What pairs well with bold contemporary art? Beer and cheese curds, according to artist and curator Shane McAdams. This match made in Wisconsin is at the heart of the first Door County Contemporary Art Fair, happening from June 5-8 at the Peninsula School of Art in Fish Creek.
McAdams and three other Milwaukee art aficionados – Josh Hintz, Shane Walsh and Jaymee Harvey Willms – spent two years planning the fair with a goal of filling a void in the high-end contemporary market in the art-packed peninsula. “In the cultural end, people are walking around and going, ‘What’s next?’” McAdams says. “They just need to be given something else, and I think this is that.”
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Another goal was to expand the Milwaukee art scene’s footprint to a destination where folks on vacation may feel more inclined to buy “impractical objects,” as McAdams puts it. It became more than Milwaukee – the fair also features galleries from Chicago, Minneapolis, Madison, Racine, Kansas City and Nashville, too.
“We’re all doing this as a labor of love because we want art to work,” McAdams says. “No one’s doing it for any reason other than to make the ecosystem better so that maybe people buy more art and we can sustain it. We want this to get out there because it’s an amazing thing.”
Visitors will be able to view and purchase works by regional and national artists from 20 participating galleries, take guided tours, listen to guest speakers and hear live music – all with the warm embrace of Wisconsin food, drinks and culture. “We love the idea of making it supper club, stag horns, old-fashioneds – and mixing that vibe,” McAdams says. He wants the fair to reflect the polished yet unpretentious quality of Milwaukee’s galleries. And the peninsula’s breathtaking setting acts as a refresher – you can end the day watching the sunset over the lake.
