Racine Art Museum Artist Fellowship Recipients Announced

The Racine Art Museum (RAM) is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2022 RAM Artist Fellowship and Emerging Artist Award. Sponsored by a grant from the Osborne and Scekic Family Foundation, the RAM Artist Fellowship Program aims to showcase the diversity and vitality of the Racine/Kenosha visual arts community. Now in its sixth round, this biennial selection program is the only of its kind that supports the professional development of this Southeastern Wisconsin region's artists.

A more recent addition to the program, the Emerging Artist Award recognizes an artist under the age of 40 who is in the early stages of their creative development and demonstrates significant potential.

The four Fellowship recipients and the Emerging Artist were selected based on quality of artwork submitted, representing a range of styles and media.

RAM congratulates:

Peter Aymonin, Racine, Ceramics

Peter Aymonin, Vessel 1, 2020, Glazed ceramic, 17 x 8 x 10 inches, Photography Courtesy of the Artist

Lisa Bigalke, Kenosha, Printmaking

Lisa Bigalke, Exploitation of the Neogale Macrodon AKA the Sea Mink, 2020, Embroidery floss on serigraph, 30 x 22 inches, Photography Courtesy of the Artist

Maureen Fritchen, Racine, Mixed Media

Maureen Fritchen, Aqua #2, 2021, Polyethylene LDPE foam and expired glass test tubes, 5 x 26 inches, Photography Courtesy of the Artist

Jojin Van Winkle, Racine, Film and Photography

Jojin Van Winkle, The Destruction Project—Car Graveyard—Summer/near Haukijärvi, Finland, 2019, Archival digital inkjet print on acrylic plastic, 20 x 30 inches

Kelly Witte (Emerging Artist), Printmaking and Painting

Kelly Witte, Rockabilly Rebel, 2017, Watercolor linocut, 12 x 9 inches, Photography Courtesy of the Artist

Each of these five recipients is presented a monetary award—$3,000 for the Artist Fellowship recipients and $1,500 for the Emerging Artist—which may be used for any expenses that will assist in the development of new work and advance their artistic careers, such as equipment and supply purchases, studio rental, and travel.

All five recipients will be will be featured in concurrent solo exhibitions at RAM's Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, August 30 – December 2, 2023. A catalogue featuring color images of the work in the 2023 exhibitions as well as details about the recipients’ intentions will accompany the show. By increasing critical attention and exposure for recipients, the program fosters their continued creative professional development. The RAM Artist Fellowship application process will be repeated in 2023, with the next entry deadline in January 2024.

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.