West Town, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, Kinzie Corridor, Humboldt Park

West Town

Wisconsin

IL • MI • IN

West Loop, Fulton Market, East Garfield Park

West Loop and West Side

Evanston, The North Shore, Northern, Western and Southern Suburbs

Suburbs

Old Town, Lincoln Park, Lakeview, Roscoe Village, Bucktown, Wicker Park, Logan Square, Lincoln Square, Ravenswood, Uptown, Edgewater, Andersonville, Rogers Park

North Side

Michigan Avenue, Streeterville, The Gold Coast, The Loop, and South Loop

Michigan Avenue

Pilsen, Bridgeport, Chinatown, plus Hyde Park, Jackson Park/Dorchester, and Bronzeville

South Side

Superior and Franklin streets, West Chicago Ave, and down to Merchandise Mart and the River

River North

Welcome Colette Odya SmithWe are thrilled to announce the newest artist joining the Lily Pad Gallery family: internationally acclaimed pastel master Colette Odya Smith.&nbsp;To celebrate, we’re presenting a special pop-up exhibition,&nbsp;Colette will be present, and we’d love for you to meet her and experience her extraordinary work in person.A lifelong Wisconsin native, Colette creates contemporary landscapes that move fluidly between realism and abstraction. Her soft pastels layered over watercolor underpaintings reveal hidden beauty in water, rock, and foliage—inviting us to look closer at the mysteries lying in plain sight.&nbsp;Her work has earned over 70 international awards and hangs in collections from Milwaukee to the Ming Gallery Museum of Pastel in Suzhou, China.Mark your calendar and join us in welcoming this remarkable artist to our gallery.&nbsp;

Colette Odya Smith: Beneath the Surface

Now in its 59th year,&nbsp;Watercolor Wisconsin&nbsp;was started in 1966 to honor the depth and breadth of watercolor in the state.Jurors Jessica Cochran and Peggy Macnamara will select work for the 2025 exhibition. Jessica Cochran is the Deputy Director of the Renaissance Society, an independent contemporary art museum on the University of Chicago campus. She has worked as a curator, administrator, consultant, and educator in the realm of contemporary art for 20 years. Peggy Macnamara has served as the Artist-in-Residence at Chicago’s Field Museum of Natural History since 1990 and as an Adjunct Professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago since 2001. Image: Carlotta Miller, Soaring Renovation, 2024, Watercolor, 34 1/4 x 23 1/4 inches, Racine Art Museum, Helen Rusk Memorial Purchase Award from&nbsp;Watercolor Wisconsin 2024, Photography: Tyler Potter

Watercolor Wisconsin 2025

Kim Storage Gallery is pleased to present Reflections and Undercurrents, a solo exhibition of new paintings by Katherine Steichen Rosing that immerses viewers in the invisible forces shaping forests and watersheds amid climate disruption. Rosing’s work reveals both the resilience and fragile balance of ecosystems under stress, asking what persists—and what quietly disappears—beneath the surface of the landscapes we love. <a href="https://kimstoragegallery.us22.list-manage.com/track/click?u=63eb3ae92ac5ae9371f4d5ed0&amp;id=891e6ad86a&amp;e=0feabe6389" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VIEW THE EXHIBITION</a>

