May 7, 2024—The Miller Art Museum is pleased to present two new exhibitions opening on Sat., May 25, 2024: Expressions of Place featured in the Museum’s first floor main galleries and Wisconsin Visual Artists NE Chapter Show 2024 on the Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine. Expressions of Place features the work of Hector Acuna (Grafton), Marc Anderson (Sturgeon Bay), Shelby Keefe (Milwaukee), Stephanie Lord (Sturgeon Bay), and Brian Sindler (Chicago), along with 38 member artists of the WVA. The exhibits open to the public at 10 am on Saturday, May 25, 2024; a free artist reception will be held on Friday evening, May 24 from 4 – 6 pm with remarks by WVA Juror Craig Blietz at 5 pm on the Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine. Light refreshments will be served and music will be provided by Craig Schultz and Mike Miller. The exhibitions will remain on view through July 6, 2024.
Expressions of Place, an invitational, highlights plein air painting in celebration of the rich history of the practice on the Door Peninsula. Works by artists Brian Sindler (Chicago, IL.), Shelby Keefe (Milwaukee), Marc Anderson (Sturgeon Bay), Stephanie Lord (Sturgeon Bay, WI) and Hector Acuna (Grafton, WI) will be featured and complimented by a selection of plein air works curated from the permanent collection.
“There was a time in Door County before art galleries, but, there was never a time that people couldn’t appreciate the beauty of the Peninsula. When the snow melted from the fields and the pink and white blossoms popped on the trees, the temptation was there to record it on paper or canvas,” said Lorraine Mengert (Door County’s Art History, 1996, p. 5).
April 19, 2024 – Young artists in grades 9 – 12 from throughout Door County were celebrated at a free public reception held on April 15 for the 50th Annual Salon of Door County High School Art. The Miller Art Museum announced the award winners and honored all student participants during a special awards ceremony at the event.
Award winners pictured from left to right, front: Marissa Shefchik (Honorable Mention, Southern Door), Berkley Schwab (Award of Excellence, Gibraltar), Brooklynn Eash (Honorable Mention, Homeschool), Charlotte Bloniarz (Award of Excellence, Southern Door), Malia Rothrock (Honorable Mention, Sturgeon Bay). Back: Elliot Eash (Award of Excellence, Homeschool), and Tatum Routhieaux (Award of Excellence, Sturgeon Bay). Not pictured: Elizabeth Bautista, Cora Maccoux, Madelyn Kellerman, Emily Nickchen, and Gianna Roman.
The exhibit is a multi-media exhibition featuring original artwork by 113 students from the 2023-24 academic year who attend school at one of the Peninsula’s five high schools: Gibraltar, Sevastopol, Southern Door, Sturgeon Bay, and Washington Island. Two homeschooled students are also represented this year.
Certificates of Participation were presented to all student artists by their respective art teachers. Students receiving an Award of Excellence or Honorable Mention were announced and presented by Curator Helen del Guidice during the reception.
Awards of Excellence ($100 cash prize):
• Berkley Schwab, Gibraltar High School
• Elliot Eash, Homeschool
• Cora Maccoux, Sevastopol High School
• Charlotte Bloniarz, Southern Door High School
• Tatum Routhieaux, Stugeon Bay High School
• Madelyn Kellerman, Washington Island High School
April 4, 2024—The Miller Art Museum celebrates 50 years in 2024 of honoring Door Peninsula student artists with its beloved annual student art exhibition, the 50th Annual Salon of Door County High School Art opening to the public on Saturday, April 13. In celebration, the museum will host an opening reception and awards celebration on Monday, April 15 from 7 - 8:30 pm. The event is open to all—students, families, guests, and the general public. Awards will be presented at 7:30 pm; Certificates of Participation will be presented to all student artists by their respective art teachers following the presentation of all other awards by the Miller Art Museum.
The annual exhibition, a now 50-year tradition, features the work of more than 100 young artists from schools on the Door Peninsula. Working with their art teachers, the students demonstrate creativity, enthusiasm, and technical ability across diverse media, ranging from painting to sculpture, drawing, and photography. This year’s show will feature 174 imaginative works from students attending Gibraltar, Sevastopol, Southern Door, Sturgeon Bay, and Washington Island High Schools, along with representation by Door County home school students.
February 23, 2024—The public is invited to join artists Ellen Holtzblatt and Mary Porterfield for a conversation with Miller Art Museum Curator Helen del Guidice at 4pm Friday, March 1. An audience Q&A will follow the conversation as will a free public reception from 5:30 – 7pm. Light refreshments will be provided with music provided by Craig Schultz and Mike Miller.
Currently on view at the Miller Art Museum, the artist’s two-person exhibit, Vestiges of the Tide, explores each artist’s unique approach to the sensitive topic of senescence through exquisitely rendered drawings and paintings. Porterfield works in the medical field as an occupational therapist and is also a talented portraitist committed to rendering her elderly, infirm subjects with images that address recurring struggles in healthcare. In unison, Ellen Holtzblatt presents works from her Song of Songs series, a collection of portraits of her elderly mother that convey that love, desire, and the need for human contact are universal. The exhibition is emotionally charged and offers viewers a powerful, poetic experience of a reality that many in Door County face.
February 2, 2024—The Miller Art Museum will reveal a new exhibition on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, titled 'CREATIVE POWER,' presented in collaboration with ARTS for ALL Wisconsin. The exhibit follows 'Charles L. Peterson in the Permanent Collection,' which features 19 works by the nationally recognized maritime artist Charles L. Peterson (1927 - 2022). The final day to view the work of Peterson is Monday, February 12; museum hours are 10am – 7pm.
'CREATIVE POWER' is a traveling exhibition that provides public recognition of hundreds for individuals in the State of Wisconsin with disabilities each year. The work, comprised of a variety of media, seeks to center the creative expressions, experiences, and perspectives of artists living and working throughout the state, generating public awareness of disability and providing a critical representation of disabled voices.
“We share the work of artists because we believe that art is a universal and essential language that challenges people to respond to the world, look beyond themselves, and celebrate diversity by building bridges between people, across cultures, and through generations. We also believe that art can be a tool for healing,” writes ARTS for ALL Wisconsin.