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Door Community Auditorium’s Groundbreaking Ceremony for New Gathering Hall and Venue: A Reflection
Fifty-seven of Door Community Auditorium’s closest friends gathered on Monday, May 19 for a groundbreaking ceremony marking the start of construction for the Auditorium’s new “Annex” property, which is being built across Highway 42 from DCA’s main location. The name of the venue and gathering hall will be announced later this summer.
After opening remarks by Martha Luber-Pelrine (DCA Board President) and Jonathan Ballmer (Vice President and General Manager of Boldt Construction’s Northern Operations), Cari Lewis, the auditorium’s executive director, delivered a reflection to the project’s donors, DCA board members, volunteers and staff, construction team members, and members of the public in attendance:
We gather today to celebrate an endeavor which – much like the opening of Door Community Auditorium in 1991-- will benefit our beloved community in countless ways, expanding our reach, improving our programs and patron experience, providing more educational opportunities, and creating FUN.
I was asked recently why a supporter of the arts in Door County should fund our project over others. That’s a tricky question, as we view our partners
within the Door County arts community as collaborators, not competitors. We are all here because of community support and we scaffold each other’s growth and success. For instance, the need for the Auditorium was an outgrowth of Friends of Gibraltar, and the fundraising campaign for the auditorium benefited from Peninsula Music Festival’s supporters wanting a proper home for their outstanding orchestra.
But pressed to say why Door Community Auditorium and this new venue, gathering hall, and education center is needed and different from other offerings in the county, I would say this: “For nearly 35 years, Door Community Auditorium has been our county’s year-round home for Door County’s entire arts ecosystem. From kindergartners attending their very first live performance to one of DCA’s founders,
Marian Hislop attending Cantus’ “All is Calm” just days before she passed away. From Myles Dannhausen – who was part of the auditorium’s original groundbreaking ceremony over three decades ago – to him being here today with his son Conner, an incoming Gibraltar kindergartener who will soon begin his own journey of DCA concerts, assemblies, and will eventually graduate on our stage.
There are artists like Gibraltar graduate Zephyr Ciesar who appeared in countless student productions on our stage and who returned to perform a sold-out coffeehouse concert for us this past winter. There are dozens of wonderful working musicians in our county and region who we feature, nurture, and connect with each other. And, there are the touring artists we bring to our community. From megastars like Brandi Carlile and Billy Strings, who came to Fish Creek before they were household names, to legends like Willie Nelson, Buddy Guy, and Gladys Knight. Acclaimed artists of all kinds who frequently express appreciation for how deeply our audiences listen and how well we sing together. This space will help us welcome those artists and provide opportunities for deeper community connections.
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From left: Beth Healy & Mike Fordney, Scott & Duska Pearson, Martha Luber-Pelrine & Ray Pelrine, Jerry Okarma, Jonathan Ballmer, Pam Okarma, Matt Nordlund, Cari Lewis, Chris Cramer, Reece Manteuffel, Myles & Conner Dannhausen, Don & Carol Kress, Tony Meeuwsen, Anne Haberland Emerson & Minnow Emerson, Chris Renier, Mike Vandervoort, Paul Metzer. Photo by Suzi Hass.
Conner Dannhausen with his Dirt Dessert made by Duska Pearson,
Construction Task Force Chair on the right and Carol Kress in the background on left. Photo by Kayla Larsen.
Cari Lewis, Exectutive Director of Door Community Auditorium. Photo by Suzi Hass.
Groundbreaking Ceremony. Photo by Brett Kosmider.
Lead Donor Identified for Door Community Auditorium’s Annex Project
The anonymous lead donor for Door Community Auditorium’s “Annex” project has been named. Chris Cramer of Gibraltar has committed in excess of one million dollars to seed the project, which will build a second program center and gathering hall directly across from the original Auditorium. (The Annex Project has reached about 74% of its fundraising goal, and completion is expected in early 2026.). While the official name for the new center will include “Cramer” in some way, its descriptive name (rather than “Annex”) is yet to be decided. Several names are under consideration; Cramer and DCA are actively accepting suggestions.