Artist Talk: Katherine Steichen Rosing

This spring, the Racine Art Museum (RAM) will combine creativity, color, and candy in an elevated event series centered around the&nbsp;<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK-2FsyW4rBIlNVg2ZPWYx1RjQK5xOMzw94ZvySwK0-2FFvGjg-3D-3D-vyb_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOl9SzXpCJOkdhPthAHSBNZyj33IZ153awqhClhlUgFt-2FBOYBoz2W0ntYHNsp5kFmLq21Lx8BQiuEfRzhqEPyj0z9jZcCOsVraHDDjwkKlDSGlNCBpHzhDSHLdCN3GAtRVPKbGGm-2BseUleEIt7fhDFN4QachmpwcgSPh-2F8eBlPd4lQ-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026</a>. This unexpected yet beloved annual art exhibition returns in 2026 bigger, bolder, and more immersive than ever—transforming the museum into a space of connection, confection, and artistry for all.Open April 1–18,&nbsp;RAM&nbsp;PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026&nbsp;is the 17th edition of a community exhibition featuring art made from or inspired by colorful PEEPS® Brand marshmallow candy. Since its inception in 2010, the exhibition has captured worldwide attention by inviting artists of all ages and skill levels to work with a new creative medium or subject matter. Inspired by pop culture, famous artists, sports, and everything in between, artists throughout the years have creatively combined PEEPS® with painting, ceramics, screen printing, woodworking, papier mâché, glass fusing, 3-D printing, and more."Every year, I am convinced that I have assuredly seen all possible manners in which an artist can utilize PEEPS®, yet every year, participants continue to prove me wrong," said RAM Marketing and Communications Specialist Tyler Potter. "The creativity on display in our annual exhibition is truly astounding and brings genuine joy to so many people." New in 2026, the&nbsp;RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition&nbsp;expands into a larger gallery—offering additional space to feature a specially commissioned installation by a Chicago-based artist that accompanies the exhibition.&nbsp;Andrea Jablonski: Enjoy the PEEPS® Show&nbsp;is a playful and irreverent body of work that reimagines iconic sculptures through the unmistakable form of the PEEPS® Bunny shape. Drawing from art history, public monuments, and personal memory, the artist transforms well-known masterpieces into approachable, humorous objects. By filtering celebrated works through a candy-colored lens, Jablonski's reinterpretations pay homage to artists such as Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, Louise Bourgeois, Jeff Koons, and the anonymous creator of the&nbsp;Venus de Milo, while also reflecting her own background as a muralist, fabricator, and public artist.In addition to physically expanding the exhibition, RAM and its second campus, RAM’s Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts (Wustum), are offering several new opportunities for visitors to celebrate their love of this springtime staple. Together, these events create a dynamic—and delectable—journey through art that reflects a commitment to welcoming creativity in all forms while reimagining how audiences engage with the museums. <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK8xTCmA2jY414RDtYlFOzl4FURZ5bdfEued0cIs5Txg8Q-3D-3Dt2F1_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOkKnpBHKkkCoxgB7zw2NxDmMNakb3A4Q-2BGFnAP9k79js62nM-2FEhYHJ9Z2cb2dBiOQ0DpOhOL7441Nb5LvabPaBmsfim75rN-2B3Yh7gX9BsvqqDbcm5BvLX6XKb299G-2Bo876hh0MNOMjCPKkyN-2F1w0pY3bhXt9RRwQKZo0PEkRSbTYg-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Golden PEEPS® Awards</a>Tuesday, March 31, 5:00 – 7:00 pm, at RAMA touch of glitz and glamour in Downtown Racine that rolls out the orange carpet exclusively for participating artists and their families. Attendees can step into the spotlight with an exclusive after-hours preview of&nbsp;RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026&nbsp;before a live awards ceremony.Free for participating artists and their guests. <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK-2FUk6HDbIzM9bBlGTN6KVe3qOK3D2fW42-2FfO3Q-2FaXmfSQ-3D-3D61B9_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOmazOOe8klBBKGpXRXTNPCqWV2dhFA5di-2B-2B3u3p9ICXlPel43A9M0smqvKrGrvss-2FgnzqPT93EqwXjjrkXcigUtL4GvNLk1U-2B8NNE2PxssLC-2FW3M19s-2FCtDBy2mLJVYSt8lJw4sDfA3pD3kI1NvsaNlS7itpz9kuUVixXlhIuIC2g-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pop-Up PEEPS® Painting</a>Tuesday, April 7, 6:00 – 8:30 pm, at RAM and Hotel VerdantA ticketed entertainment package for PEEPS® enthusiasts ages 21 and older. Attendees start the evening with an after-hours tour of&nbsp;RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026,&nbsp;then head across the street to&nbsp;<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWiyUTcZjUzlOMerJUGXMl9cvPt04k-2BrQvQCdVB36QUGluwqf8qTHpDQ1iN4Z35RZug-3D-3DEUSE_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOk5qM9sqikGxZOjxF0RNYoZJkhwq1mbi-2F8VA7bvKxf5CL5iuo6l4bWZ4y6LYcNfk69MlbQ8ZHxrNZmSoBWJDw-2B-2BgUXM52XPnew0MwAvdBi0yVWhDfYfo1FKqUbTQNLfbcmkr18iXi8dXrWDQIkx1uAisRrrMwgMnB-2F8ClH9qOp27A-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eave</a>—a lush, contemporary rooftop bar inside&nbsp;<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWiyUTcZjUzlOMerJUGXMl9eSmbAPIlrzFRODwVoiV-2Bn1A1oA_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOnIILlkE6z-2BNOrWSNcLqh-2ByolFkYppUkiyGwuEiH5p-2BqmAthydkqoThGzxgS7x-2FRtfaoWYPyGJWLqU4jv2wdTDVR8-2FK7fVA79RRdOC3Mb0HnPKzFnw1BcsxXV2Wsqjn5EyciU-2FA2kiZOPYVah-2F6XZOzW7tTZMWfsYURK0NS3yk2jg-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hotel Verdant</a>—for an artist-guided painting project and a PEEPS®-inspired cocktail.