I had been looking forward to the Girls' Weekend getaway to Door County for six weeks, and when the weekend finally came, Mother Nature decided to shed a little “water weight”…for three straight days. We became one of the countless damp, little bands of women roaming the streets of Egg Harbor, Ephraim, and Sister Bay darting in and out of charming storefronts and art galleries like packs of she-wolves on the hunt.

Starting out at the venerable Edgewood Orchard Galleries in Fish Creek, we focused on the art of Door County. True to its name, the galleries are housed in a 1918 stone fruit barn on an 80 acre orchard. It’s the perfect backdrop for the works of over 100 artists, many with national followings. The outside sculpture garden is lovely, and we were greeted by a good number of bronze pieces by Cedarburg’s C.T. Whitehouse: simple and graceful vessels—some crafted into fountains—that will live out their days as the centerpiece of a lucky collector’s home garden.

From there we entered Edgewood Orchard's Courtyard Gallery where, now through the end of October, Cedarburg’s own Renee Graef is featured with original illustrations from the newly published book “D is for Dala Horse: A Nordic Countries Alphabet.” The work is gorgeous, rich in color and charming detail. In one of the pieces, I was sure I saw Renee’s own face as a young girl in the crowd.

What a thrill it was to walk into the main gallery and be in the midst of such beauty…and so many Cedarburg-area artists. The art of Door County turned out to be, in significant part, the art of Ozaukee County! Marcia Boyd, Jean Crane, Susan Hale, Bruce Hustad, Shelby Keefe, Mary Ulm Mayhew, Jane Boller Stroebel, Tom Uttech, and Catherine Laing. Without doubt, the Cedarburg Artists Guild (CAG) is the most represented guild in Door County. From Edgewood Orchard and onto the Fine Line Designs Gallery in Ephraim and in and out of little pockets of loveliness all up and down the peninsula. And over and over and over again, we ran into CAG artists! Is Door County actually Ozaukee County North?

I like to say that the arts community in Cedarburg is its greatest natural resource. I would venture an educated guess that Cedarburg is home to more people in the arts professions (artists, authors, furniture makers, architects, musicians, etc.) per capita than any other place in Wisconsin and maybe in the Midwest. Richard Florida’s “Creative Class” stresses the importance of having a healthy percentage of residents in the creative professions. The Creative Class infuses a community with vibrancy, economic resiliency, and a sense of place. Certainly this is the case in Cedarburg! If you at all doubt me, get out your calendar and plan to attend the CAG's Covered Bridge Studio Tour: October 7th, 8th and 9th, 2011.  You’ll enjoy “a weekend of discovery as you explore the studios of over 60 artists in the quaint, historic towns and countryside of Newburg, Port Washington, Grafton, Cedarburg, Mequon and Thiensville.”

Door County? It’s a lovely place. But if you want to see the place where much of that art is born, come to Ozaukee County!