Sturgeon Bay is all about the bass for summer street art project

STURGEON BAY - If you see a bass on a sidewalk around downtown Sturgeon Bay over the next few months, it's not the proverbial "one that got away" from the fishing tournament held here last month.

Instead, it's one of 27 that are painted, decorated, enhanced, reimagined and in some cases Frankenstein-ed by local artists for "Bass Around the Bay," this summer's street art project for Destination Sturgeon Bay. It's the 23rd annual such display of street art in the city, but the first time that the hugely popular game fish has been the subject.

As in past years of the street art project, the imaginative artworks are mounted on stands starting in late May in front of sponsoring businesses and organizations on both sides of the channel in Sturgeon Bay. Many are within walking distance of each other, and maps are available to download from the Destination Sturgeon Bay website or pick up from their welcome center to show their locations.

The fish will be on the street until days before Sept. 16, when each one is sold to the highest bidder in the annual Street Art Auction that's part of the city's Harvest Fest community celebration. Bids can be made online as well as at the live auction, and proceeds are split between the artist and Destination Sturgeon Bay, which earmarks them for beautification projects and future street art projects.

The bass take over for the "Cherries Jubilee" project of artist-reinvented cherries Destination Sturgeon Bay sponsored the past three years. Other subjects over the years have featured sturgeon (of course), lighthouses, sails and "Chair-ies," Adirondack-style deck chairs.

While the art cherries were popular and certainly fit a Door County theme, Cameryn Ehlers-Kwaterski, executive director of Destination Sturgeon Bay, said it simply was time for a change.

"The street art program does rotate to give bidders a little bit of variety," Ehlers-Kwaterski said. "But it's also good to give the artists a chance to do something different."

She said several ideas for a new theme were discussed among staff and participating artists, and the bass won out because of the impact of bass fishing on the county's tourism industry. That impact comes not only from recreational fishers and fishing guides in Door County but also from the world of professional fishing tournaments. The annual Sturgeon Bay Open Bass Tournament held each May draws competitors from all over, and Bassmasters, the internationally known sanctioning body, has held several bass tournaments based in Sturgeon Bay.

But those bass won't be mistaken for the bass found on the city sidewalks, even if the city ones end up mounted in someone's trophy room.

Some are painted with bright colors depicting flowers, butterflies, sunsets or waterscapes. There's a patriotically colored one and a couple in shimmering metallics. One, "Beer Battered Bass" by Bryce Remy at Kitty O'Reilly's Irish Pub, is covered with 750 beer bottle caps. Another, "Gill-ty As Charged" by John Watry at Door County Traders, is made from a hodgepodge of found metal materials. And a couple others went Dr. Frankenstein and merged the bass fish with the bass musical instrument.

"I have been blown away by the creativity of our artists," Ehlers-Kwaterski said. "This is our 23rd year, and I think each year the creativity just keeps getting better and better."

For more information, including a look at all the bass, maps to their locations and auction information, go to the Destination Sturgeon Bay Welcome Center, 36 S. Third Ave., Sturgeon Bay; call 920-743-6246, or visit sturgeonbay.net.

Contact Christopher Clough at 920-562-8900 or [email protected].

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