charles L. Peterson (1927-2022). The oil painting, titled Sabbath at Sea, will be featured along with work by other celebrated regional artists including James J. Ingwersen (1929-2025), Lester W. Bentley (1908-1972), William Mueller, Shirley Darch (b. 1950), Robert C. Heuel II (1919-2009), Emmett Johns (b. 1940), Willard H. Kolstad (1960-2023), and Robert Leibold (1926-2013). Together, these exhibitions offer a dynamic curatorial dialogue between global and regional perspectives on the figure and legacy.