$65 Members / $80 General <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK-2Fo-2FGZywQu0EGGf-2BYEM-2B1mKYuhQI3enoI9osuOsgH2tkQ-3D-3DuF0a_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOmQt5I8l5tdptdqr2hdR2f1LXWfFHfQzdC3rTOvFrUR0Pf7Vzngmeme3ctRCczsbAjxof7Pp2g93e0v7jeggVAgWAUyeymlW4TE4fzxeIDHo459iAe25sxDnXQ7IlQwxqruNxAMdQOAEcU4MgzyM-2FaUBg34W8-2Fv7VDRuuTecvyQVg-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spring Break Art Camp: Camp PEEPS® Day</a>Wednesday, April 8, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm, at WustumKids ages 7–13 will create several PEEPS®-inspired mixed media art projects, befitting the seasons and the sweet reason why people love the iconic candy. Students can expect a full day of colorful creativity, sweets, and treats.$60 Members / $72 General <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK9IZhSm7pCKvklad1Oi5DeYDaHB94ty-2BDZVK4XxhO5oFQ-3D-3Dzz3v_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOk9gtorFfxDbuTqNfQ8mAP6YHSGShMkR6-2Bn-2BRJKAE1-2FrT1RYf7e1CSezdDDVocQMfXpDf-2F3eC6rt2Jr3gqqcLXDw4OZyQC-2FOnt-2Fu7EkWVu4gSiSS-2BocKEjf7PzrjEq4EWUrPP64gdMgAtom07OSD4fmdVe2Ez02Z-2FYIEIGqwfx4Mg-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PEEPS® Play Sensory Day</a>Saturday, April 11, Noon – 4:00 pm, at RAMA welcoming, low-pressure way for families to explore&nbsp;RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026&nbsp;through touch, sound, color, and movement. Designed with sensory accessibility in mind, the program encourages playful exploration with make-and-take art activities, touch samples, and more, while also providing calm spaces for regulation and breaks.Free with RAM admission. <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK9-2Fw41C3jG7e3B7nB51MDRYX9DRyY9Ch06KB6YW04Y5HuId-2Fq2Q8tlFpFw-2BfAldIUU-3DjZz0_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOl5vm27YF3hnLosjtAwJ0y06u1e4h5NeOBHkCat9uyOsY7mMBPsOPe1P1UXqPAYPAAHGPyM5OS2rLdP2jCLpoqoEfS9pCBsnDKQ9a3nBSZ6m1ZBUvULVQlSJN0MEyS-2B384-2BWZsKE1QtYOx1lq7wypnHjRZT-2Fe70F19IU-2BHQfmM8Qg-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Marshmallow Tales: PEEPS® Story Time</a>Friday, April 17, 10:00 – 11:00 am, at RAMPresented in partnership with the&nbsp;<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWovJ-2Bua7kAthmCXA-2FRPQ6iU1YGcphMw0uv02WeM1Jga0Vm2p_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOnWxWFTAuGdQR-2FY-2B-2FIJOxkuvdZH694vVkSO5-2B71e4pi1xvHyNbykr0bEUtb-2ByOZJFSM6lwEQ6-2Bo003rwmmQbV51XDn5191Hzbc1dhfrJr1zzwtneFiZ85ArOgXhW4THXzzOZMp389DWaPYeFLbpKXPkeLigNWyyw4I3gzhiEXrodw-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Racine Public Library</a>, RAM Docent and storyteller extraordinaire Gail Navratil will be in the RAM galleries to share a few springtime stories—perfect for children ages 2–5. Attendees can also create a sweet make-and-take art project inspired by&nbsp;RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026&nbsp;while listening to the stories.Free with RAM admission. <a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK8UxR-2FUc-2BXrDZDo1LcgHY71WGu0qLi6o0zb6yky5LxjgA-3D-3Drc3x_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOlHuBVO3gLTBkGBPmEe5ElwXpqjWQSeGcNPpiPmNCii0qG-2B5iJjDwBleYeTLxCNvuJYVfYnxKKqgpcEah3N8EXYHUBqpmgY94LZY-2B573VSNJ-2BcbHSRzEnk03sY6MYRuQP740Kg3JA2FKrgRw4sgyeDcUBbJShtQeOWOIA1L-2F0ROMA-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Eye Candy:&nbsp;</a><a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK8UxR-2FUc-2BXrDZDo1LcgHY71WGu0qLi6o0zb6yky5LxjgA-3D-3Dj6f4_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOl7KvmcClq-2BvJAwWimqGdKB3PkIdgbmy6Dh-2FXQJTGiiXZnWE932kgmalZht89kMNnptgiXejT3n4FZJ2AwW7DvCXvm1Ql0jWMoJ8n89z2l-2F3J-2BMXoA15RI6rQIbK-2F0ZCpjF4jRwiD8VRXwAofNQS0SJMeD0tRR3h4gQlssQw7wKGA-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bunny Big Top</a>Saturday, April 18, 6:00 – 10:00 pm, at RAMThe first iteration of RAM's new closing-weekend fundraiser and community celebration. The Bunny Big Top offers an unforgettable night of magic, masterpieces, and a little bit of mischief as the museum comes alive with roaming performers, carnival games, signature treats, a PEEPS® Eating Contest, and more. Including free entertainment and activities alongside paid experiences, this vintage-inspired circus welcomes families early in the evening, then transforms into a grown-up funhouse after dark.$10 Members / $20 Adults / $5 Kids 12 and under&nbsp;“We’re thrilled to share this year’s expanded lineup of PEEPS®-related activities,” said RAM Executive Director Robb Woulfe. “This growing series expands opportunities for connection—offering compelling experiences that spark creativity, invite people in, and fill our spaces with joy.” Further information about&nbsp;RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026&nbsp;and other relevant programming is available on RAM’s website,&nbsp;<a href="https://link.mediaoutreach.meltwater.com/ls/click?upn=u001.lVpDCVeqdBsS0YynwBNnWsI6uzjI-2B9jc-2BcioV3sOeK-2FsyW4rBIlNVg2ZPWYx1RjQK5xOMzw94ZvySwK0-2FFvGjg-3D-3DrKUB_a1zzESVdmgLIQ4rlql6kbXT9QXaGGWYBxHAPtO1QqWO5GLp4idxebnEhHBD62PapFGhVibvX636tV4VNXI9Yc1fC3t6I93nvs128KylNuVSG4w8b6TD-2BSQhnOlpvnvnpxwz-2B8rcz040BRL5o8xdyp7iJRjIk45RUTB6i9TPfLUsyUY9NxseZ2akW-2Folzs6n2ooCnzEE-2BuRhIoQd-2BwieuM4u-2BJHvMsytc9cfbzfpWeOnyC-2BCobkTRtU-2B7IlBHN79UIjVTanlh-2B4oE4-2BFvHD07nRaAbic42agU1x-2BoBpm58SWaKlKK4HH-2BamPSUbXqxnjtuY-2BHeUqTBfI9x9icaKULC16RUG2KKLsNbRQCs5dU0zwfdjCBtwZhJ9Bl0S31sYW8-2BPB3TzS13ctnjmX3inzddw-3D-3D" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ramart.org</a>.RAM PEEPS®&nbsp;Brand Art Exhibition 2026&nbsp;is made possible in part by:&nbsp;PEEPS®&nbsp;Patrons—Action Law Offices, S.C., Bruce and Barbara Chrisman, Charles Constantine, Design Partners, Erv Keller Guide Service, Boulder Jct. WI, Karen and Mark Fairbanks, Tom and Cheryl Foley, Jill and Bob Hartmann, Ann and Peter Henkes, Laura Kapitan, Landmark Title of Racine, Connie Lelivelt, Neil and Ashley Staeck, Sandra Simon in honor of Patricia and Wes Fallon, Charlie B. Thorne, and Janna M. Waldeck

