Ephraim Bans [Only Some] Outdoor Painting

        Plein Air Artists Leave Town 

Tuesday, which is traditionally the day Plein Air artists participating in the Peninsula School of Art’s week-long festival are working in the Ephraim, saw only a handful painting in the village. A village decision to limit the functions of a painting and sales program linked to the summer-long concert series had spawned a warning letter from the art school director to the Plein Air artists who stayed away from Ephraim.  

Kathy Hoke was protecting her artists and her events, based on Ephraim town board discussions and her understanding of board attitudes. 

She gave a letter to the Plein Air artists saying:


"Recently the Village of Ephraim Board has made some decisions, which appear to impact the Door County Plein Air Festival. There is some question whether painters are permitted to paint on public property (parks, beaches, Anderson Dock, etc.).  Ephraim officials, who have faced a number of calls complaining about the absence of painters in the village, said the controversy had been manufactured by people trying to stir up trouble. Others with close understanding of the local politics, said the village officials were backpedalling furiously after public outcry over the restrictions. 

Even in its most draconian interpretation, the ordinance didn't have any effect on the gallery grounds artists have set up their easels in past years, and they are always free to ask hotels, restaurants and churches to work on their property.

But for some artists, the idea that they might be asked to leave was enough for them to take Ephraim off their plans. One told me that when she is working on a painting, she wants to be completely focused on her work, without worrying that someone might tell her to leave or even to move partway through a scene. 

The school had cautioned artists that they may be in violation of a local ordinance if they painted on Village property and warned them that if they did paint on public property they shouldn’t wear their Plein Air t-shirts and badges. Judging from the few easels in sight throughout the village, most just stayed away and found other places to work. Fine Line Designs Gallery, on the north end of town, had an empty front yard -- except for its wonderful flowers and sculpture, where last year two dozen artists were working away. 

Shari Gransee, the gallery director, said about 300 people came to watch the artists last year, and while they didn’t buy large art (galleries across the county say most Plein Air spectators are waiting for the weekend auctions and significant sales almost dry up during the week) they did purchase some smaller items like jewelry. Today there were only occasional visitors asking if they had the right day, and where the artists were. The three major Door County galleries -- Edgewood Orchard, Fine LIne and Woodwalk -- all host painting days for the Plein Air festival, events that attract hundreds of people to watch the artists on the gallery grounds. Many smaller galleries also open their grounds to the Plein Air participants.

Cox, the village president, said the Ephraim Business Council, which has sponsored the Monday night concert series in Harborside Park from mid-June to mid -August,  this year added a painting event in collaboration with the Hardy Gallery. The EBC printed up the concert series, with the addition of painting for the entire concert season, in a calendar it released in March. It then went to the Village Planning Committee just before the filing deadline for the agenda to reauthorize the concerts.

The concerts were permitted, but objections from two local village art galleries led the committee to deny permission for the sale of open air paintings made on public property during the series. Eventually they decided the artists could demonstrate their skills but not sell or even promote their sales. 

“We have had a village policy for decades that anybody using village property such as a public park for profit could be competing with village taxpayers, like galleries,” said Cox. “The planning committee and the village board are not in the business to say no to people. If we can find a way to work with groups, especially nonprofits, we endeavor to do that. The EBC, in collaboration with the Hardy Gallery, decided to do this way in advance of coming to the village.”

The decision would appear to cover any artist on public property who plans to sell the work, including selling through the Peninsula School of Art which essentially splits the sale price with the artists. 

Cox said the village board is examining the ordinance and plans a revision to give the village more latitude.

“Understand, we are not against this kind of stuff.” The ordinance was designed years ago to protect village businesses which pay taxes and have the overhead of buildings from competition with individuals who want to profit from the free use of village parks to conduct their business. 

“One application as denied; we never went up to artists and said you shouldn’t be here,” added Cox, who said the village is already looking how to revise the ordinance. 


A local arts insider said that one artist painting in the village on Monday was asked to leave. More on that if I can find the artist. 

“We rewrite ordinances all the time when we find problems. I think if there were clear collaboration and most people were on the same page the village would feel a lot better about it. The problem was with an EBC summer-long event that was declined.”


Artists have been painting in Ephraim as long as the village has been lovely. That two local gallery owners to block painting on village property, activity which probably brings a lot of free-spending art lovers to Ephraim, should prompt the boards to look at the overall village interests.

Cox was dismayed about how much bad publicity Ephraim has had over this.


But it's a little late now.