March is Final Month for Fairfield Winter Programming and Exhibit

“Six Reclining Figures” by Henry Moore.

Despite winter’s still-freezing and ever-snowy grip, March has arrived at last and spring is just around the corner. To prepare for its busy summer lineup of exhibitions and events, the Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art in downtown Sturgeon Bay will conclude its popular winter programming this month.

It’s not too late, however, to enjoy these offseason activities before they close for the season. The art center will continue to offer its free docent-led tours at 1:30 pm daily through Sunday, March 16, and it will host “The Saturday Salon: Sketching and Painting in the Galleries” each Saturday through March 29.

The free tours incorporate exhibitions in both the Main and b2 Galleries. In the Main Gallery, visitors will see “Who is Henry Moore: Selections from the Permanent Collection,” which will be on display through May 3. The exhibit presents the man as well as the artist and explores the relevance of the Fairfield’s extensive Henry Moore collection to the Door County community.

2008 Baylake Bank Children’s Art Exhibit

In the b2 Gallery, visitors will see the Annual Baylake Bank Children’s Art Exhibit, which showcases recent artwork from students at Southern Door Elementary School, Sawyer and Sunset Schools, Gibraltar Schools, St. John Bosco and Algoma’s St. Mary Elementary School. The exhibition’s February 16 open house and special hands-on painting activity, led by Artists Guild proprietor Sarah Bradley, drew an enthusiastic crowd of more than 100 people. This exhibit will close to the public on Saturday, March 29.

Shan Bryan-Hanson, exhibitions director, said she also encourages amateur and professional artists to attend the final sessions of “The Saturday Salon,” which will be held in the Main Gallery at 1 pm on March 8, 15, 22 and 29. The free salon allows local artists at every level to participate in an afternoon of drawing and painting, surrounded by works from the Fairfield’s permanent collection.

“Egyptian Figures II” by Henry Moore.

“This is what artists have done for centuries – learn through copying the work of the masters,” Bryan-Hanson said.

Artists must bring their own drawing and painting supplies, including drop cloths for the gallery floor. Many may be surprised to learn that the bequest of the art center’s benefactor, William S. Fairfield, also included the work of other modern masters beyond Moore: Belgian surrealist painter Rene Magritte, French painter Fernand Leger, Swiss sculptor and painter Alberto Giacometti and Wassily Kandinsky, a Russian pioneer of abstract painting.

In addition to the art Bill Fairfield himself collected, the permanent collection also includes more recently acquired pieces by Peter Paul, Charles Dix, Hoshi, Kazumi Amano, Dan Anderson, Fred Berman, Suzanne Rose, Fabio Rieti, Leah Rhodes, Larry Webster, Ratislave Racoff, Hilton Pratt, Louis Smolak and Joseph Friebert. Rose’s and Anderson’s works are incorporated into the current rotating display.

The Fairfield Center for Contemporary Art is open free to the public, 10 am – 5 pm Wednesday through Saturday during the offseason. Starting in May, it will be open 10 am – 5 pm Monday through Saturday. For more information call 920.746.0001, send e-mail to [email protected] or visit http://www.fairfieldcenter.org.