Culture Club – Peninsula Arts & Humanities Alliance

The Jensen Center at The Clearing.

The Clearing has been an institution in Door County for 73 years. It is woven tightly into the fabric of the peninsula. Although it may mean different things to different people, it is, first and foremost, a school – a different kind of school to be sure (a folk school actually), but a school none-the-less. Most people know it as a place where, for as little as two or three hours or for as much as an entire week, they can pursue, in a quiet, beautiful setting, their painting, their writing, their photography, their interest in nature – that “something” they love or in which they are interested but seldom have time for at home. For them, The Clearing represents the opportunity and the freedom to do that “something,” even if only for a day, unencumbered by the demands, distractions and responsibilities of home, family and work.

While The Clearing is and, we hope, always will remain a folk school, it is something else too, something unique and wonderful. Its 128 acres of woods and meadow, the western edge of which runs along the Niagara Escarpment, with its spectacular views of Ellison Bluff and Green Bay, represent what is, for many of us, the best of Door County – a native landscape in all its spectacular northern, water-rimmed glory.

It’s no secret that Door County is a great place to shop, to eat, to explore galleries, to play golf and, yes, even to take classes. And although these activities are vital to our local culture and economy, they are not the main reason Door County has, over the years, become such a popular place to vacation and such a desirable place to live. They are not the true “essence” of Door County. Not really.

The Lodge at The Clearing.

So what is? That’s easy. Of course it’s the land and the landscape. Door County, although it has certainly changed much over the years, remains a stunningly beautiful and uniquely appealing place. It’s a treat for all the senses: it looks good, it smells good, it sounds good and it feels good. That’s why The Clearing was built here to begin with. When Clearing founder, renowned landscape architect and conservationist, Jens Jensen, set out all those years ago to find the “right place” to build his “school of the soil,” he had four very specific criteria in mind. The site had to be on the “edge of the wild,” be high on a hill or cliff or bluff, look out over water, and have a view of the setting sun over that water. The land on which The Clearing was built fits that description to a T. Other places in the Midwest were considered, and would no doubt have worked well for the school, but Door County was the one perfect place, at least as far as Jensen was concerned.

When the members of The Clearing Board of Directors placed a conservation easement on these 128 acres two and a half years ago, thereby entering into a partnership with the Door County Land Trust, they made a promise to keep the property forever intact (it can never be sub-divided) and, except for a small percentage of the land (about eight acres, which equals six percent of the property), to keep it forever undeveloped. They believed that a conservation easement was the right thing to do, not just because of the strong conservation ethic of today’s Clearing community, but because The Clearing was and is one of the great works and legacies of one of this country’s most ardent and passionate land conservationists to date – Jens Jensen. So, even if The Clearing school should, one day, not be here, the land will remain undivided and undeveloped. That, in the long run, may be The Clearing’s greatest legacy to Door County.

The Clearing, by virtue of its history, its longevity, the beauty of its land and the positive role it has played in countless lives, has achieved a status that might be described by some as “sacred ground.” This alone was reason enough to do whatever could be done in order to ensure that the property remain, forever, what Jens Jensen envisioned so many years ago: “A place where the sun, the stars, open fields, giant trees and smiling flowers are free to teach an undisturbed lesson of life.”