Our Mission
Peninsula Art School promotes and fosters an understanding of the visual arts through education, exhibitions and community outreach programs.

Our History
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. —Lorraine Mengert, Door County’s Art History

For over a century now, Door County has worked its magic on artists, nurturing their creativity and inspiring their work. Peninsula Art School’s roots go back to the years after World War I when faculty from The Art Institute of Chicago began spending summers in Door County to paint and teach. One of the earliest was Art Institute of Chicago Professor, F. DeForest Schook, who established a school in Baileys Harbor in 1921. In Fish Creek, a school named the Fish Creek Art Colony was founded in 1934. Among its first students was Madeline Tripp (Tourtelot), founder of Peninsula Art School. Classes in landscape, still life, and figure composition were conducted there by Vladimir Rousseff, a prize-winning painter from the Art Institute of Chicago. In 1940, Schook joined the faculty in Fish Creek, and, in 1943, former student, Madeline Tourtelot, founded the Ephraim Art School. Though Tourtelot spent the 1950s at the Saugatuck Summer School of Painting in Michigan, in 1964 she returned to Door County to found the Door Harbor School of Art in Fish Creek.

In 1965, Madeline purchased the three-and-ahalf acres where the School presently stands and founded the Peninsula School of the Arts, now the Peninsula Art School. Her passion for art, creativity and living life to the fullest gave rise to legendary stories, a wealth of creative talent in Door County and the rise and fall of several artistic ventures that coalesced into the School as we know it today. Described by historian Jim Legualt:

There were children’s classes, photography workshops, pottery, jewelry, painting, drawing, sculpture and fabric printing classes. Instructors from around the country taught credit and non-credit courses...The atmosphere was free, serious, experimental and conducive to getting a lot of work done. The darkroom was used continuously. There were always lights coming from the jewelry room. Raku firings at night, sculpture being cast in the yard or a kiln being opened… and the continuous exchange of ideas and information between students, faculty and artists in residence… Madeline directed the school, set the tone and made it work…

Tourtelot ran The Peninsula School of Art until in 1971 when she retired. The School was reorganized in 1979-80 by Betsy Guenzel, a dedicated art student and tireless volunteer. Under her leadership and with the help of her husband Paul Guenzel, the school became a non-profit organization and continued to thrive. High caliber faculty established Peninsula Art School’s reputation for excellence in fine arts instruction.

By 1995, the success of the growing school signaled a need for more classroom space and year-round availability of arts instruction. Through hard work, generous donors and dedicated volunteers, the dream of a year-round school and the Guenzel Gallery became a reality.

From its grassroots beginnings over 40 year ago, Peninsula Art School has grown to be one of the most dynamic, important centers for visual arts education in the Midwest. Today, the School welcomes nearly 2,000 students ages three and up and includes four painting studios, children’s art studio, a ceramics studio, metals studio, darkroom, art resource library, lecture room, administrative offices and the landmark “round barn” of the Guenzel Gallery.

Peninsula Art School boasts a faculty of more than one hundred professional artists and art educators from around the country. A typical Peninsula Art School faculty member may be an instructor from a renowned university or art college, a talented regional artist who is committed to contributing to the community or a nationally recognized workshop instructor.

Likewise, Peninsula Art School students are from “all over.” Skill levels range from absolute beginner to master-level. Student ages range from three years old to retiree. Classes range in size from six to eighteen students, ensuring lots of individual attention.

In 2005 and 2006, Peninsula Art School acquired two adjacent parcels of land— a total of 7.5 acres—giving us a 10-acre campus. We have begun to plan for future expansions and facilities additions, allowing us to serve a growing audience and offer improved programs and equipment to our students.

 

Board of Directors
The Peninsula Art School is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization. We are governed by a 20-person volunteer board of directors.

Albert Johnson, Co-Chair
Nancy Sargent, Co-Chair
Camilla Nielsen, Treasurer
Julia Chomeau, Secretary
Cora Acor
David Aurelius
Craig Blietz
Gloria Drummond
Dan Engelke
John Guenther
Karen Juzenas
Mynn Lanphier
Virginia Maher
Diane Miller
Len Moss
Amy Musikantow
John Sargent
Nancy Sargent
Steve Sauter
Sylvia Youell