RAM PEEPS® Brand Art Exhibition 2026

The exhibition&nbsp;Pao Houa Her: Seeds of History&nbsp;presents a newly completed photographic series by Pao Houa Her that brings together her long-standing practices of portraiture and landscape photography. The work reflects Her’s deep commitment to building relationships and thoughtfully representing the people and cultural traditions of the HMong diaspora. Developed alongside&nbsp;Pao Houa Her: The Imaginative Landscape&nbsp;at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center,&nbsp;Seeds of History&nbsp;grew from the artist’s vision to photograph HMong Americans from the Sheboygan area posed in a field of poppies. Created in the summer of 2025, the black-and-white series includes more than a dozen portraits, thirteen of which were acquired by JMKAC. Each image depicts a member of Sheboygan’s local HMong American community. More than a historical record,&nbsp;Seeds of History&nbsp;honors the enduring presence and vitality of the HMong diaspora in Sheboygan more than fifty years after HMong refugees first arrived in the region. By naming each individual portrayed, the series centers dignity, care, and connection—affirming that history is shaped by real people and relationships, not anonymous figures or statistics. * HMong is written with a capital H and M to be inclusive of White HMong and Green Mong dialects. Speakers of the White dialect pronounce “HMong” with a silent “H,” indicating a nasal aspiration or puff of air out of the nose. Speakers of the Green dialect pronounce “Mong” without. <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jmkac.org/exhibition/pao-houa-her-seeds-of-history/" target="_blank">Discover Seeds of History</a>&nbsp;

Pao Houa Her:  Seeds of History

Since 1964, The Madison Museum of Contemporary Art has collected and preserved modern and contemporary art in order to exhibit it and provide transformative experiences. These objects, MMoCA holds in trust for everyone to learn from and be inspired by all for free.&nbsp;In 2025, MMoCA added over 80 artworks to the permanent collection, including works on paper, large-scale paintings, and sculptures from both local and international artists.&nbsp;Recent Acquisitions&nbsp;displays some of these art objects, showcasing the breadth of contemporary art practice and connecting Madison to the global dialogue through visual art.&nbsp;

Recent Acquisitions

<h2>Kate Goodvin: Trust Fall</h2> <h4>Exhibition Dates:&nbsp;April 6–May 1, 2026</h4> <h4>Reception:&nbsp;Friday, May 1, 5–8 pm</h4> Tandem Press is excited to host&nbsp;Trust Fall, a Master of Fine Arts Qualifier Exhibition by Kate Goodvin, University of Wisconsin-Madison MFA Candidate and 2025-2026 Tandem Press Studio Project Assistant. By merging printmaking, painting, and collage, Kate Goodvin creates monumental self-portraits that chronicle the evolving story of becoming. Her work is shaped through the perspective of a Gen Z woman growing up amid the digital transformation of contemporary life and coming of age during a period marked by increasing uncertainty. Goodvin’s practice examines how distinct eras of our lives are shaped and defined by pop culture movements, media saturation, music, and the broader political, environmental, and sociological climates that surround us. Deeply personal and rooted in self-discovery, she looks inward to uncover reflections of a broader shared condition, capturing the intimate process of navigating identity in a rapidly shifting world. This exhibition is supported by the Anonymous Fund. More information and installation images coming soon.

