Racine Art Museum

11/23/2024

RAM members, get ready for a special treat next week with the RAM Museum Store Members Sale!

Beginning on Small Business Saturday, November 30, and running through Saturday, December 7, RAM members can enjoy an increased 20% discount at the RAM Museum Store. This annual sale is a perfect opportunity for holiday shopping, offering a unique selection of gifts at reasonable prices.

Want to take part in this terrific sale but aren’t yet a RAM member? Through the end of the year, a new or lapsed one-year Family Membership (a $75 value) can be purchased for just $50 in honor of RAM Executive Director and Curator of Collections Bruce W. Pepich’s 50 years of service at the museum—use code PEPICH50 during checkout to receive the discount.

Learn more about the RAM Museum Store Members’ Sale or become a RAM member on the museum’s website: https://www.ramart.org/class/ram-museum-store-members-sale-2024/

Image Credits:

Interior view of the RAM Museum Store, Photography: Rachel Comande

11/22/2024

Just like Glinda and Elphaba from Wicked Movie, RAM believes that pink goes good with green.

Did you know that RAM has around 11,000 pieces in its collection? While it might be difficult for you to see them all on display, RAM believes that every piece should be appreciated—that every artwork deserves the chance to fly, if you will. (But don’t worry! RAM promises that no artwork in its care is literally defying gravity!)

Swipe through this post and check out some popular pieces from RAM’s collection that will have you enjoying North America's largest collection of contemporary craft for good.

11/21/2024

With the warm temperatures fading away into the recesses of summer memory, it may be time to book a winter vacation—perhaps a trip to Miami? This watercolor painting, titled Could it be a Miami Beach Abstract Expressionist?, might not be direct from Domingo, but it is direct from North America’s largest contemporary craft collection!

Polish American painter Christel-Anthony Tucholke (1941 – 2023) combines mundane objects that seemingly may not go together into whimsical scenes that verge on the surreal. Sometimes repeating motifs, Tucholke’s work seems to tell a story. However, the artist emphasizes that the pieces are about the exploration of formal qualities and spatial relationships rather than creating a narrative.

Born in Poland to German parents, Tucholke moved to Germany at the age of seven before immigrating to the United States in 1952. In 1964, she received her Bachelor of Science in Art Education from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, and in 1965, she also received her Master of Science in Fine Art. She went on to teach art at both the secondary school and university levels. Tucholke has been included in many Watercolor Wisconsin exhibitions at RAM’s Wustum Museum and was awarded two purchase awards during her career. She is represented in RAM’s collection by 10 works in addition to pieces of study material.

Image Credits:

Christel-Anthony Tucholke
Could It Be a Miami Beach Abstract Expressionist?, 1985
Watercolor and acrylic
30 x 40 inches
Racine Art Museum, Special Papers, Inc. Purchase Award from Watercolor Wisconsin 1985
Photography: Jon Bolton
Not currently on display

11/20/2024

The last day to check out Nicole Acosta: HOOPS—Beyond the Aesthetic Lies the Story is this Saturday, November 23. Don't miss your chance to see this exhibition!

Learn more: https://www.ramart.org/exhibit/nicole-acosta-hoops/

This week is your last chance to see Nicole Acosta: HOOPS—Beyond the Aesthetic Lies the Story at RAM’s Wustum Museum!

In her HOOPS project, Milwaukee-based artist Nicole Acosta draws on the cultural history of adornment to create portraits of individuals in hoop earrings. This exhibition shows a sampling of the more than 100 stories, images, and ideas she has documented so far from across the county.

Learn more about Nicole Acosta: HOOPS on RAM’s website: https://www.ramart.org/exhibit/nicole-acosta-hoops/

Nicole Acosta: HOOPS—Beyond the Aesthetic Lies the Story is supported in part by an Equity Innovation Fund Grant from United Way of Racine County.

Image Credits:

Nicole Acosta
Tiffany, 2023
Digital inkjet print
Photography: Courtesy of the Artist

11/20/2024

Did you know that the bank vault that John Dillinger robbed still exists at RAM? Located in the museum's basement, this vault is on display for a few lucky people during RAM's speakeasy-inspired cocktail parties. (Make sure to bid on a chance to win this exclusive offering at SAVOUR 2025!)

Today in 1933, John Dillinger robbed the American Bank & Trust in Downtown Racine, which is now the site of the Racine Art Museum. You can learn more about this infamous crime at the Racine Heritage Museum.

