The Racine Art Museum (RAM) and RAM's Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts are located in

Racine, Wisconsin Racine ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located on the shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Root River. Racine is situated 22 miles (35 km) south of Milwaukee and approximately 60 ...

, U.S. The museum holds the largest and most significant contemporary craft collection in North America, with more than 9,500 objects from nationally and internationally recognized artists. The Racine Art Museum's mission is to exhibit, collect, preserve, and educate in the contemporary visual arts. Its goal is to elevate the stature of craft to fine arts by presenting contemporary crafts alongside paintings and sculptures.

History

Jennie E. Wustum, widow of Charles A. Wustum, died on December 3, 1938, and left their house, property and a small trust fund to the City of Racine, Wisconsin, for the creation of a public art museum and park. The property was on the edge of town, across the street from the J & W Horlicks malted milk factory. The Italianate mansion was of brick construction with a cupola on top. A city ordinance creating the Wustum Museum and Park Commission was passed in 1940, and in 1941, the property became the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. The museum's grand opening was on November 16, 1941, and Sylvester Jerry was named the first director. The first exhibit was 96 paintings by Wisconsin artists, followed by a collection of contemporary lithographs from the

Redfern Gallery The Redfern Gallery is an exhibition space in the West End of London specialising in contemporary British art. It was founded by Arthur Knyvett-Lee and Anthony Maxtone Graham in 1923 as an artists' cooperative on the top floor of Redfern Hous ...

in London, and watercolors by Midwestern artists. The museum's permanent collection began with a donation of 294 Works Progress Administration (WPA) artworks including textiles from the Milwaukee Handicraft Project, and paintings, photographs, and block prints from Wisconsin- and New York-based artists. Jerry, who was a supervisor for the WPA Art Program before joining the museum, arranged a 99-year lease for the collection which contained works by artists such as lithographer Mabel Dwight, painter Rufino Tamayo, and photographers Brett Weston and Bernice Abbott. The WPA works continue to be shown in occasional exhibitions, the latest in 2017. In the 1980s, the museum began to focus on crafts by American artists.

Karen Johnson Boyd Karen Johnson Boyd (May 16, 1924 – January 29, 2016) was an American art dealer, collector and billionaire heiress. Early life She was the daughter of Herbert Fisk Johnson Jr. and Gertrude Brauner Johnson. As a teenager, she lived at Wingspr ...

was a major benefactor to the museum donating over 1750 items including 200 objects in 1991 that included works by Wendell Castle,

Dale Chihuly Dale Chihuly () (born September 20, 1941) is an American glass artist and entrepreneur. He is best known in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture". Early life Dale Patrick Chihuly was born on September 20 ...

, Lia Cook, Albert Paley, and

Toshiko Takaezu Toshiko Takaezu (June 17, 1922 – March 9, 2011) was an American ceramic artist, painter, sculptor, and educator who was known for her rounded, closed forms that viewed ceramics as a fine art and more than a functional vessel. She is of Japan ...

. The high quality of these items encouraged donations from others collectors creating the largest collection of contemporary craft in North America.

Racine Art Museum

In 2000, the museum expanded into downtown Racine by moving into an historic building donated by the

M&I Bank Marshall & Ilsley Corporation (also known as M&I Bank) was a U.S. bank and diversified financial services corporation headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that was purchased by Bank of Montreal in 2010. The bank was founded in 1847 and by 2008 ...

of Racine. The renovation of the 1874 bank building, which was designed by Brininstool & Lynch of Chicago, involved the installation of a translucent acrylic shell around the upper two floors of the existing limestone building. The acrylic panels were 18 inches off the surface of the building; they allowed the colors of the limestone to show through during the day and were illuminated at night. The new building increased the museum's space from and included a sculpture garden, an art library, and large storefront windows used for displays. The interior of the building was gutted to create exhibition space including a double-height gallery for larger objects. The $6.5 million funding for the renovation included a gift of $2.7 million from

S.C. Johnson S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. (commonly referred to as S. C. Johnson) is an American multinational corporation, multinational, privately held manufacturer of household cleaning supplies and other consumer chemicals based in Racine, Wisconsi ...

of Racine. Additional funds were used to upgrade the original museum which was retained for educational purposes and regional art displays.

Collection

RAM's permanent collection features more than 9,500 artworks from internationally recognized artists such as Wendell Castle, Dale Chihuly, Lia Cook,

Arline Fisch Arline Fisch (born August 21, 1931) is an American artist and educator. She is known for her work as a metalsmith and jeweler, pioneering the use of textile processes from crochet, knitting, plaiting, and weaving in her work in metal. She dev ...

, Joel Philip Myers, Albert Paley,

, and

Claire Zeisler Claire Zeisler (April 18, 1903 – September 30, 1991) was an American fiber artist who expanded the expressive qualities of knotted and braided threads, pioneering large-scale freestanding sculptures in this medium. Throughout her career Zeisler ...

