Award Winners Announced for Art Exhibition Showcasing Peeps®

On Thursday, April 7, the Racine Art Museum (RAM) began presenting the thirteenth edition of a popular, untraditional exhibition showcasing art made from or inspired by colorful marshmallow Peeps®. Open through April 23, the RAM 13th Annual International PEEPS Art Exhibition features 162 creative and entertaining entries that demonstrate the talent of more than 207 artists from across the country.

On Wednesday, April 6, Bruce W. Pepich, RAM Executive Director and Curator of Collections, and Lisa Englander, founder of the Peeps Art Exhibition at RAM, presented a Virtual Award Ceremony via Facebook Live. Awards were selected based on clever and skilled use or representation of Peeps® in adult, children's, and group categories.

RAM congratulates the following award winners:

Adult Division
First Peep — Cremona Weisser, Peepzilla
Second Peep — Bill Reid, RAbbitcoin Mining Museum
Third Peep — Leslie Perrino, Peeps for Peace
Honorable Peep Mentions — Debbie Peck, Falling to Peepzes
JoAnna Poehlmann, Peeping Tom Peeping at a Peep
and Katie White, I'm Stuffed

Young Peeples Award (Under 13)
First Peep — Olive Taldone, Peep's Market
Second Peep — James Davis, Live in Peeps (Peace)
Third Peep — Lilly Thomas, Peepardy
Honorable Peep Mentions — Emma Jarrett, P*E*E*P*S Central Perk
and Ezekiel Niles, The Mad Scien-PEEP's Laboratory

Family/Group/Organization
First Peep — Sarah, Renzo, and Jae Magaña, and Sean and Versace Skipper, Ode to Wayne Thiebaud
Second Peep — Korinthia Klein, and Aden and Quinn Weisser, Sparkle Peep
Third Peep — Paul and Rob Madsen, and Mike Meyer, Peep Floyd, One More Peep in the Wall
Honorable Peep Mentions — The Prairie School Studio Glass Class, Bead Making Bunnies
and Joanna Tlachac-Hehn and Jane Zeman, Peeps Park Pyrotechnic

Margaret V. Wargo Memorial Quilt Award
Holly Ottum, Peeponauts

RAM Postcard Peep Award
William Love, First Appearance of The Bat-Peep

In addition to the awards selected by RAM, visitors throughout the run of the show will have the opportunity to vote online for their favorite creation, naming one popular artwork worthy of the coveted PEEPles Choice Award. This vote has been taken very seriously since the inception of the annual exhibition. With guests allowed only one per visit, they circle the works of Peeps® art, taking notes about the exhibition, and then often lobbying for their eventual favorite. The award will be announced after the closure of the exhibition.

Further information about the exhibition can be found on the RAM website, ramart.org.

This competition is sponsored by the Racine Art Museum Store and Guest Relations.

Exhibitions at Racine Art Museum are made possible by: Platinum Sponsors—Judith and David Flegel Fund, Nicholas and Nancy Kurten, Wingate Foundation; Diamond Sponsors—Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation, Ruffo Family Foundation; Gold Sponsors—Anonymous, David Charak, Tom and Irene Creecy, Herzfeld Foundation, Ron and Judith Isaacs, National Endowment for the Arts, Racine Community Foundation, Reliance Controls, Trio Foundation of St. Louis, W.T. Walker Group, Inc., Wisconsin Arts Board; Silver Sponsors—A.C. Buhler Family, Andis Foundation, Family of Annette Hirsh, Lucy G. Feller, Ben and Dawn Flegel, Johnson Financial Group, Dorothy MacVicar, RDK Foundation, Inc., Real Racine, Jann Serr and John Shannon, Twin Disc, Inc.; Bronze Sponsors—Anonymous, Baird, Susan Boland, Virginia Buhler, Educators Credit Union, Fredrick and Deborah Ganaway, Get Behind the Arts Studio Tour, William A. Guenther, Tom and Sharon Harty, Andrea and Tony Hauser, David and Judy Hecker, Bradley Lynch, Carlotta Miller, Larry and Barbara Newman, The Norbell Foundation, Deb and Willard Walker; Media Sponsors—88Nine Radio Milwaukee, Wisconsin Public Radio.

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Together, the two campuses of the Racine Art Museum, RAM in downtown Racine at 441 Main Street and the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts at 2519 Northwestern Avenue, seek to elevate the stature of contemporary crafts to that of fine art by exhibiting significant works in craft media with painting, sculpture, and photography, while providing outstanding educational art programming.

Both campuses of the Racine Art Museum are currently operating with limited hours, open Wednesday through Saturday from Noon to 4:00 pm. Both museums encourage all visitors and staff who have not been fully vaccinated, and those who feel more comfortable wearing a mask, to continue doing so in public areas at RAM and RAM's Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. Masks are still required for some in-person art classes and workshops at Wustum.