Learn more: https://www.racineheritagemuseum.org/s/stories/dillinger

11/19/2024

Jacob B. Lewis (1955 – ) is a member of the Squamish tribe of the Coast Salish Nation, located in British Columbia, Canada. He started carving at the age of seven and went on to study art education at Capilano College, British Columbia, Canada. During his studies, he toured France, Holland, and Britain, where he was greatly inspired by the contemporary art he saw in museums.

Lewis is known for his painted hand-carvings. He works in yellow cedar and has produced poles, plaques, bowls, masks, boxes, and reliefs. His designs often take the form of an animal or character with smaller figures integrated within their design and inlaid with abalone shells from New Zealand. These elaborate original designs have gained international renown for their balancing of traditional and contemporary forms. Lewis’ designs pull from the established rules and motifs of Northwest Coast Native art, while also containing a modern dimension of his own making.

Lewis is a Master Carver of the Coast Salish Contemporary Art Movement. His work has been displayed in galleries and institutions across North America, including the Herbert F. Johnston Museum of Art. He is represented in RAM’s collection by one work.

November is National Native American Heritage Month! RAM invites you to use this month to celebrate the creativity and impact of different Indigenous cultures by exploring their art and customs through the museum’s permanent collection, exhibitions, and education programs.

Image Credits:

Jacob B. Lewis
Killer Whale Box, ca. 1985
Yellow cedar, paint, and abalone shell
Racine Art Museum, Gift of Dale and Doug Anderson
Photography: Jarvis Lawson
Not currently on display

11/19/2024

Thank you Downtown Racine for highlighting the work that RAM is doing throughout the community! And thank you Carthage College for welcoming RAM Director of Education Tricia Blasko for this unique look at RAM's education outreach.

11/18/2024

Grab a tiara and celebrate with the Racine Art Museum. Discover enchanting artworks paired alongside some of your favorite Disney princesses, in honor of this royal holiday.

Which is your favorite pairing?

11/18/2024

Wisconsin Photography 2024 closes this week at RAM's Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. Make sure to check it out before its final day on Saturday, November 23!

11/16/2024

Have you visited RAM in the last four months? Please consider filling out a short survey!

As part of Wisconsin Art Destinations, RAM has joined with 16 other art museums to raise the profile of the state as a destination for the visual arts. The Wisconsin Department of Tourism, who funds the Wisconsin Art Destinations coalition, is interested in knowing how their contributions make a difference. By filling out this survey—which only takes two minutes to complete—by the end of November, you can help the coalition secure future financial support.

Complete the survey here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/ZL9WW3S

In addition to RAM, Wisconsin Art Destinations is comprised of the following art museums: Art Preserve of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan; Bergstrom-Mahler Museum of Glass in Neenah;
Charles Allis Art Museum in Milwaukee; Chazen Museum of Art in Madison; Haggerty Museum of Art in Milwaukee; John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan; Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum in Wausau; Madison Museum of Contemporary Art in Madison; Miller Art Museum in Sturgeon Bay;
Milwaukee Art Museum in Milwaukee; Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend; Paine Art Center and Gardens in Oshkosh; The Rahr-West in Manitowoc; Trout Museum of Art in Appleton, Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee.

Image Credits: Exterior View of RAM, Photography: Christopher Barett of Hedrich-Blessing

11/15/2024

There are so many reasons to love RAM! From its world-class exhibitions to education outreach programs that service nearly 50,000 people each year, RAM does so much for the Racine.

Now is your chance to support RAM and its endeavors throughout the community. Throughout the end of the year, the first $50,000 donated will be generously matched by David Charak and The Ruffo Family Foundation.

Head to RAM’s website to learn more about supporting the museum or donate now: https://www.ramart.org/get-involved/

11/14/2024

With three exhibitions recently opening, RAM Curatorial Assistant Katelyn Mitchell thought she’d give you a closer look at one of them—Zero Waste: Jewelry.

Learn more about this exhibition on RAM's website: https://www.ramart.org/exhibit/zero-waste-jewelry/

11/13/2024

“While my Native American roots incline me toward a meditational regard for the Earth and its beings, I am fascintated [sic.] by things in opposition like plants growing against walls. I find this a powerful visual metaphor.”