Cramer, with his son Nicholas, is making the donation in memory of his parents, Corli & Ron Cramer, and his late wife, Tricia (Nicholas’s mother). Chris’s mother, Corli, had a history in northern Door County going back to the 1920s, including an art teacher aunt from Chicago who summered in the “artists colony” in Peninsula State Park; Chris first visited Door County in the 1950s. Chris and Tricia Cramer (both as a couple and as individuals) were active in the arts throughout their early lives and marriage. Tricia was an art history major, Chicago gallery manager, and art consultant. Chris as a student was a film and concert coordinator at Duke University and served on multiple venue planning committees there and later locally served as a board member of Peninsula Arts Association. Through the Cramers’ work in finance and real estate, they have supported arts organizations and events both locally and nationally.
Chris and Tricia’s long and successful careers forged deep connections in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and Durham, North Carolina, in addition to their consistent presence on the Door County arts scene beginning in the early 1990s. Chris remains passionate about the arts in Door County and wishes to honor the Door County artists and artisans of earlier days who
were instrumental in laying the foundation for the vibrant arts scene Door County enjoys today. He is also excited that the new
venue will elevate the Door Community Auditorium experience for national touring artists and audiences, showcase the many top-notch current (and future) performers who call Door County home, and nurture student artists for years to come.
Donors of all sizes are needed to complete the project. Naming opportunities are available. More information is available at www.dcauditorium.org/encore.
Door Community Auditorium’s Groundbreaking Ceremony
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Door Community Auditorium’s arts ecosystem benefits from – and then gives back to – strong music programs in our schools; our local culture that values the arts; and, our community that supports the powerful exchange of gathering, and sharing silence, stories, and songs.
This project furthers all of that and is bigger than any one of us, so we commemorate the groundbreaking with words bigger than mine from W.E.B. DuBois,
Let us seize the day and the opportunity and strive for that greatness of spirit that measures life not by its disappointments but by its possibilities, and let us ever remember that true gratitude and appreciation shows itself neither in independence nor satisfaction but passes the gift joyfully on in larger and better form.
Spirits were lively at the reception that followed in DCA’s lobby. A special chocolate dirt dessert with miniature shovel spoons was served to commemorate the occasion.
DCA is working with Chris Renier Architects and Boldt Construction on the Annex, which is slated for completion in early 2026. DCA board members have already begun envisioning the first year of programming in the new space, including socializing opportunities before and after DCA Main Stage events, performances by regional artists, private event rentals, group music lessons for both students and adults, social dance lessons,
and unique programming such as comedy nights, blues brunches, polkas, cabarets, jazz lounges, and community game gatherings. The new amenities will also improve DCA’s existing operations, including proper catering support for large touring groups as well as new space for box office and business office operations.
Architectural renderings can be viewed at www.dcauditorium.org.
DCA’s ENCORE campaign goal of $5.51 million –which includes the costs of purchase and preparation of the property as well as construction of the Annex -- is now 74% funded; $1.45 million remains to be raised. Donors of all sizes are still needed, and naming opportunities are available. Folks interested in learning more are invited to contact DCA at director@ dcauditorium.org or (920) 868-2728 ext.4
From left: Thor Thoreson with David Callsen. Photo by Suzi Hass.
Chris Cramer shows Kayla Larsen his name – among 1,200 other community members –on Door Community Auditorium’s founding donor wall. Photo by Suzi Hass.
Corli & Ron Cramer.
Tricia Cramer.
Education Wing to be Named in Honor of Anne Emerson, the Visionary Behind DCA
This article is updated from a 2013 Door County Living article by Myles Dannhausen Jr. after Anne Emerson was honored as the Door County Community Foundation’s Philanthropist of the Year.
Anne Emerson said she doesn’t wake up each day thinking about how she can help people.
“I’ve only done things I thought were exciting and fun,” said the woman who left her job at the University of Chicago Press in 1969 to help her mother open a gallery in Fish Creek – and never left. But in doing the things she found “fun” this woman with an ever-present smile played a pivotal role in bringing some of Door County’s most enduring philanthropic efforts of the last 30 years to fruition.
