Holiday Tree 2021 1
Photography: Tyler Potter

RAM Holiday Tree 2021

November 24 – December 30, 2021

To add glow and glimmer to Main Street, RAM presents the annual crowd-pleasing RAM Holiday Tree. Soaring in front of the view of Lake Michigan, the illuminated conifer is adorned with over 1,500 glass ornaments from a variety of time periods and subjects—many from late Racine, Wisconsin gallerist and arts supporter Emile H. Mathis II’s collection. Visitors are encouraged to look for unique decorations like octopi and soup cans fashioned in glass alongside more traditional festive creations.

Mathis spent years collecting ornaments for an 11-foot artificial tree that he decorated each year to display in his gallery on Main Street. This tree became a part of the annual Christmas celebrations that took place in Racine’s downtown each year. In addition to establishing The Emile H. Mathis II Fund for Children’s Education when he died in 2012, Mathis gave the museum his treasured tree and a cache of handcrafted blown glass ornaments. The labor of creating the glass ornaments, as well as the process of design and aesthetic choices involved in their construction and decoration, parallels RAM’s emphasis on craft practices.

While Mathis’ tree at the Gallery contained both antique and contemporary decorations, his gift to the museum concentrated on ornaments from the 1940s and 1950s through recent years, and tracks many of the trends in holiday decorations over these decades. RAM is pleased to continue a tradition Mathis started in downtown Racine by presenting its version of what was once called “the most beautifully decorated tree in Racine.”

RAM Holiday Tree 2021

November 24 – December 30, 2021
Holiday Tree 2021 1
Photography: Tyler Potter

To add glow and glimmer to Main Street, RAM presents the annual crowd-pleasing RAM Holiday Tree. Soaring in front of the view of Lake Michigan, the illuminated conifer is adorned with over 1,500 glass ornaments from a variety of time periods and subjects—many from late Racine, Wisconsin gallerist and arts supporter Emile H. Mathis II’s collection. Visitors are encouraged to look for unique decorations like octopi and soup cans fashioned in glass alongside more traditional festive creations.

Mathis spent years collecting ornaments for an 11-foot artificial tree that he decorated each year to display in his gallery on Main Street. This tree became a part of the annual Christmas celebrations that took place in Racine’s downtown each year. In addition to establishing The Emile H. Mathis II Fund for Children’s Education when he died in 2012, Mathis gave the museum his treasured tree and a cache of handcrafted blown glass ornaments. The labor of creating the glass ornaments, as well as the process of design and aesthetic choices involved in their construction and decoration, parallels RAM’s emphasis on craft practices.

While Mathis’ tree at the Gallery contained both antique and contemporary decorations, his gift to the museum concentrated on ornaments from the 1940s and 1950s through recent years, and tracks many of the trends in holiday decorations over these decades. RAM is pleased to continue a tradition Mathis started in downtown Racine by presenting its version of what was once called “the most beautifully decorated tree in Racine.”

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: