Racine Art Museum celebrates nine years of craft art

Racine Art Museum (RAM) celebrated their nine-year anniversary on Nov. 17. Instead of throwing a fashionable birthday gala and being adorned with gifts, they opened their doors to the public free of charge and invited over two dozen nearby galleries and businesses to participate in a gallery night.

The museum had much to offer that night. Four exhibitions, each of which premiered earlier this fall, gave visitors diversity in medium and antidotes.

The museum’s large exhibition space on the second floor is filled with High Fiber: Recent Large Scale Acquisitions in Fiber. The exhibit presents large scale pieces created with a broad range of fibers and textile techniques.

American Swiss-born artist Françoise Grossen‘s manila rope braids resemble an elaborate nautical knot. Ten near-identical braids are laid out on individual platforms of various heights. The scale of the pieces allow viewers to examine the intricacy of braiding, and the shadows and shapes it creates.

“1000 Kannons,” by artist Rebecca Medel, explores a metaphysical space using grid panels made with linen, cotton and ramie tied together by an ancient knotted netting technique. The panels of points and voids symbolize “celestial maps, starlights and galaxies.”

The Cutting Edge: RAM Explores Contemporary Glass Jewelry exhibition presents glass art jewelry in various expressions and forms. The glass components are either created by the artists or found/repurposed, and demonstrate historic glass usage in art jewelry or contemporary and unconventional techniques. Much of the pieces in the exhibition are borrowed from other collections or the artists themselves.

Lena Vigna, curator of exhibitions, is responsible for the collection and has been with RAM since 2010. Besides merely curating exhibitions, she is also in charge of bringing in borrowed items for them. Vigna said she has her finger on the pulse of new trends and young artists.

“Bringing in borrowed pieces is a good way to introduce young and up-and-coming artists to our audience,” Vigna said.

Vigna works closely with executive director Bruce Pepich, sharing a symbiotic dynamic. Pepich has been with the museum for 38 years and knows the collection better than anyone, so while he concentrates on the permanent collection, Vigna works outward and taps into the resources outside of the museum.

Pepich said the collection is growing on a daily basis. “RAM would not have one of the best collection of craft art in the U.S. without our exceptionally generous supporters and patrons. They want to share their love of craft art and help people learn more about the field.”

One of RAM’s most generous donors is Karen Johnson Boyd. Boyd recently donated a collection of artists’ interpretations of James Joyce, on display now through Feb. 3.

If you ask the staff and volunteers of RAM, they’d tell you that year nine has been great, and year 10 is going to be even better. In 2012, RAM created an artist fellowship, awarding $25,000 each to four artists in different stages of their development. The fellows will exhibit their work next fall.

Pepich is planning an “American Idol” style competition in the summer, where the public votes for their favorite piece of art in the collection. Also, a “heritage and heirloom of the past decade” exhibition is in the works for the 10th anniversary celebration.

Visit RAM’s website for more information.

For more photos from RAM, scroll through the slideshow below or visit TCD’s Flickr page, where you’ll find more details and descriptions of the photos.