Kate Goodvin: Trust Fall

<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jmkac.org/exhibition/a-beautiful-experience/?utm_medium=email&amp;_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_TAgiwr9CcUCqp8PARBnetZDmy4oA4M6rKVEblEJGj0fYaKmL0n8Naot67z_PVofiAcW7Sb0wnbX5AHJQODsWXa0U2UYeyKUnYSDhaHXxDMn2lHxQ&amp;_hsmi=343424237&amp;utm_content=343424237&amp;utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Details</a> A Beautiful Experience: The Midwest Grotto Tradition&nbsp;takes its title from a slogan found on years of brochures, maps, and swag from the Dickeyville Grotto in Wisconsin. It is one of several grottoes found throughout the region. These sites began to inspire pilgrimage, tourism, reflection, and community gathering during the 1910s. This exhibition looks at their continuing influence on artists and visitors alike. Materially, midwestern grottoes often reflect local industries, decorative trends, and an area’s geological makeup. Grotto architecture mainly comprises concrete embellished with objects including shells, marbles, colored glass, toys, figurines, fossils, and geodes. This accumulation, as well as the objects incorporated, creates a documentation of the maker’s life, faith, and home. Madeline Buol is one of the few known women grotto builders. The materials she utilized include figurines and stones gathered during her travels. She had a special affinity for shells of all shapes and sizes. The exhibition is the first public showing of Buol’s monumental thirteen-piece grotto since it was saved from the artist’s yard in 2011 by the Kohler Foundation, Inc. It was then gifted to the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. In addition to Buol’s grotto,&nbsp;A Beautiful Experience&nbsp;includes objects related to the Midwest grottoes that directly inspired her, such as the Dickeyville Grotto, Jacob Baker’s “dream houses,” the Rudolph Grotto, and the Wegner Grotto. The exhibition illustrates the material histories of these grottoes and strategies for their conservation. Visitors are offered opportunities to learn about the legacy and care of Midwest grotto sites. A Beautiful Experience&nbsp;also includes new work by Stephanie Shih and E. Saffronia Downing, each responding to the grotto tradition. Shih presents a work inspired by Jacob Baker and Chinese immigration in the U.S. Downing shares her explorations of clay and material foraging throughout the Midwest, providing insight into material studies for the concrete and construction materials often invented and improvised upon by grotto builders. Image: Madeline Buol, Buol Grotto and Sculptures (site view, n.d.), Dubuque, IA, 1946–c. 1960. Photo courtesy of Pam Mendenhall.

A Beautiful Experience: The Midwest Grotto Tradition

Artist Talk: Saturday, April 18 starting at 1PM207 E Buffalo St, Suite 404, Milwaukee, WI 53202 (Marshall Building, 4th floor)Kim Storage Gallery is pleased to present Reflections and Undercurrents, a solo exhibition of new&nbsp;paintings by Katherine Steichen Rosing that immerses viewers in the invisible forces shaping forests and watersheds amid&nbsp;climate disruption. Rosing’s work reveals both the resilience and fragile balance of ecosystems under stress, asking what&nbsp;persists—and what quietly disappears—beneath the surface of the landscapes we love.In this body of work, she abstracts hidden ecological processes into vividly hued, densely layered surfaces, merging the&nbsp;visible and invisible through inscribed marks that are later veiled by color, like root systems and currents we cannot fully&nbsp;see. Reflections and Undercurrents introduces submerged forests of yellow-green trunks rising through ultramarine&nbsp;floodwaters, holding the tension between visual allure and the unsettling question of whether we witness temporary&nbsp;inundation or irreversible transformation.Grounded in long-term observation, environmental research, and collaborations with scientists, Rosing’s practice&nbsp;addresses extreme weather cycles—drought, deluge, and intensifying storms—that leave forests stressed and&nbsp;vulnerable, from local neighborhoods to distant northern ecosystems. She understands painting as a way to convey the&nbsp;felt experience of environmental change, creating a contemplative space where beauty and unease coexist and where&nbsp;subtle shifts in color, light, and texture echo broader ecological transformations.Born in Appleton, Wisconsin, Rosing is known for environmentally engaged paintings and immersive installations&nbsp;exploring relationships among forests, watersheds, and climate. She has exhibited in over one hundred solo and group&nbsp;shows in museums and galleries, including the Rockford Art Museum, Amos Eno Gallery (New York), the Arts Club&nbsp;(Washington, DC), and the Museum of Wisconsin Art. Her work is held in numerous public and private collections, and she holds an MFA from Northern Illinois University. She received the 2022 Forward Art Prize.Image: Blue Damselflies Flitting About My Kayak, Acrylic on canvas, 44 x 55"