Sally Larsen (Apache/Aleut, 1954 – ) describes herself as a multi-media artist who makes conceptual photographs. She combines traditional photography techniques, such as orotone, with contemporary digital methods to create images which sit ambiguously between the past and the present. In order to create these orotones, Larsen prints her images on emulsion covered panes of glass which are backed with a layer of gold leaf. The gold leaf shines through the glass to give color to the prints and reflects light in ways that provide dimensionality. Her photographs of the Southwest landscape references artists such as Edward Curtis, who photographed native people in his ethnographic images of the early twentieth century. Larsen captures many of the same topographical icons as Curtis, except devoid of people, highlighting these places as memory-sites in the wake of colonialism. Her use of gold also serves a symbolic function; it references the westward expansion of manifest destiny and the gold rush which displaced and subjugated native peoples.

Larsen is represented in RAM’s collection by this example of her orotone prints which is currently on display in RAM Showcase: Storytellers—Narrative Photography from Artists of Color.

November is National Native American Heritage Month! RAM invites you to use this month to celebrate the creativity and impact of different Indigenous cultures by exploring their art and customs through the museum’s permanent collection, exhibitions, and education programs.

Image Credits:
Sally Larsen
Canyon de Chelly, 1994
Orotone print, edition 2/10
12 1/2 x 18 1/2 inches
Racine Art Museum, the Karen Johnson Boyd Collection
Photography: Jarvis Lawson

11/12/2024

Free art-making opportunity at RAM's Wustum Museum of Fine Arts this Thursday!

11/11/2024

Have you visited the latest gallery space at RAM yet? The Colonel L.C. Christensen Sculpture Courtyard is open through this Saturday, November 16, and you don’t want to miss its inaugural exhibition!

Spotlight on Sculpture: Dorothy Dehner and Margaret Ponce Israel focuses on one of RAM’s collection strengths—women artists—by featuring steel and bronze sculptures created by two important New York-based figures who are being rediscovered today.
https://www.ramart.org/exhibit/spotlight-on-sculpture-dorothy-dehner-and-margaret-ponce-israel/

After Saturday, this exhibition space will not reopen until next spring/summer, so make sure to check it out. This is your last chance for the year!

Installation view of Spotlight on Sculpture: Dorothy Dehner and Margaret Ponce Israel, Photography: Tyler Potter

11/10/2024

Who’s ready for the RAM Awesome Art Sale?

This popular event is returning to RAM this week and promises visitors the opportunity to purchase one-of-a-kind, museum-quality artwork, antiques, and collectibles that were donated to raise funds to support RAM programs and collections care. Whether you’re looking to add to your collection or find a unique holiday gift, you are sure to find something that speaks to you.

While this sensational sale officially begins at Noon on Thursday, November 14, RAM members can enjoy an exclusive shopping period before the sale opens to the general public.

Members’ Preview
Thursday, November 14 and Friday, November 15
10:00 am – Noon

Open to Members and General Public
Thursday, November 14 and Friday, November 15
Noon – 4:00 pm

Saturday, November 16
10:00 am – 4:00 pm

Learn more about the event on RAM’s website: https://www.ramart.org/class/ram-awesome-art-sale-2024/

Image Credits:

RAM Awesome Art Sale 2024
Photography: Rachel Comande

11/09/2024

What better day to visit RAM than today on Day?

As America’s largest collection of contemporary craft, there is always something new to discover at RAM! Stop in today to check out the museum’s three newest exhibitions—Collection Focus: Polish Fiber, RAM Showcase: Storytellers—Narrative Photography from Artists of Color, and Zero Waste: Jewelry. (Consider this video a sneak peak…)

11/08/2024

With leaves falling off the trees and temperatures steadily decreasing, RAM is certainly aware that the end of the year is fast-approaching. But, before 2025 arrives, there is still time to show your support for RAM.

This year, RAM is happy to announce that the first $50,000 in donations received by Tuesday, December 31, will be matched by two generous funding partners: David Charak and The Ruffo Family Foundation. (Talk about doubling your impact!)
https://donorbox.org/ramyearend2024

All year-end gifts, renewed memberships that lapsed prior to December 31, 2023, new members that join by December 31, 2024, as well as donations to the newly established Bruce W. Pepich Legacy Fund—to help underwrite care, conservation, and presentation of works in RAM's collection—are all eligible for the generous matching. Additionally, a new or lapsed one-year Family Membership (a $75 value) can be purchased for yourself or a friend for $50 in honor of Bruce's 50 years of service at RAM—use code PEPICH50 during checkout to receive the discount.
https://www.ramart.org/membership/family-dual-membership/