Current Exhibitions
Presenting work from artists who create meaningful statements in craft media, RAM dispels any differentiation between fine art and craft and between the artist and the craftsperson. Exhibitions at RAM emphasize ideas behind the artwork, rather than following strict media categories.
All shows at RAM change two to three times each year. Exhibitions are currently being drawn almost exclusively from RAM’s extensive and dynamic collection.
RAM Showcase: Focus on Glass
This exhibition spotlights glass as an art medium but, more importantly, in some ways, calls attention to the work of contemporary artists of color from RAM’s collection. While neither of these two threads are unique ones at RAM, this is the first exhibition dedicated to featuring only artists of color working with this material.
RAM Showcase: Russell T. Gordon and James Tanner
This exhibition—part of the RAM Showcase series—highlights the work of artists Russell T. Gordon and James Tanner, both of whom were educators with significant positions in their respective universities. While both of their works have been shown at RAM before, this exhibition is an opportunity to share more about the artists—reflecting a few moments of intersection between them.
David R. Harper: Zodiac
This exhibition features a series of sculptural works by David R. Harper based on the signs of the zodiac. Harper uses imagery and metaphor to encourage people to think about how an object’s meaning can change based on who is interacting with it.
What’s Your Sign? RAM Virtual Community Art Show
Responding to the RAM exhibition, David R. Harper: Zodiac, Racine Art Museum and RAM’s Wustum Museum invited artists to take part in the third RAM Virtual Community Art Show. In response, 20 artists from around the country submitted work that somehow investigates astrological symbols.
Dynamic Duos: Collaborative Glass Artists from RAM’s Collection
Comprised of artwork from RAM’s collection, this exhibition investigates artistic practices and the particular challenges and rewards of working collaboratively. Yet it also raises questions about how such working processes break down assumptions about historical models that privilege a single artist.
Sketchbooks from RAM’s Collection: Exploring Process
This exhibition features sketchbooks by notable artists in RAM's collection that offer insight into creative practices and, sometimes, into an artist’s daily life.
On Fire: Surveying Women in Glass in the Late-Twentieth Century
With work drawn from RAM’s collection and centered on the 1980s and 1990s, this exhibition in RAM's street-facing Windows on Fifth Gallery outlines the concerns of women artists dedicated to exploring the sculptural, visual, metaphorical, and creative potential of glass.
Watercolor Wisconsin 2022
Now in its 56th year, Watercolor Wisconsin was started in 1966 to honor the depth and breadth of watercolor in the State of Wisconsin. This year’s show at RAM’s Wustum Museum features 106 works by 95 Wisconsin artists.
Vignettes: Concentrated Views of RAM’s Collection
Vignettes is comprised of several smaller exhibitions of works gathered under various organizing principles or themes—emphasizing specific characteristics of the individual pieces and overall groupings.
Gathering Voices at RAM: 20 Years of Building America’s Largest Contemporary Craft Collection
On the surface, Gathering Voices is a cursory, media-specific look at 20 years of building RAM’s collection. Yet, with an emphasis on works acquired in the last five to seven years, it also highlights critical and more expansive directions to be taken.