Reflections and Undercurrents

We are delighted to announce a new solo exhibition and it is one you will not want to miss.&nbsp;Opening April 15 and running through June 7, this exhibition brings the luminous, atmospheric paintings of Quebec-based artist&nbsp;France Jodoin&nbsp;to Milwaukee.&nbsp;Jodoin works in oil on linen, creating bold, semi-abstract seascapes and landscapes where the boundaries between land, water, and sky dissolve into pure feeling. Drawing from European Romantic masters — Turner, Rembrandt, Gustave Moreau — while remaining entirely her own, her canvases are not depictions of specific places but rather inventions: collages of memory, travel, cinema, and quiet contemplation.&nbsp;“I am inspired by a trip I may have taken years ago, a clip from a film, or abstract thoughts that I am compelled to express on canvas. But each piece shares in common an invitation to the viewer to become part of the narrative.”— France Jodoin&nbsp;Her work is held in prestigious collections including the Sherbrooke Museum of Fine Arts, Loto-Québec, and Cirque du Soleil. Over a twenty-year international exhibition career spanning Canada, the United States, and Europe, Jodoin has earned a devoted following drawn to her rare ability to make painted light feel inhabited.France's art literally does not stay on the gallery walls long. Her art is highly collected. We are&nbsp;fortunate to receive 12 new artworks at once. If you want to acquire a Jodoin for the first time or add to your collection, don't wait long.

