Racine, WI     September 4, 2013
RAM Presents In-Depth: Ken Loeber
 

Open September 15, 2013 through January 26, 2014, the Racine Art Museum (RAM) exhibition Collection Focus: Ken Loeber features gifts and promised gifts to RAM's collection, as well as work borrowed from the artist that outlines his career path to-date. Spanning nearly five decades, RAM's holdings chart the dynamism of Loeber's varied output.

Ken LoeberBrooch, 1993

14k-gold and South Sea pearl

2 7/8 x 2 1/2 x 1/2 inches

Racine Art Museum, Promised Gift of Karen Johnson Boyd

Photography: Tom Van Eynde

Ken Loeber manipulates metal-as well as other media such as coral, pearls, and shells-into compelling adornment, hollowware, and flatware. Embarking on what has been described as a "sculptural exploration of mass and space," Loeber creates work that reflects both his observations of the world around him and his desire to craft compositions that are rooted in harmony and balance.

 

Loeber attributes his interest in defining and shaping form to a background in sculpture. He was awarded an MFA in the field from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1978. Loeber's resulting body of work seamlessly blends one-of-a-kind brooches and lines of production jewelry with flatware and hollowware.

 

The core of this exhibition is a group of over 30 pieces spanning the artist's career that have recently been promised to RAM's permanent collection by long-term Loeber collector and RAM supporter Karen Johnson Boyd. These works represent major stages in the artist's development from both his one-of-a-kind and production jewelry lines as well as his hollowware pieces. These intended gifts will join six works by Loeber already presented to RAM's collection by Mrs. Boyd between 1991 and 2013.

 

A collection study guide accompanying this exhibition is available free to RAM members and with paid museum admission. The guide features an essay on the significance of Loeber's work along with color images of his pieces within RAM's permanent collection. The 20-page guide is also available for $5 plus shipping by calling the RAM Museum Store at 262.638.8200.

 

This exhibition is made possible in part by: Presenting Sponsors Karen Johnson Boyd and William B. Boyd; Emile H. Mathis II Estate, in Memory of his Parents: Emil H. and Anna T. Mathis; SC Johnson; Windgate Charitable Foundation; Gold Sponsors - National Endowment for the Arts; Racine United Arts Fund; Silver Sponsors - Elwood Corporation; Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation; Racine Community Foundation; W.T. Walker Group, Inc.; Wisconsin Arts Board; Bronze Sponsors - The A.C. Buhler Family; CNH America LLC; Corner House; Craft in America PBS Series; E.C. Styberg Foundation, Inc.; Educators Credit Union; In Sink Erator; The Norbell Foundation; Perimeter Gallery, Chicago; Real Racine; Robert W. Baird & Co.; Runzheimer Foundation; Ruud Family Foundation; Carol C. Saunders. 

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RAM at 10 | Growing America's Craft Collection
This year marks the Racine Art Museum's 10th Anniversary in Downtown Racine. Visitors are invited to discover stunning exhibitions that shine a light on RAM's achievements over the past decade and predict an even brighter future.

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
262.619.3543