April 1, 2022—The Miller Art Museum is proud, in collaboration with the following exhibition sponsors: Artists Guild, LLC, Kathy and John Campbell, the Cramer Family Fund in memory of Tricia Cramer, Dennis and Bonnie Connolly, Door County Medical Center, the Jacksonport Women's Club, Barb and Mike Madden, Carl and Ruth Scholz and Hermke and Elke Timm, the Wisconsin Arts Board and the National Endowment for the Arts, to present the 48th Annual Salon of Door County High School Art opening to the public on Saturday, April 16, 2022. Presented in collaboration with Peninsula art educators, the exhibition marks 48 years of presenting artwork created across diverse media by students residing throughout Door County. This year’s exhibition will include artistic contributions by 124 students amounting to 197 imaginative works from 5 partnering public schools.
Jace Johnson, Portrait Series, Printamking (SBHS)
After two, long years the Miller Art Museum is eager to welcome back this long-standing tradition to its galleries for in-person viewing. The COVID-19 pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 presented unprecedented challenges to our schools and denied the museum the opportunity to showcase works physically. Like museums across the globe, the Miller Art Museum pivoted and instead presented virtual exhibitions. The organization, made possible by exhibition sponsors, is
especially honored to present and celebrate this year’s student accomplishments alongside family members, educators and the community at large.
As is tradition with museum exhibitions, the public is cordially invited to attend a free opening reception on Monday evening, April 18 from 7 – 8:30 p.m. The event is open to all—students, families, guests and the general public—and light refreshments will be served. Opening remarks are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Art teachers will present Certificates of Participation to all student artists and the Miller Art Museum will present five Awards of Excellence and five Honorable Mentions, which are all cash awards. In addition to the cash awards, this year the Miller is honored to partner with the Artists Guild, LLC of Sturgeon Bay and the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek, courtesy of a generous gift through the Cramer Family Fund in memory of Tricia Cramer, a long-time supporter of the arts, to offer awardees certificates for art supplies and instruction to further their artistic endeavors. $100 cash awards will also be presented to each high school art department in honor of the Door County Art League, which dissolved in 2016 after 30 years of providing instruction, networking, and exhibition opportunities throughout the Peninsula to novice to professional artists.
James Rericha, Beach Bum, Mixed Media (GHS) Sophia Abel, Childhood Home, Mixed media (SHS) Emily Baermann, Why So Serious, Acrylic (SDHS)
This year’s multi-media exhibit features original artwork from the 2021-22 academic year—ceramics, collage, drawing, digital media, fashion design, painting, photography, and sculpture—by students from Gibraltar High School, Sevastopol High School, Southern Door High School, Sturgeon Bay High School, and Washington Island High School. The exhibition will be presented for the first time on both levels of the museum with works exhibited in the first-floor main galleries as well as on the second floor Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine.
“The varying mediums and subject matter of the artwork presented showcases the extraordinary talent of the students,” says Marie Kimball, education and outreach coordinator. “Visitors will be delighted by the unexpected explorations found throughout these various thought-provoking works, a reflection of and glimpse into each of these talented artists’ worlds. You’ll definately want see what the future creatives of Door County have created.”
The support received from the community in the form of exhibition sponsorships make this platform for honoring the accomplishments of young artists in our community a reality; not only does it celebrate the students’ tremendous efforts, but also that of the outstanding art teachers who work with them day in and day out. The museum extends a special thanks and acknowledgement to the art teachers, who showed incredible perseverance and dedication to their curriculum in the upheaval of pandemic years. As a result of their nurturing, teaching and ongoing encouragement, we are able to celebrate and foster the development of a new generation of talented and educated art students.
“Artistic achievement should be celebrated,” says Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Miller Art Museum executive director. “Gerhard CF Miller, our founder, believed this deeply and the SoHSA remains, to this day, a core component of our exhibition program each and every year. This recognition is a single piece of a much broader picture that encourages continued development and exploration of their creativity, leading to more adaptable, more tolerant and better educated generations in the years to come.”
The 48th Annual Salon of Door County High School Art will be on view through Monday, May 23, 2022. An elevator is available to access galleries on the Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine. Proof of vaccination is not required for entry into the museum for the reception; masks are strongly recommended and visitors are asked to practice social distancing.