Liminal Worlds: France Jodoin's Contemporary Romanticism  

<a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=GekfwPLCcWnE-pBmDszBdNmxmIBnRoKt2etLwIi2f5I.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZG9vcmNvdW50eWNvbnRlbXBvcmFyeS5jb20vIiwiciI6Ijk1ZGU1NjA2LTkxZTctNDY4Ni04MGJjLTUwOTVkMmZiYjE0OCIsIm0iOiJtYWlsIiwiYyI6IjBkODQ0NmNkLWI1MGMtNDcwMC1iODk0LTI0Y2FjNTQ2MWE2ZiJ9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Door County Contemporary</a> art fair is returning to <a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=EYK3F73EiMCFsKQ-QbO_OM3ELe6xGtDH-R8Z81KZ2zI.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucGVuaW5zdWxhc2Nob29sb2ZhcnQub3JnLyIsInIiOiI5NWRlNTYwNi05MWU3LTQ2ODYtODBiYy01MDk1ZDJmYmIxNDgiLCJtIjoibWFpbCIsImMiOiIwZDg0NDZjZC1iNTBjLTQ3MDAtYjg5NC0yNGNhYzU0NjFhNmYifQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PenArt</a> in Fish Creek on June 4-7, 2026. Guests are invited to experience the opportunity to access international galleries and artists known worldwide in an event that highlights the area as a vibrant nexus of creativity, connection, and commerce. <a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=f4XZH_D0dNeMaY2YDsmpn6i2iIhn64Ynx2O0oFBkjhQ.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZG9vcmNvdW50eWNvbnRlbXBvcmFyeS5jb20vdGlja2V0cyIsInIiOiI5NWRlNTYwNi05MWU3LTQ2ODYtODBiYy01MDk1ZDJmYmIxNDgiLCJtIjoibWFpbCIsImMiOiIwZDg0NDZjZC1iNTBjLTQ3MDAtYjg5NC0yNGNhYzU0NjFhNmYifQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">VIP passes</a> provide event-goers early entry with premier access to exclusive works and noteworthy gastronomic festivities.&nbsp;&nbsp;Indulge in unforgettable local food, fare, and charm amidst the idyllic <a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=Wn68iJ_WyLLd7C0A7boaV8MBti8tgBTUTJyHDjUmlgw.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZG9vcmNvdW50eS5jb20vIiwiciI6Ijk1ZGU1NjA2LTkxZTctNDY4Ni04MGJjLTUwOTVkMmZiYjE0OCIsIm0iOiJtYWlsIiwiYyI6IjBkODQ0NmNkLWI1MGMtNDcwMC1iODk0LTI0Y2FjNTQ2MWE2ZiJ9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Door County</a> atmosphere. Whether you’re looking to enhance your collection or purchase your first piece, this is Wisconsin’s must-see summertime art event.&nbsp;The inaugural <a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=d7b6oxZXJuy9rUarQpLcxl0KVSM2IC9h2LRlBeFTIVc.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZG9vcmNvdW50eWNvbnRlbXBvcmFyeS5jb20vYWJvdXQiLCJyIjoiOTVkZTU2MDYtOTFlNy00Njg2LTgwYmMtNTA5NWQyZmJiMTQ4IiwibSI6Im1haWwiLCJjIjoiMGQ4NDQ2Y2QtYjUwYy00NzAwLWI4OTQtMjRjYWM1NDYxYTZmIn0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Door County Contemporary art fair</a>, held in 2025, marked a groundbreaking moment for the Midwest art scene. This collaboration with <a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=EYK3F73EiMCFsKQ-QbO_OM3ELe6xGtDH-R8Z81KZ2zI.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cucGVuaW5zdWxhc2Nob29sb2ZhcnQub3JnLyIsInIiOiI5NWRlNTYwNi05MWU3LTQ2ODYtODBiYy01MDk1ZDJmYmIxNDgiLCJtIjoibWFpbCIsImMiOiIwZDg0NDZjZC1iNTBjLTQ3MDAtYjg5NC0yNGNhYzU0NjFhNmYifQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PenArt</a> drew artists, galleries, and guests from across the region and the country. With over 3,400 guests in attendance and 20 exhibiting galleries from across the nation, the fair delivered a dynamic, standout celebration of contemporary art.&nbsp;<a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=-a67t14LD12jQ6mHolEIffI9zgdRIb63zudXsF4s_wg.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZG9vcmNvdW50eWNvbnRlbXBvcmFyeS5jb20vZ2FsbGVyaWVzIiwiciI6Ijk1ZGU1NjA2LTkxZTctNDY4Ni04MGJjLTUwOTVkMmZiYjE0OCIsIm0iOiJtYWlsIiwiYyI6IjBkODQ0NmNkLWI1MGMtNDcwMC1iODk0LTI0Y2FjNTQ2MWE2ZiJ9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Galleries participating in Door County Contemporary in 2026</a>From painters and sculptors to photographers, print-makers, and mixed-media innovators, the fair showcased a rich tapestry of artistic expression. Attendees also enjoyed a robust schedule of public programs, panel discussions, and artist talks, sparking conversations and forging relationships between artists, collectors, curators, and art enthusiasts. The event generated over $120,000 in art sales—a powerful testament to the growing support for a creative economy in the Midwest.&nbsp;“Gallery participants shared a commitment to art of the region, to cosmopolitanism and rurality. The result was a production that was opposite of the market-driven, doctrinal spectacle of large art fairs whose competitiveness and exclusivity precludes place and congeniality, opting instead for ‘arcade frenzy,’” stated Paul Krainak’s article “<a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=dsWMSwqY_TwzjnF7Ad96y0d_AsX9NufEM2sOhA66qYQ.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9iYWRhdHNwb3J0cy5jb20vMjAyNS9zdWItcnVyYWwtNDktNS1kb29yLWNvdW50eS1jb250ZW1wb3JhcnktYXJ0LWZhaXIvIiwiciI6Ijk1ZGU1NjA2LTkxZTctNDY4Ni04MGJjLTUwOTVkMmZiYjE0OCIsIm0iOiJtYWlsIiwiYyI6IjBkODQ0NmNkLWI1MGMtNDcwMC1iODk0LTI0Y2FjNTQ2MWE2ZiJ9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sub-Rural #49.5, Door County Contemporary Art Fair</a>” for <a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=NeSOl9Yfp53sDoXskPp6-vBJDzXj-baK0SyQAMnP8ok.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9iYWRhdHNwb3J0cy5jb20vIiwiciI6Ijk1ZGU1NjA2LTkxZTctNDY4Ni04MGJjLTUwOTVkMmZiYjE0OCIsIm0iOiJtYWlsIiwiYyI6IjBkODQ0NmNkLWI1MGMtNDcwMC1iODk0LTI0Y2FjNTQ2MWE2ZiJ9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bad at Sports</a>.&nbsp;This overwhelmingly positive reception reinforced the vision of Door County Contemporary: to cultivate a grounded, welcoming, and high-caliber alternative to the standard art fair model. Thanks to the generous contributions of <a href="https://doorcountycontemporary.com/so/95PrFp0Xf/c?w=FV392uqiW5mvzez0iM9UZubD4JLEQqsXmcxDbC86tBY.eyJ1IjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZG9vcmNvdW50eWNvbnRlbXBvcmFyeS5jb20vcGFydG5lcnMiLCJyIjoiOTVkZTU2MDYtOTFlNy00Njg2LTgwYmMtNTA5NWQyZmJiMTQ4IiwibSI6Im1haWwiLCJjIjoiMGQ4NDQ2Y2QtYjUwYy00NzAwLWI4OTQtMjRjYWM1NDYxYTZmIn0" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">DCC’s partners</a>, the fair is returning with inimitable works on display and peerless possibilities for art exploration.&nbsp;Get Your Tickets Now!