. * Ceramics: over 1500 objects including pieces from

Rudy Autio Rudy or Rudi is a masculine given name, sometimes short for Rudolf, Rudolph, Rawad, Rudra, Ruairidh, or variations thereof, a nickname and a surname which may refer to: People Given name or nickname *Rudolf Rudy Andeweg (born 1952), Dutch polit ...

Richard DeVore Richard E. DeVore, also written as Richard De Vore (1933 – 2006) was an American ceramicist, professor. He was known for stoneware. He was faculty at Cranbrook Academy of Art’s Ceramics Department, from 1966 to 1978. Background and educat ...

Ruth Duckworth Ruth Duckworth (April 10, 1919 – October 18, 2009) was a modernist sculptor who specialized in ceramics, she worked in stoneware, porcelain, and bronze. Her sculptures are mostly untitled. She is best known for ''Clouds over Lake Michig ...

, Adrian Saxe,

Akio Takamori Akio Takamori (1950 – January 11, 2017) was a Japanese-American ceramic sculptor and was a faculty member at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. Biography Takamori was born in Nobeoka, Miyazaki, Japan in 1950 October 11. The ...

, Robert Turner, and Betty Woodman. The collection also includes over 500 ceramic teapots from the 1950s through the 2000s, one of the largest such collections in the United States. * Fibers: over 450 objects, many of which are sculptural works that employ basketry techniques or materials. The collection contains works by Dorothy Gil Barnes, Lia Cook, Carol Eckert, Lilliam Elliott,

John McQueen John McQueen (February 9, 1804 – August 30, 1867) was an American lawyer and politician. He was U.S. Representative from South Carolina and a member of the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War. Early life and educatio ...

Ed Rossbach Ed Rossbach (Chicago, 1914 – Berkeley, California, October 7, 2002) was an American fiber artist. He earned a BA in Painting and Design at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington in 1940, an MA in art education from Columbia Univer ...

and

. * Glass: works from artists Dale Chihuly, Dan Dailey,

Michael Glancy Michael M. Glancy (February 11, 1950 – August 29, 2020) was an American glass and sculpture artist and arts educator. Biography Glancy was born in Detroit, Michigan in 1950. He began working with glass in 1970 and received a BFA from the Un ...

Judy Jensen Judy Jensen (born 1953) is an American artist who resides in Austin, Texas. She is best known for her Reverse glass painting, reverse painting on glass, although she incorporates other mixed media into her glass pieces. According to Nancy Bless ...

Harvey Littleton Harvey Littleton (June 14, 1922 – December 13, 2013) was an American glass artist and educator, one of the founders of the studio glass movement; he is often referred to as the "Father of the Studio Glass Movement". Born in Corning, New Yor ...

, Joel Phillip Meyers and Ann Wolff. * Metals: over 1,200 works including artists Chunghi Choo, Keven O'Dwyer, Robert W. Ebendorf, Fred Fenster,

, Ken Loeber,

Eleanor Moty Eleanor Moty (born 1945), is an American metalsmith and jewelry artist. Her experimentation with industrial processes, such as photoetching and electroforming, was revolutionary in the field of American art jewelry in the 1960s and 1970s. Caree ...

, Albert Paley, and Earl Pardon. * Wood: includes turned vessels, as well as furniture. One of the highlights of the collection is a Wendell Castle desk that was in the '' Objects: USA'' exhibition in 1969. Other artists include Gary Knox Bennett,

John Cederquist John Carl Cederquist (born August 7, 1946) is an American sculptor in wood and builder of studio furniture who was born in Altadena, California. He graduated from Long Beach State College with a BA in 1969 and an MA in 1971. Cederquist is best ...

, Thomas Hucker, Mark Lindquist,

Matt Moulthrop The Moulthrop family are three generations of American woodturners, starting with Ed Moulthrop, credited as the "father of modern woodturning". The family has been documented in the book ''Moulthrop: A Legacy in Wood''. Ed Moulthrop Ed Moulthrop ...

Jere Osgood Jere Osgood (born 1936) is an American studio furniture maker, and teacher of furniture and woodworking. He taught for many years in the . Early life and education Jere Osgood was born in 1936 and raised in Staten Island, New York. He studied ar ...

Norm Sartorius Norm Sartorius (born 1947) is an American woodworker who carves fine art spoons in many styles including natural, biomorphic, abstract, symbolic, ethnic, and ceremonial. His works are in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian American Art ...

, and Robert Stocksdale. * Handmade books: hand-printed letterpress and larger offset lithography works. The collection includes work from Scott McCarney, Patti Tyrol, Erica Von Horn,

Don Celender Don Celender (1931 – March 3, 2005) was an American conceptual artist and professor. Celender, who began producing art in the late 1960s, used surveys extensively in his work. He would send questionnaires to members of the public, academics, ar ...

, Jim Lee and Bonnie O'Connell.

References

External links

* {{authority control Buildings and structures in Racine, Wisconsin Museums in Racine County, Wisconsin Art museums and galleries in Wisconsin Contemporary crafts museums in the United States Works Progress Administration in Wisconsin Art museums established in 1941 1941 establishments in Wisconsin Tourist attractions in Racine, Wisconsin