Photography: Skip Simonsen

The Racine Art Museum is pleased to announce Bruce W. Pepich, RAM Executive Director and Curator of Collections, will receive the prestigious Wisconsin Visual Art Lifetime Achievement Award. On Sunday, May 22 at 1:30 pm, Pepich will be honored at the Museum of Wisconsin Art in West Bend.The 8th annual WVALAA ceremony, which is free and open to the public, will include discussions with award winners. Also, UW-Milwaukee art and design professor Nathaniel Stern will give a presentation entitled Memories of the Future Art, Technology and Critical Mediation.

Founded in 2004 as a collaboration between the Museum of Wisconsin Art, Wisconsin Painters and Sculptors/Artists in All Media (now Wisconsin Visual Artists) and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, the WVALAA is essentially the in-state "Hall of Fame" for individuals, groups and organizations who have supported the visual arts with distinction.

One of Wisconsin's longest-serving arts administrators, Pepich celebrates a distinguished 37-year career anniversary with the Racine Art Museum Association (RAMA) and oversees all aspects of RAMA operations at two campuses: the Racine Art Museum (RAM) and RAM's 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 of any North American art museum. 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. A published art critic and curator of the perennial Watercolor Wisconsin competition, Pepich has served as juror for over fifty national and international art competitions.

Other recipients to be honored this year include: Jane Brite, Tom Every (Dr. Evermore), Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Fred Smith, Arthur Thrall, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein and Lee Weiss.

For more information on WVALAA artists and the annual event, visit wvalaa.com.