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Racine, WI September 2, 2010
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RAM Executive Director to Receive Prestigious Governor's Award
Bruce W. Pepich, RAM Executive Director
and Curator of Collections  |
The Racine Art Museum is pleased to announce Bruce W.
Pepich, RAM Executive Director and Curator of Collections, will receive a
professional Arts Administrator 2010 Governor's Award in Support of the Arts.
On Thursday, October 28 at 5:30 pm, Governor Jim and Jessica Doyle will host a
ceremony at the Executive Residence in Madison to honor recipients.
The Governor's Awards in Support of the Arts is an annual
event, sponsored by the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts (WFA), with support
this year from ABC Supply Co., Inc., Beloit. Since 1980, the WFA has shared
with the Executive Office the pleasure of honoring more than 145 individuals,
businesses, and organizations whose extraordinary contributions to the vitality
of the arts in local communities or statewide deserves recognition.
Celebrating his distinguished 37-year career anniversary
with the Racine Art Museum Association (RAMA), Pepich oversees all aspects of
RAMA operations at two campuses: the Racine Art Museum (RAM) and the Charles A.
Wustum Museum of Fine Arts (Wustum). With an interest in contemporary crafts,
Bruce established the area as a second focus, which attracted generous
donations from local and national collectors creating one of the premier craft
collections in North American art museums. The collection outgrew its facility,
prompting fundraising for a new museum, which opened in 2003. Pepich oversees a
collection of more than 5,000 works and a studio art program offering classes
for children and adults.
Each recipient of the 2010 Governor's Award will receive a
gift of original art, in addition to a personal citation signed by the
Governor. This year the Foundation commissioned Wisconsin artist Jon Michael
Route of Frederic, whose handmade metalwork is featured in many of the best
art/craft festivals in the United States. A 1998 Wisconsin Arts Board
Individual Artist Fellowship recipient, his work was featured in Metalsmith
magazine's 2001 Exhibition in Print, and in his solo show at the Villa
Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, Milwaukee in 2009. For more information, visit
portalwisconsin.org/gallery/metalwork or
www.JonMichaelRoute.com.
Video highlights of each recipient's work supporting the
arts will be shown at the ceremony. Those highlights, coupled with scenes from
the award presentation, are aired on many commercial and public television
stations following the event. This year the video program is supported in part
by a grant from the Wisconsin Arts Board, with funds from the State of
Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts is a nonprofit public organization
supported solely by membership dues and contributions. For more information,
contact Jeffrey Bartell, Chair of the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts
(608/283-2447) or Kristi Williams, Executive Director.
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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 to the public 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 $5 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.
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For more information or to request images, please contact:
Laura Gillespie
RAM Marketing Assistant
262.638.8300 x 114
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