Racine Art Museum exterior ca. 2005
Racine Art Museum, ca. 2005
Photography: Christopher Barrett

From the Ground Up: Building Racine Art Museum

June 1 – August 17, 2013

In 2003, Racine Art Museum opened the doors of its Main Street space in downtown Racine. Rooted in the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts—still an integral part of the organization as a whole—RAM offered the opportunity for institutional growth in a variety of capacities, including more exhibition and storage space.

Designed by the award-winning Chicago architecture firm Brininstool + Lynch, the museum is an environmentally sound and visually striking reuse of two existing structures that join together in an “exploration of transparency, translucency, opacity, and light.” The RAM facility features over 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, an entire floor dedicated to collection care and art preparation, a museum store, art library, and administrative offices.

Honoring RAM’s 10th anniversary, From the Ground Up offers materials—floor plans, photographs, blue prints, ephemera, and a building model—that document the development of the new museum for Racine leading up to its grand opening in 2003. For visitors unfamiliar with these ideas, this exhibition is a snapshot of an important moment in RAM’s history. For those acquainted with the building project, it offers an opportunity to reminisce and to contemplate what has changed and what has stayed the same since the museum’s early phases of conception, design, and construction.

More About the Exhibition

Press Room

From the Ground Up: Building Racine Art Museum

June 1 – August 17, 2013
Racine Art Museum exterior ca. 2005
Racine Art Museum, ca. 2005
Photography: Christopher Barrett

In 2003, Racine Art Museum opened the doors of its Main Street space in downtown Racine. Rooted in the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts—still an integral part of the organization as a whole—RAM offered the opportunity for institutional growth in a variety of capacities, including more exhibition and storage space.

Designed by the award-winning Chicago architecture firm Brininstool + Lynch, the museum is an environmentally sound and visually striking reuse of two existing structures that join together in an “exploration of transparency, translucency, opacity, and light.” The RAM facility features over 10,000 square feet of exhibition space, an entire floor dedicated to collection care and art preparation, a museum store, art library, and administrative offices.

Honoring RAM’s 10th anniversary, From the Ground Up offers materials—floor plans, photographs, blue prints, ephemera, and a building model—that document the development of the new museum for Racine leading up to its grand opening in 2003. For visitors unfamiliar with these ideas, this exhibition is a snapshot of an important moment in RAM’s history. For those acquainted with the building project, it offers an opportunity to reminisce and to contemplate what has changed and what has stayed the same since the museum’s early phases of conception, design, and construction.

More About the Exhibition

Press Room

Gallery of Work

Exhibitions at RAM are made possible by:

Platinum Sponsors

Judith and David Flegel Fund
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Ron and Judith Isaacs
Nicholas and Nancy Kurten
Windgate Foundation

Diamond Sponsors

Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation
Ruffo Family Foundation

Gold Sponsors
Anonymous
David Charak
Silver Sponsors
Art Bridges
A.C. Buhler Family
Andis Foundation
Baird
Lucy G. Feller
Ben and Dawn Flegel
Annette Hirsh Family
J. Jeffers & Co.
Dorothy MacVicar
RDK Foundation

Jan Serr and John Shannon
Bronze Sponsors

Anonymous
Susan Boland
Virginia Buhler
Butcher & Barrel/Amos Los Tacos
Educators Credit Union
Express Employment Professionals
Get Behind the Arts Studio Tour
William A. Guenther
Tom and Sharon Harty
Tony and Andrea Hauser
David and Judy Hecker
Bradley Lynch
Carlotta Miller
Larry and Barbara Newman
The Norbell Foundation
The Prairie School
Georgiana Treivush
Twin Disc, Inc.
Deb and Will Walker

Love Art?  You’ll Love RAM!

The mission of the Racine Art Museum is to exhibit, collect, preserve, and educate in the contemporary visual arts. Stay up-to-date about special events as well as support the mission of the largest contemporary craft collection in America: