Feature image: 2026 Artist-in-Residence Juan Carlos Rodríguez Rivera in Door County featured with blooms from OneEighty Petals.
Opening Celebration for 2026 Artist Juan Carlos Rodríguez Rivera
Submitted
Sturgeon Bay, WI – The Miller Art Museum in downtown Sturgeon Bay is pleased to announce the launch of its 2026 Dome House Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist Residency Program with artist Juan Carlos Rodríguez Rivera, whose work explores Puerto Rican identity, decolonial knowledge, and community-rooted storytelling through site-specific installation and design. The program will launch with an Opening Celebration and Meet the Artist event on Saturday, August 15 from 4 – 5:30 pm. This event will take place at the Dome House and is free and open to the public.
Rodríguez Rivera, who goes by Juan Carlos professionally, brings to the residency a practice shaped by his roots in Cataño, Puerto Rico, and by years of site-specific, community-engaged work exploring identity, memory, and the future of the archipelago. During his residency, he will continue developing new work that reflects on place, belonging, and the narratives left out of institutionalized history.
“The Dome House residency offers a critical opportunity to expand my ongoing project, Becoming Post-Tropical, in close dialogue with a northern environment shaped by fresh water, seasonal change, and geological erosion. My goal is to explore how the Door Peninsula landscape informs my material experimentation,” said Rodríguez Rivera.
Rodríguez Rivera holds an MFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute in New York and a BFA from Miami International University of Art & Design. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Graphic Design in the Department of Art and Art History at Wayne State University in Detroit, where his teaching spans typography, graphic design, and design history. His work has been exhibited and supported through fellowships including the Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and SFMOMA, and he is currently a Mellon “Bridging the Divides” Fellow at CENTRO, developing a project reimagining the traditional Puerto Rican school workbook to surface overlooked narratives from the island’s history.
This year marks an exciting milestone for the Dome House Residency, now entering its sixth year since launching in 2021 to support contemporary artists through an immersive residency that prioritizes time, space, and focused exploration. Rooted in the creative legacy of Al Quinlan, the program invites artists to reflect, experiment, and grow within a quiet, inspiring setting. With opportunities for community engagement through public programs, open studios, and conversations, the residency fosters a meaningful exchange between artists and the broader Door County community.
“We are thrilled to welcome Juan Carlos as our 2026 Dome House Artist in Residence,” said Elizabeth Meissner-Gigstead, Executive Director of the Miller Art Museum. “His work bridges personal history, cultural memory, and community in ways that feel deeply resonant with the spirit of this residency, and we can’t wait to see how his practice evolves during his time in Door County.”
Since its founding, the Dome House Residency has supported six years of artists, including Ariana Vaeth and Amy Usdin (2021), Nicole Shaver (2022), Christopher T Wood (2023), Jessica Harvey (2024), and Douglas Pendleton (2025). Each artist has used the residency to develop in-process bodies of work or ambitious new projects, often in dialogue with the natural and cultural landscape of Door County.
In addition to the August 15 opening celebration, additional public programs led by Rodriguez Rivera will be announced in the coming weeks; the public is invited to follow @millerartmuseum and @thedomehouse socials for details. All events will be free and open to the public.
Upcoming Programming
Exploratory Workshop: All the Things a Flower Can Become
Saturday, August 22 | 2 pm
What would you do with the last bouquet of flowers in the world? That question sits at the heart of this hands-on workshop led by artist Juan Carlos Rodríguez Rivera, whose Dome House residency explores memory, ecology, and transformation through natural materials. Participants will spend the afternoon looking closely, documenting, and reimagining a single flower—turning something fleeting into something worth preserving, if only for a moment. No experience necessary, just curiosity. The workshop is free, but registration is required––visit millerartmuseum.org for registration details.
All programs will take place at the Dome House, located at 5015 South Cave Point Drive Sturgeon Bay, WI. Participants are asked to park on the west side of the road and to not block driveways.
About Juan Carlos Rodríguez Rivera
Juan Carlos Rodríguez Rivera (b. 1988, Cataño, Puerto Rico) is an artist, designer, and educator based in Detroit, Michigan. His work spans image-making, print, installation, and sculpture, constructing pieces that respond directly to the environments he inhabits. His practice inhabits the fragile space where what breaks also transforms constantly—embracing fragmentation, repetition, and soft destruction as core making methods.
Recently, Rodríguez Rivera participated in the Radio 28 International Program in Mexico City, where his projects addressed care and rage through cycles of collapse, reconstruction, and dispersion. He has held fellowships and residencies including the Solid/Liquid/Gas Residency at Fallingwater, the Haystack Open Residency at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and a Bridging the Divides Fellowship through Hunter College and Princeton University, and has received grant support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Instituto de Cultura de Puerto Rico.
About the Dome House
Artist and printmaker Albert F. “Al” Quinlan designed and built the Dome House in 1978—now an iconic Door County structure—with a vision for a live/work space existing in equilibrium with the surrounding natural landscape. His daughter MaryGrace Quinlan and her husband Kurt Wagner purchased and renovated the home in 2018, and, together with their family, operate it as a community space and working studio. The Dome House Al & Mickey Quinlan Artist Residency—a single-artist, application-based program focused in the areas of drawing, painting, printmaking, and photography—was launched in 2021 as a partnership between the Miller Art Museum and Quinlan family, and invites emerging and mid-career artists located from the Midwest to the Peninsula to reside for 8 weeks each year. The iconic structure includes an open-concept residence and a sizable working studio for a unique live/work experience. This collaborative partnership serves the broader mission of the Dome House, which is to provide artists working in all mediums with space for creativity, contemplation, and inspiration. Learn more at domehouseart.org and follow @thedomehouse on Instagram.
About the Miller Art Museum
Nestled in the heart of downtown Sturgeon Bay, the Miller Art Museum stands as a beacon of cultural enrichment and artistic exploration. Established in 1975, this dynamic institution has been a cornerstone of the local community, fostering creativity and appreciation for the visual arts. With a diverse collection of more than 1,500 works spanning historical to contemporary, along with regularly changing exhibitions, visitors are treated to a compelling and diverse array of art. From powerful exhibitions highlighting regional and national talent to thought-provoking exhibits that explore the depths, joys, and complexities of our world, the museum offers something for art enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. Beyond its exhibits, the Museum presents an array of educational programs, tours, performances, and events, engaging visitors in experiences that deepen their understanding and appreciation for art. With a commitment to excellence and accessibility, the Miller Art Museum continues to foster connections between artists and community through the creation of opportunities to explore, appreciate, and advance the visual arts.
The museum is located at 107 S. 4th Avenue, downtown Sturgeon Bay, WI, 54235 inside the Door County Library. For information call 920.746.0707 or visit the museum on Instagram at @MillerArtMuseum or Facebook at Miller Art Museum.