RAM Honors Famous Wisconsin Architect with Debut of New Gifts to RAM's Collection

Frank Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright Desk, SC Johnson Administration Building, c. 1939, Wood, aluminum and brass Three-Legged Chair, SC Johnson Administration Building, c. 1939, Wood, aluminum, brass and fabric Courtesy of S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc.

Frank Lloyd Wright is widely recognized as a pioneering American architect. Wright not only influenced Racine's own skyline but more significantly, his work has influenced artists, as well as other building designers and environmental planners, for nearly a century. Open May 29 through August 2, 2011, The Wright Stuff: Artists Respond to the Work of Frank Lloyd Wright features graphics and photographs by other artists who have looked to Wright's iconic structures as visual inspiration for works in documentary, abstract and conceptual styles.

The Wright Stuff celebrates the 100th anniversary of the building of Taliesin, Wright's home in Spring Green, Wisconsin, as well as the arrival of new gifts to the Racine Art Museum's collection. These works, donated by Karen Johnson Boyd of Racine, establish an archive at RAM that showcases materials about the architect and provides a survey of the impact of his work as a major inspiration for other artists.

The exhibition emphasizes how Wright's buildings have served as admired aesthetic objects. Included in The Wright Stuff are a 1980 print portfolio by Wisconsin artist Frances Myers and a group of serigraphs by British artist Richard Davies that use Wright buildings as subject matter. These pieces explore the structure of various well-known sites, while playing with pattern, form and design.

This show also features a desk from the Great Workroom at the SC Johnson Administration Building and furniture designed for Wingspread. These remarkable works, on loan to RAM, exemplify the principles of the Wright buildings for which they were designed. Facsimiles of Wright portfolios, books about the architect and related memorabilia further juxtapose his ideas with those of artists he influenced.

Your Passport to a New World

This summer, the Racine Art Museum encourages visitors to embrace adventure, explore new destinations, connect to local culture and uncover cultural influences - all through art.

The travels begin with Field of Vision: Artists Explore Place featuring the work of nine emerging and established artists who create tangible responses to the intangible ideas evoked by a "place." Using a wide variety of media - including linen, wax, glass, paper, porcelain paper clay, paint, and metals - each artist creates rich and varied compositions that transport visitors to new spaces.

RAM journeys next with a Pocket Guide to New Zealand Jewelry, an engaging survey of contemporary jewelry made by artists intimately connected to a far away country that is both socially and culturally similar to and yet, significantly different from the United States.

The presentation of this exhibition at the Racine Art Museum is made possible by: Presenting Sponsors - Karen Johnson Boyd and William B. Boyd, RAM Society Members, Jay Price Ruffo, S.C. Johnson & Son, Inc., The Hearst Foundation, Inc., Windgate Charitable Foundation; Gold Sponsors - Helen Badar Foundation, Inc., National Endowment for the Arts, Racine Community Foundation, Inc., Racine United Arts Fund, and Wisconsin Arts Board; Silver Sponsors - Cotsen Foundation for Academic Research, Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation, Real Racine and W.T. Walker Group, Inc.; Bronze Sponsors - Clifton Gunderson LLP, CNH America LLC, E.C. Styberg Foundation, Inc., Friends of Fiber Art International, In Sink Erator, and Knight-Barry Title, Inc.