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.”
Pendleton holds an MFA in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art and a BFA from the University of Iowa. His work draws from Renaissance and Baroque traditions, blending historical imagery with contemporary cultural references. Using allegory, theatrical staging, and humor, Pendleton interrogates systems of power, spectacle, and taste—often placing sacred or royal figures alongside consumer goods, inflatable toys, and synthetic textures.
“His work offers a rich interplay of tradition and disruption, beauty and critique,” said Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Executive Director of the Miller Art Museum. “Douglas brings a deep conceptual rigor to his practice, and his interest in connecting with the local landscape—and community—aligns beautifully with the goals of our residency. We’re excited to see how his work evolves in this setting.”
Leah Karrels, the museum’s newly appointed Dome House Artist Residency Program Coordinator, echoed that excitement:
“Douglas brings something really fresh to the residency. His work is striking, and surprisingly playful—it invites you in. I’m looking forward to seeing how the landscape and community here might influence his approach. I think people will really enjoy connecting with him and his process.”
Pendleton also expressed enthusiasm for the community engagement component of the residency. He plans to host open studio hours, present an artist talk, and will be leading programming throughout the duration of his residency. “These modes of public exchange feel like a natural extension of the work itself, offering moments of connection within a contemplative and focused period of making,” he said.
The Miller Art Museum launched the Dome House Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist Residency Program in 2021. Since then, it has supported five artists: Nicole Shaver and Amy Usdin (2021), Ariana Vaeth (2022), Christopher T Wood (2023), and Jessica Harvey (2024). Each artist has used the residency to develop in-process bodies of work or ambitious new work, often in dialogue with the natural and cultural landscape of Door County.
“The program continues to grow in impact and visibility,” added Meissner-Gigstead. “Douglas’ thoughtful approach to painting and storytelling will add an exciting new chapter to the residency’s evolving legacy.”
The museum will announce dates for Pendleton’s public programs in the coming weeks. All events will be free and open to the public.
About Douglas Pendleton
Douglas Pendleton is a Detroit-based painter whose work explores the relationship between historical imagery and contemporary mass culture. Rooted in Renaissance and Baroque traditions, his paintings use allegory, theatrical staging, and precise draftsmanship to examine how visual systems of power—religious, imperial, or commercial—shape meaning through spectacle. Figures in his compositions may appear sacred or ceremonial, yet their gravitas is deliberately disrupted by inflatable toys, consumer ephemera, or synthetic textures that destabilize conventional hierarchies of taste and value.
Pendleton earned his MFA in Painting from Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and his BFA in Painting from the University of Iowa. He also studied at the Florence Classical Arts Academy and Studio Arts College International in Italy, where he developed a foundation in classical painting techniques and composition. His solo and group exhibitions include Louis Buhl & Co. Gallery in Detroit, Forum Gallery, and the Cranbrook Museum of Art, among others. In 2022, he was awarded a residency with Rotation Works in Brooklyn, NY, and has previously participated in international arts programs in Italy and the U.S.
His practice bridges technical precision with conceptual inquiry, often merging the reverence of classical portraiture with the aesthetics of contemporary excess. He views painting as both a site of reflection and performance—a stage where history is reassembled and interrogated through layered, often humorous, visual language. Pendleton currently lives and works in Hamtramck, Michigan.