“Michael Doerr: Contemporary Woodworks” Opens Thursday, August 21 at The Fairfield Art Center STURGEON BAY, WI  — On Thursday, August 21, the Fairfield Art Center in historic downtown Sturgeon Bay will unveil “Michael Doerr: Contemporary Woodworks” in its first-floor Main Gallery. The exhibition will open with a free reception from 6:30 to 8 p.m. that will include wine from Stone’s Throw Winery, sparkling juices from Door Peninsula Winery and hors d’oeuvres from Cafe Launch, and Doerr will be on hand to visit with guests. “We’re eager for the community to see Michael’s work, because it emphasizes the fact that art isn’t only meant to hang on a wall or stand on a pedestal,” says Shan Bryan-Hanson, the Fairfield’s artistic director. “Contemporary art can be functional, and even as it is used daily within the home, it constantly communicates the unique vision of its creator.” Doerr is a self-described “solo studio artisan.” He designs and builds handmade wooden furniture in a variety of unique designs for both residential and commercial purposes. “There are a number of special characteristics to my work,” he explains. “The selection of individual pieces of wood to enhance the overall design is very important. Another is the flow of the unbroken line that continues throughout the majority of my designs, creating a one-dimensional quality to the overall appearance.” On completion of each piece, Doerr signs and numbers it according to the year it was created, and he applies a hand-rubbed oil finish. “What we craft artists do with our hands echoes in time,” he notes. “Through our creations, we commune with artists who have gone before us.” Those artists include craftsmen of all types. Doerr himself began his working life as a boatbuilder; the Milwaukee native apprenticed to a renowned shipwright after he left college. “I had the great experience of working for and learning from master shipwright Ferdinand Nimphius,” Doerr says. “Working alongside him, building large wooden boats, helped me understand the value of passing on this timeless tradition of craft to the next generation. This legacy of teaching and sharing is what we call the craft tradition. We not only express ourselves through our craft, through the artifacts we create, we leave an imprint of ourselves for future generations. “Working on the theory of design integrity and craftsmanship, I have been inspired by my old mentor, Master Shipwright Ferdinand Nimphius, who once told me, ‘It is not what you accomplish in a day, it is what you have learned,’” he adds. Doerr observes that, thanks to the Industrial Revolution, society traded craftsmanship for the machine, and something was lost in the process. “While a machine can do the work of a human, it cannot put the touch of the human hand to its work,” he says. “As a consumer of craft, I have coffee cups, soup bowls, knives and many everyday products that were purchased from their creators. The touch of their hands greets me… and I wonder to myself, ‘Where are these people, what are they doing, are they well?’ “Fundamental elements of our daily lives, if created by an artisan, bring with them another’s touch to your home… both the very real and transcended intimacy of another human being,” he continues, adding, “In today’s culture, we have the great privilege of personally meeting the artisans. Through these meetings, the patron and the artist become partners in the unique and timeless relationship we call craft.” Over the years, Doerr has worked with wood while building boats, home interiors, furniture and even a play house and forest retreat for his daughter. He says this has led him to become “intoxicated with its existential nature.” “Wood has taught me patience, honed my abstract thought process and accelerated my creativity, but through the ebb and flow of my relationship to (it), it has also taught me restraint,” he explains. “If not used properly, if I do not honor the way it has grown, there are consequences — structural failure, cracking, warping and distortion of the intended work.” Doerr encourages people to visit local arts and crafts fairs, farmers markets and other places where artisans gather to show their work and demonstrate their processes. He says the spirit of a conversation with the craftsman lives on in the purchased piece. “These objects are not inanimate,” he emphasizes. “They are imbued with heart and spirit. Their song has been created by the human hand.” Since Doerr founded Doerr Woodworking in 1989, he has developed a national and international clientele. Furniture historian Oscar Fitzgerald included his work in the Parson School of Design/Smithsonian Institute lecture series on contemporary American crafts. His awards include Honorable Mention in CWB Magazine’s Design Portfolio in 2001 and 2006;  2002 Niche Award nominee; and the 2006 Prima Award for “Best New Product” in Fine Furniture International Magazine. Doerr also is an accomplished teacher. He has lectured at Northern Michigan University's Design School, at the Penland School of Craft and at the Arrowmont School of Crafts. His furniture has been prominently featured in Woodshop News Magazine and Door County Magazine, and his work and story were included with those of masters James Krenov, Sam Maloof and George Nakasima in the book “Craft Furniture: The Legacy of the Human Hand” by Dennis Blankenmeyer. In conjunction with his new exhibition, Doerr will conduct an artist’s talk in the Fairfield Art Center’s Main Gallery at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, September 11. “Michael Doerr: Contemporary Woodworks” will run through Friday, October 10. The Fairfield Art Center is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to creating exhibitions and programs that enhance the understanding and enjoyment of modern and contemporary art in our community, and supporting established and emerging artists in Door County and throughout the State of Wisconsin with an opportunity to show their work in a professional environment. Fairfield exhibitions and programs have been generously supported in part by the Wisconsin Arts  Board with funds from the State of Wisconsin, by Target and by the Friends of the Fairfield.