First there was Friends of Gibraltar, known to most as FOG, which she helped launch in 1982 to bring enrichment programs to Gibraltar School and the community. Over the years that program has brought a bevy of distinguished authors, dancers, artists, and performers to Fish Creek to work with the school’s students.
Then there was the Door Community Auditorium, over which there was a divisive battle in the community that frayed many relationships.
Emerson, along with Peter Trenchard and George Larsen, was a passionate force in making it a reality.
“She had such belief,” recalled former Gibraltar Superintendent Bob Dahlstrom in a 2010 interview. “It wasn’t easy at the time.”
The auditorium helped legitimize the arts community as a force in local cultural and economic circles. In the 35 years since it opened it has hosted the likes of Johnny Cash, Brandi Carlisle, Willie Nelson, Ray Charles, The Lumineers, Jeff Tweedy, Victor Borge, Tracey Chapman, and hundreds more artists.
With two children raising children of their own mere steps from where they were raised on Peninsula Players Road, Emerson didn’t slow
down. She spearheaded the Write On, Door County! project, helping to create a writer-inresidence program and build the Writing Center on Juddville road to host authors, childrens’ programming and classes. It brought her full circle to her first passion – writing.
“It’s what I always wanted to do,” she said. “I don’t regret the move to Door County – now I have something to write about!” She has since written two childrens’ books.
Write On, Door County! was inspired in part by Pastor Michael Brecke, who talked to Emerson about creating a visual arts program for Door County children. Emerson thought the visual arts were covered, but that writing was neglected. She talked to FOG coordinator Vinni Chomeau about an idea, modeled loosely on Dave Eggers’ groundbreaking 826 Valencia, a mentorship program for young writers. Subtly, Emerson had the ball rolling again.
“Things can appear to be a struggle, but now being older and having seen life more, rather than concentrate on the struggle, you concentrate on the positivity that slowly gathers people together,” she says. “If the idea’s worth it, people will come around. I don’t take obstructionists seriously anymore, I just work really hard to make sure it’s so good that they say, ‘I’m really glad it’s here. I’m really glad my kid can be up on that stage.’”
She stays involved with the auditorium, she says, to make sure the promises they made to the community years ago are kept.
Emerson wrestled with the idea of being honored as the Door County Community Foundation’s Philanthropist of the Year in July of 2012. She wasn’t wealthy and her largest monetary contributions to causes came through fundraising.
But then she looked up the meaning of philanthropist.
When Write On was getting off the ground, Emerson expressed her dream for the center.
“We want to match mentors with kids interested in writing, but also create workshops and residencies for adults,” Emerson said. “Eventually we’d like to publish works through it. I don’t know where the money will come from, but I think it will.”
And it did. That line is classic Emerson, who believes in the goodness of people as much as anyone you’re likely to meet. The auditorium controversy was difficult, but she came out of it with an even greater belief in the goodness inside people.
Art for the Annex
Benefit show through June 8
“It doesn’t mean money, it means someone who cares about other people,” she says, pausing.
“How could you not appreciate that?”
At the ceremony, DCCF Director Bret Bicoy praised her example.
“The greatest honor we can bestow upon Anne is not to celebrate her like we did today,” said Bicoy. “But rather, to emulate her like we can do tomorrow.”
That’s no small challenge.
Our 57th season kicked off with our opening show, “Celebrate Door County!”
In that spirit, this show will benefit the Anne Emerson Education Wing at the Door Community Auditorium’s Annex — a soon-to-be-built education, entertaining, and performance space.
Stop by our gallery and sculpture garden to see all the new artwork and join us for our artist reception on Saturday, May 24 from 4-7pm. A portion of all sales from April 26 through June 8 will help bring the Auditorium’s Annex to life. 4140 Peninsula Players Road Fish Creek, WI 54212 EdgewoodOrchard.com 920.868.3579 Shop online anytime at EdgewoodOrchard.com Join us for our 57th season Open 10-5 daily
From left: Anne and Minnow Emerson. Photo by Kayla Larsen.