By Sharon Verbeten
Door County has long been considered a paradise for visual artists like painters, potters and performers. But it wasn’t until the last decade or so that creative writers really found a place to call their own.
Sure, there were notable writers like Norbert Blei who called the peninsula home, but it wasn’t until recently that creative writers found a place devoted solely to their craft.
Write On, Door County launched in 2013, when an anonymous gift of property gave the nonprofit a venue in Juddville. And with a new 2,000-square-foot facility on a 39-acre campus, Write On is ready to welcome new audiences. (It’s also home to Blei’s original writing “coop.”)
“Why didn’t Door County have something sooner is something people were asking,” says Jerod Santek, artistic director of Write On. “The response has been very positive from throughout Wisconsin.”
Write On, Door County offers classes, workshops and conferences for all ages, as well as residencies for writers.
“We do want to appeal to both readers and writers,” Santek adds. “Once people get permission and encouragement to tell their story, wonderful things can happen.”
Award-winning children’s book author Miranda Paul has found the venue beneficial for both her soul and her work. “I finished two books while on residencies at Write On, Door County over the years. Both (books) received multiple starred reviews and are illustrated by Caldecott honor artist Jason Chin.”
She and her husband, Baptiste Paul, also a children’s book author, spent a winter break at the venue with their children. “During the time … even our kids wrote poems with us,” she adds. “Residency programs aren’t always friendly for parents who write, but Write On is a gleaming exception.”
Journalists, professional writers and those with Master of Fine Arts and publishing backgrounds make up the nonprofit’s board, helping Write On, Door County carry out both its mission and its three-year strategic plan.
“They all care passionately about our mission,” says Lauren Ward, Write On’s managing director. “Because we are focused on our mission as opposed to drawing a profit, we want to ensure we offer a variety of opportunities that can be affordable or free. We’ve found a really nice balance between procuring donor relationships and memberships.
“Our goal is to break even every year and grow slightly,” she continues. “We feel incredibly blessed to have the support of our donors.”
Write On is looking forward to returning to business as usual after a year of shutdowns due to the pandemic. The new building was finished in the past year, and quick thinking helped staff pivot.
“We never stopped what we do here,” Santek says. “We moved all our programming online.”
Some nonprofits didn’t survive the pandemic, and Santek says while Write On leaders were worried about revenues during COVID, an American Rescue Plan grant helped them fund personnel, services, teachers and facilities.
In April 2020 — National Poetry Month — Write On reached out to members of the Door County community asking them to post videos on YouTube of themselves reading a favorite poem.
“It was really wonderful,” Santek says. “We got a lot of views and a lot of attention.”
Both Santek and Ward hope a return to normalcy will help them fulfill their mission of serving readers and writers, and not just those in Door County.
“Some of the most important work we can all do is serving our communities,” Ward says. “The doing is the challenge and getting the right people to the table.”
writeondoorcounty.org
