A stuffed animal with a dress and a red heart sits on top of a cutting board and a book. The book is called "Soft Sculpture from Scraps".
Janet Mrazek
Suzy-Q, I Love You!, 2025
Fabric, polyfil, buttons, thread, wood, and book
Photography: Tyler Potter

Awakening the Senses: Art that Invites Interaction

June 11 – August 9, 2025
at RAM’s Wustum Museum

While traditional museum etiquette expects visitors to observe from a distance, Awakening the Senses: Art that Invites Interaction encourages guests to break from convention. Activating the senses beyond sight alone, these 26 works by artists in RAM’s community encourage close connections through various combinations of touch, sound, and smell.

Explore the galleries by feeling, trying on, adding to or subtracting from, listening to, or smelling works specifically created to awaken the senses.

More About the Exhibition

Exhibition Checklist (PDF)

Press Room

Caledonia: Martha Hawes, Samantha Nelson; Chevy Chase, MD: Rachel Carren; Chicago, IL: Wallace Bowling; Cudahy: Emily Brownell; Ferguson, MO: Betty Jane Lau; Glendale: Fred Stein; Green Bay:Samantha Morgan; Kenosha: Betsy Davis, Carol Klees-Starks, Leah Mathews, Andrea Mickelson, Dyan Tishuk; Milwaukee: Resa Dries, Katelyn Mitchell; Mount Pleasant: Caroline Neal; Racine: Kelly Darrah, Lisa Englander, Alexander Greiveldinger, Ann Henkes, Jennifer Janzer, Karissa Lee, Janet Mrazek, Sarah Russell, Stephen Smiley, Kelly Witte; Spring Prairie: Veronica Gagliano Averkamp

Awakening the Senses: Art that Invites Interaction

June 11 – August 9, 2025
at RAM’s Wustum Museum
A stuffed animal with a dress and a red heart sits on top of a cutting board and a book. The book is called "Soft Sculpture from Scraps".
Janet Mrazek
Suzy-Q, I Love You!, 2025
Fabric, polyfil, buttons, thread, wood, and book
Photography: Tyler Potter

While traditional museum etiquette expects visitors to observe from a distance, Awakening the Senses: Art that Invites Interaction encourages guests to break from convention. Activating the senses beyond sight alone, these 26 works by artists in RAM’s community encourage close connections through various combinations of touch, sound, and smell.

Explore the galleries by feeling, trying on, adding to or subtracting from, listening to, or smelling works specifically created to awaken the senses.

More About the Exhibition

Exhibition Checklist (PDF)

Press Room

Caledonia: Martha Hawes, Samantha Nelson; Chevy Chase, MD: Rachel Carren; Chicago, IL: Wallace Bowling; Cudahy: Emily Brownell; Ferguson, MO: Betty Jane Lau; Glendale: Fred Stein; Green Bay:Samantha Morgan; Kenosha: Betsy Davis, Carol Klees-Starks, Leah Mathews, Andrea Mickelson, Dyan Tishuk; Milwaukee: Resa Dries, Katelyn Mitchell; Mount Pleasant: Caroline Neal; Racine: Kelly Darrah, Lisa Englander, Alexander Greiveldinger, Ann Henkes, Jennifer Janzer, Karissa Lee, Janet Mrazek, Sarah Russell, Stephen Smiley, Kelly Witte; Spring Prairie: Veronica Gagliano Averkamp

Sample of Work in the Exhibition

Click/tap an image for more information

A rain stick with purple cloth and then bedazzled with shiny squares.
A welcome mat with five different kinds of apes' faces, including a human. It reads "GET YOUR FEET OFF ME YOU FILTHY APE!"
A sculpture of a cat. It has many waves and layers but uses minimal color. It mainly has an earthy sand with dripping streaks of red, brown, and orange.
Walace Bowling, Makes Me Laugh
Resa Dries, Coral Reef
A box opens up into a trifold with a fox chasing a rabbit through a forest.

Exhibitions at RAM are made possible by:

Platinum Partners

The Estate of Karen Johnson Boyd
David Charak
Judith and David Flegel Fund
Ron and Judith Isaacs
Racine Community Foundation logo

The Estate of Marilyn Rothschild
Windgate Foundation

Diamond Partners

Ruffo Family Foundation
Ruth Arts Foundation
Diane Zebell

Gold Partners

Anonymous
Robert E. Kohler Jr. Fund
Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation
Reliance Controls
Trio Foundation of St. Louis
W.T. Walker Group, Inc.
Wisconsin Arts Board 50th Anniversary Logo

Silver Partners

Anonymous
Bader Philanthropies
Baird
Dave’s Wine Garage
Lucy G. Feller
Ben and Dawn Flegel
Sharon and Tom Harty
Paula Kalke
Horizon Retail Construction, Inc.
Johnson Financial Group
Dorothy MacVicar
Willard and Mary Walker

Bronze Partners

Sandy and Gus Antonneau
Carol Baylon
Rose and Peter Christensen
Educators Credit Union
Patricia and Richard Ehlert
Deborah Ganaway
Carol Griseto
Hitter’s Baseball
Bill and Debbie Keland
Susan Manalli
Norbell Foundation
O&H Danish Bakery
JoAnna Poehlmann
Rasmussen Diamonds
SC Johnson
Harold and Lois Solberg
Kathy Stranghellini
Twin Disc
Janna Waldeck
Barbara Waldman
Marc J. Wollman

Media Sponsor

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The Racine Art Museum and RAM’s Wustum Museum work together to serve as a community resource, with spaces for discovery, creation, and connection. Keep up to date on everything happening at both museum campuses—and beyond—by subscribing to our email newsletter:

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