Racine Art Museum Celebrates Recent Polymer Art Acquisitions

Racine, WI  December 27, 2017. Open January 28 ­– June 24, 2018, Polymer Art: Recent Acquisitions showcases artworks new to Racine Art Museum (RAM) since the donation of over 200 polymer pieces in 2011. These recent gifts have introduced new artists to the collection and expanded upon existing bodies of work by incorporating different types of objects or broadening the scope of years represented. Referencing the significance of the groundwork laid in earlier years, Polymer Art includes pieces that were part of the original gift that established RAM’s polymer collection, the largest of its kind in the world.

In 2011, the Racine Art Museum organized Terra Nova: Polymer Art at the Crossroads, an exhibition featuring works made of polymer, a workable plastic-based compound used to make modeling clays, such as Fimo® or Sculpey®. Primarily comprised of works that had been gifted to RAM, Terra Nova emphasized the development of polymer as an expressive medium in recent decades. In addition, RAM produced a book of the same name and hosted a symposium so that leading artists could come together to discuss the past, present, and future of the material.

While art jewelry comprises the biggest portion of the holdings in this material, there are also examples of sculpture, furniture with polymer veneers, and vessels. This exhibition also debuts a teapot by Jeffrey Lloyd Dever, Seeking Solace, which is the first piece purchased with RAM’s Polymer Art Acquisition and Care Fund. This endowment was established to support the “care and feeding” of pieces already in the museum’s collection and acquire new polymer works.

Polymer Art ties artwork together based on material commonality. Remaining consistent with RAM’s desire to look at the field in a broad context, polymer objects have also been––and will continue to be––shown in exhibitions alongside craft made with other media.

Polymer Art: Recent Acquisitions is made possible by: Platinum Sponsor – Windgate Charitable Foundation; Diamond Sponsor – Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation; Gold Sponsors – Herzfeld Foundation, Johnson Bank, National Endowment for the Arts, W.T. Walker Group, Inc.; Silver Sponsors – Andis Foundation, Racine Community Foundation, Runzheimer International Ltd., Wisconsin Arts Board; Bronze Sponsors – Burlington Graphic Systems, Inc., CNH Industrial, EC Styberg Foundation, Educators Credit Union, In Sink Erator, The Norbell Foundation, Orkney Springs Retreat, Real Racine, Ruud Family Foundation, United Way of Racine County; Media Sponsor – 88NINE Radio Milwaukee

Together, the two campuses of the Racine Art Museum, RAM in downtown Racine at 441 Main Street and the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts at 2519 Northwestern Avenue, seek to elevate the stature of contemporary crafts to that of fine art by exhibiting significant works in craft media with painting, sculpture, and photography, while providing outstanding educational art programming.

Docent led contemporary craft and architectural tours of the museums are available. Both campuses of the Racine Art Museum, are open Tuesday – Saturday 10:00 am – 5:00 pm, and are closed Mondays, Federal holidays and Easter. RAM is open Sunday Noon – 5:00 pm, while Wustum is closed Sundays. An admission fee of $7 for adults, with reduced fees for students and seniors, applies at RAM. Admission to Wustum is free. Members are always admitted without charge to either campus.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.