Featuring work from nearly 100 emerging and established artists and makers, Woodwalk Gallery is known for its extensive collection of a wide range of works; from wood-wares, jewelry and ceramics to oil paintings, weavings, and encaustics. Woodwalk seeks to be a place that celebrates all things handmade in a variety of art and craft media.
Woodwalk is also a venue for live music, art-making workshops, farm-to-table dinners, weddings, and unique creative gatherings.
Creativity and the arts are a part of our collective wellbeing. The arts humanize and sustain us, allowing us to share our stories and experience the stories of others. The arts promote connection, compassion, and empathy. Artists push our culture forward and help us see the world in new and interesting ways. A piece of art has the unique power to lift the human spirit. At Woodwalk Gallery, we strive to connect each of our visitors with art that inspires them.
Our mission is to maintain a welcoming, inspiring, evolving space that celebrates community, creativity, and the arts.
Today, Joslyn and Matt Villalpando (and their two girls, Josephine and Sylvie) are the new keepers of this magical place. Having been married here in 2015, they fell in love with Woodwalk, dreaming of continuing the legacy and evolution of the venue. Joslyn has a background in art and art education, most recently serving as the Director of Arts Programming for a charter school network in Chicago. She brings a love for making, curating, teaching, and hosting to Woodwalk. Matt, who grew up in Door County, has a background in Real Estate and looks forward to adding even more live music and creative gatherings while diving into lots of projects.
HISTORY
In 1994, Margaret Lockwood and Allin Walker opened Woodwalk Gallery (Woodwalk a combination of their last names) in an old schoolhouse in Juddville. Years later, they saw an opportunity to turn an old dairy barn in Egg Harbor into a new home for Woodwalk Gallery. Beginning in 2005, they spent two years renovating the space, creating a lofted straw bale insulated studio for Lockwood, a beloved Door County painter. The wing of the barn was transformed, finished with white walls, and the entire space eventually housed artwork from 50 artists, including Lockwood.
For the 7 years that Lockwood and Allin had Woodwalk, it evolved to host concert series and weddings, quickly becoming a Door County gem.
In 2015, the couple set their sights on another historical building renovation. They beautifully transformed a vacant space, built in 1862 under the banner of The Advocate Print Office, into Margaret Lockwood Gallery. Located in Sturgeon Bay, it operates to this day, housing all of Lockwood's etherial, captivating paintings.
Handing Woodwalk Gallery to Jillaine and Andy Seefeldt in 2015 set the stage for another transformation. The Seefeldts nearly doubled the number of exhibiting artists, created mesmerizing gardens and custom built various spaces around the barn, adding to its function and charm. While operating Woodwalk, the couple also founded Rustics by Design, a sustainable furniture and home-wares business using locally harvested and historical lumber. Each piece is still made inside the massive quonset hut on the property.
The Villalpando family is immensely grateful to be at Woodwalk, fulfilling a years long dream- living in the farmhouse with their girls whom adore roaming around the land's many beautiful features, no matter the weather.