RAM invites artists of all ages to participate in the museum’s annual competition for handmade holiday ornaments, wrapped boxes, and decorated trees.

Now in its 55th year, the exhibition was started in 1966 to honor the depth and breadth of watercolor in the State of Wisconsin. This year’s show features 110 works by 97 Wisconsin artists.

The unifying theme of this exhibition is that the works presented are objects—sculptural, functional, or both—made by artists from diverse backgrounds, all residing within the United States. Subject matter varies—from material exploration to personal narrative to function. While this work is not directly issue-oriented, the fact that the makers themselves, as artists of color, have experienced a wide range of implicit and explicit biases is a subcontext worthy of consideration. Seen through that lens, the story these objects tell is even more complex.