ART
Forging a New Identity The arts renaissance in Sturgeon Bay by Tom Groenfeldt photos by Brett Kosmider
Jeremy Popelka and Stephanie Trenchard fire glass at their studio in Sturgeon Bay.
F
or years, Sturgeon Bay residents have rolled their eyes at the visitors who think Door County doesn’t start until you reach Egg Harbor. But as the city evolves, that impression is changing. The biggest part of this evolution may be the growth of the arts in Sturgeon Bay during recent years with the opening of several galleries and studios on South 3rd Avenue and new galleries and studios across the bridge on the west side of the city.
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door county living / doorcountypulse.com
Sturgeon Bay has often been dismissed as a hard, industrial, blue-collar town on the way to the more picturesque little towns that Door County is famous for, said Jeremy Popelka, who founded Popelka Trenchard Glass fine-art gallery and studio on 2nd Avenue with his wife, Stephanie Trenchard, 24 years ago. “We used to bristle when visitors stopped and said they were on their way to Door County, but eventually you wear such disparagement as a rusty badge,” Popelka said.
The biggest concentration of art power in the city is the SŌMI Gallery, at 45 S. 3rd Ave., which opened in 2021. It’s a joint venture between Popelka Trenchard Glass, which is behind SŌMI on 2nd Avenue, and Karen Hertz-Sumnicht, an abstract artist and the owner of Avenue Art & Co. in Appleton, which now has a new branch in Sturgeon Bay. Right behind the street-facing gallery is The Third Room, a venue for temporary exhibitions by guest artists.
