Racine Art Museum
| Racine Art Museum and RAM’s Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts | |
 |
|
| Established | November 16, 1941 |
|---|---|
| Location | Racine, Wisconsin |
| Website | www |
The Racine Art Museum and RAM’s Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts are located in Racine, Wisconsin.
This was created by the WPA. The Charles A. Wustum Museum was founded in 1941. Jennie E. Wustum, widow of Charles A. Wustum, donated their house, property and small trust fund to the City of Racine, Wisconsin. She had wanted to create an art museum and park that would benefit future generations of the Racine community. In 1941, her donation formally became the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts through the cooperative efforts of the City of Racine and the Racine Art Association (now the Racine Art Museum Association, Inc.)
Sylvester Jerry was named the first Director of the Wustum Museum. He oversaw its grand opening on November 16, 1941. The building and program began to grow, especially in Racine’s community in the larger sense. Early support of the museum came from many sources, both individuals and organizations. Western Publishing Company furnished supplies for the classes. Chicago artists exhibited at the museum; Evan Dimitry, a photographer for Life magazine, appeared at fundraisers. Various groups, such as the Racine Camera Club and Charles A. Wustum Flower Guild met at the museum adding to its visibility.
In 1986, the museum received professional accreditation from the American Alliance of Museums, an accomplishment achieved by fewer than 5% of museums nationwide.
The Racine Art Museum (RAM) is located in downtown Racine, Wisconsin. RAM defines its mission as “to elevate the stature of craft to fine arts by presenting collections of ceramics, fibers, glass, metals and wood alongside painting and sculpture based on similarities in artist’s concepts, rather than strict media categorization. The museum plans to continue to collect work of artists who illustrate the diversity of expression and culture. By focusing on education and community outreach, RAM works to present visitors with opportunities to understand, experience and learn about the value of contemporary craft as fine art.”
RAM was first conceived when Wustum’s galleries could exhibit no more than just 10% of the growing collection a year. The construction of RAM was facilitated by two large donations from the SC Johnson Fund and M&I Bank of Racine. The RAM Museum Store opened on November 17, 2002 and the grand opening of the entire museum was May 11, 2003.
RAM’s architecture is a continuation of a rich architectural tradition in the city of Racine. Designed by the award-winning firm, Brininstool & Lynch, the museum features 46,000 square feet (4,300 m2) of space devoted to galleries, an art library, a sculpture courtyard and a collections storage and care area. The outside of the building features an exterior clad in translucent acrylic panels. The panels are an interesting architectural point of interest and create an aesthetic “exoskeleton” for the building. The acrylic facade is lighted from dusk until 10 p.m. The building’s architecture also features qualities meant to interact with the larger community, such as large frameless windows along the sidewalks to accommodate displays of artwork, which stimulate the public to interact with the artists’ work. The building also was created with environmentally friendly concepts, such as the floor backing being created out of recycled rubber from automobile tires.
...
Wikipedia