June 16, 2022—The Miller Art Museum in downtown Sturgeon Bay is joining forces with fellow members of the Door County Heritage Alliance to present History Days. A weeklong event celebrating the rich heritage of Door County! This week is packed full of historically relevant art-centered free programming happening from Monday, June 20 through Friday, June 24.
“We are excited to finally have the capacity of our satellite space, M3, where we can offer these additional engaging programs for our creative community here in Door County,” says Education and Outreach Coordinator Marie Kimball. “For the Love of Chardin is an exhibition, currently on display, from which painters can draw inspiration for their own work based on the variety of techniques and compositions on display and I see History Days as a vehicle to push ourselves even further forward as a resource in service of the vibrant artistic community here,” she continues. “Artists of the past, present, and future.”
June 17, 2022—The Miller Art Museum in downtown Sturgeon Bay has announced that it is accepting submissions to the Museum’s 47th Juried Annual, an exhibition highlighting contemporary work from Wisconsin visual artists.
The exhibition is open to artists at all career levels and invites a range of media and artistic practices from traditional to abstract. Artists over the age of 18 who live or work in Wisconsin are eligible to apply. Artists can register and submit work via the ArtCall platform through the Museum’s website millerartmuseum.org. Artists may enter up to two original works for a $30 non-refundable entry fee.
May 20, 2022—The Miller Art Museum in downtown Sturgeon Bay is set to unveil three new exhibitions on Saturday, May 28: For the Love of Chardin in the first-floor main galleries, Until Next Time featuring work by artist Elysia Holland Michaelsen, and Still Life: Storytelling and Secret Messages featuring works from the museum’s permanent collection on the Ruth Morton Miller Mezzanine. The opening reception will run from 5pm - 6:30pm and is free and open to the public.
For the Love of Chardin presents 38 paintings from the New York based artist association, Zeuxis. An association of still life painters, Zeuxis selects a new topic of contemplation annually, which serves as inspiration to members’ interpretation. This year’s works are inspired by one of the great masters of the Baroque and Rococo periods, Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin (1699 - 1779)
Chardin, born the son of a carpenter in Paris, is widely considered one of the great painters of the 18th century and was presented at the Académie Royale de Peinture et de Sculpture in Paris as a painter of ‘animals and fruits.’ While quite successful with his genre scenes, which exhibited a dreamlike naturalness, his still life paintings were considered revolutionary, with the uncanny ability to catch nature in the act with a near spiritual quality. Chardin’s contemplation of overall composition and the optical relationships of contour was admired and studied by artists such as Manet, Cézanne and Soutine.
April 21, 2022—The Miller Art Museum announced at a free public reception held Monday evening the award winners for the Museum’s 48th Annual Salon of Door County High School Art, on display now through Monday, May 23, 2022. The multi-media exhibition features original work by students in grades 9 – 12 from the 2021-22 academic year who attend school at one of the Peninsula’s five high schools—Gibraltar, Sevastopol, Southern Door, Sturgeon Bay, and Washington Island.
Certificates of Participation were presented to all student artists by their respective art teachers. Award winners for Excellence and Honorable Mention were announced by Museum Curator Helen del Guidice during the awards ceremony at Monday’s opening reception, Awards of Excellence—a $100 cash prize—were presented to Makayla Ash (Sturgeon Bay), Isaac Rincones (Sevastopol), Christina Padilla-Volkman (Gibraltar), Anna Olson (Southern Door) and Joseph Lux (Washington Island). Six $50 Honorable Mention awards were presented to Jace Johnson (Sturgeon Bay), Inho Lee (Sevastopol), Wyatt Beaudot (Gibraltar), Kalissa Ambrosius (Southern Door), and Andrea Valentincic (Washington Island). In addition to cash prizes, the museum partnered with the Artist Guild and the Peninsula School of Art, courtesy of a generous financial gift through the Cramer Family Fund in memory of long-time art supporter Tricia Cramer, to offer all of this year’s awardees certificates for art supplies and instruction to further students’ individual artistic endeavors.
Award winners pictured from left to right: Anna Olson, Isaac Rincones, Kalissa Ambrosius, Inho Lee and Jace Johnson. Not pictured are Makayla Ash, Christina Padilla-Volkman, Joseph Lux and Wyatt Beaudot.