Door County Art Scene: Sawyer Exhibits Sets the Scene for Book Discussions at the Fairfield

As Door County’s celebration of Mark Twain’s classic 1876 novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer continues through this year’s National Endowment for the Arts’ Big Read initiative, the Fairfield Art Center in historic downtown Sturgeon Bay will join the long list of peninsula institutions – from Washington Island in the north to Forestville in the south – to host community book-discussion groups.

The book groups are scheduled for 2 pm on Friday, February 6 and 2 pm on Saturday, February 7. The Door County Library will facilitate both discussions, which are open free to all ages and will take place in the art center’s first-floor Main Gallery. Here, participants will be surrounded by the Fairfield’s special exhibition “The Big Read: A Tom Sawyer Experience,” held in conjunction with The Big Read Door County 2009.

For those who haven’t yet visited the Fairfield to view this exhibition, which opened to the public on January 22, attending one of the book groups will be an ideal opportunity to visually explore the 19th century world of Tom Sawyer and his Mississippi River hometown of St. Petersburg, Missouri. While fictional, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer has resonated with generations of readers – perhaps because Mark Twain drew inspiration for the novel from his own boyhood in Hannibal, Missouri.

"The Big Read: A Tom Sawyer Experience" will be on display through Saturday, March 14.

The Big Read Door County 2009 is presented by Peninsula Players in partnership with the Door County Library. For more information about The Big Read Door County 2009 and an updated schedule of activities and events, visit http://www.peninsulaplayers.com.

Thanks to generous donations from GLYS and Wal-Mart, the Fairfield Art Center continues to be open free to the public. Winter hours are 10 am – 5 pm, Tuesday through Friday; and 10 am – 4 pm, Saturday. The Fairfield is closed Sundays, Mondays and all major holidays.

For more information call 920.746.0001, email [email protected] or visit http://www.fairfieldcenter.org.