Door County Contemporary 2026

The John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) will debut&nbsp;Emily Endo: Estuary, a new exhibition by artist Emily Endo (they/them), on view from February 7 through August 16, 2026.Endo’s largest exhibition to date,&nbsp;Estuary&nbsp;marks JMKAC’s first scent-focused exhibition, inviting visitors into a multisensory experience that explores the body and perception. Endo is known for intricate glass sculptures that reference vascular systems, organic structures, and the porous boundaries between bodies and environment. In&nbsp;Estuary, they expand this practice by integrating scentwith sculptural forms, engaging visitors through both sight and smell. The exhibition challenges conventional modes of looking, encouraging audiences to experience art through embodied and sensory awareness. “Emily Endo’s work asks us to reconsider how meaning is formed through the senses,” said&nbsp;Chava.Krivchenia, Assistant Curator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. “By aligning scent alongside sculpture,&nbsp;Estuary&nbsp;creates intuitive ways of engaging with art.”Smell plays a central role in the exhibition. Closely tied to memory and emotion, scent has the power to transport, influence mood, and reshape perception. Rather than functioning as an accessory, curated fragrances throughout the gallery act as an extension of the sculptural works themselves. Drawn from minerals, seawater, metal, glass, and organic compounds, these scents reference both natural environments and industrial processes, serving as connective tissue between material, memory, and the body. Estuary&nbsp;also considers how perception differs across species. While humans tend to prioritize vision, many animals rely on smell or sound to navigate the world. Featured works incorporate a turtle shell, highlighting the overlapping and divergent ways animal and human bodies experience their environments. Through this lens, the exhibition invites reflection on the boundaries—both physical and perceptual—that shape how we understand and navigate the world.In addition to their artistic practice, Endo is an educator whose teaching background in glass, scent, and sculpture informs their approach to making. Their studio practice is grounded in curiosity, experimentation, and care, viewing the studio as a site of discovery and learning.Endo will also serve as the first 2026 artist-in-residence for ExAir, JMKAC’s residency program. Their time on- site will support deeper community engagement through public events and offer visitors insight into their evolving creative process.About Emily Endo Emily Endo works across sculpture, scent, and installation, pursuing a research-driven practice grounded in material experimentation and sensory experience. They hold an MFA from Cranbrook Academy of Art (2010) and a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (2006). Endo’s work has been exhibited at Somerset House (London); Massey Klein (New York); Marta, Harkawik, and the Neutra VDL House (Los Angeles); LVL3 (Chicago); and Bullseye Projects (Portland). Recent press includes: The New York Times Style Magazine, Wallpaper, and Architectural Digest. Endo lives and works in Joshua Tree, California. Emily Endo. Photo courtesy of the artist.About the John Michael Kohler Arts CenterFounded in 1967, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC) is a nonprofit creative hub that supports the work of contemporary artists through original exhibitions, commissions, residencies, publications, and community programming across visual and performing arts. The only institution in the world that collects artist- built and artist home-based environments, JMKAC is a leading center for the research, preservation, and presentation of artists with wide-ranging practices and backgrounds from academically trained to self-taught and folk traditions, championing long-term relationships with artists and elevating work that has often been overlooked or under-recognized. JMKAC is a vital cultural resource that responds to the needs of its local and regional communities, preserving artistic heritage by uplifting contemporary voices and empowering future generations.HoursTuesday, Wednesday, Friday: 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m.Thursday: 10:00 a.m.–8:00 p.m.Saturday, Sunday: 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Image: Emily Endo,&nbsp;Orphic Diadem, 2024; glass, stainless steel, and fragrance; 22 x 22 x 10 in. Photo: Margeaux Walter.

Emily Endo: Estuary

Opening January 31, 2026, at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC),&nbsp;Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis: Rock Fade (~45&nbsp;Billion&nbsp;Years)&nbsp;is a large-scale installation by artist-collaborators Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis. Inviting viewers into an encounter with deep geological time, human perception, and our impulse to order the natural world, the work consists of a carefully selected sequence of stones arranged in a perfect line, gradually diminishing in size. This deceptively simple gesture becomes a profound meditation on material, meaning, and scale, prompting visitors to consider how aesthetic experience is shaped not only by material form, but also by embodied perception and collective engagement.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Rock&nbsp;Fade&nbsp;takes something deeply familiar, a stone, and asks us to encounter it in a new light. As the sequence shifts from boulder to sand, the work reveals how perception, movement, and shared experience shape what we understand as art,” states&nbsp;Jodi Throckmorton, Chief Curator at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center. “Relocating the installation across phases challenges us to reflect on our own role in ordering, witnessing, and ultimately returning these materials to the world.”&nbsp;&nbsp;On view through August 16,&nbsp;Rock Fade (~45&nbsp;Billion&nbsp;Years)&nbsp;references local and global rituals of marking time and space with stones, through collection, spirituality, and boundary setting. The work engages a deep human tradition to collect, order, control, and define the natural world against the backdrop of the slow transformation of rocks across ancient seas, volcanic flows, and glacial drifts; always in motion, even in their stillness. This juxtaposition highlights the tension between the human impulse to order and the inevitable processes of erosion and transformation that characterize geological time, revealing the work’s core inquiry: that the act of arranging the stones is both fleeting and monumental. Over time, the artwork will erode, scatter, and reintegrate with the earth, resulting not in failure, but in fulfillment.&nbsp;&nbsp;Rock&nbsp;Fade&nbsp;(~45&nbsp;Billion&nbsp;Years)&nbsp;builds on the conceptual framework of an earlier gesture of stone placement found in the artist environment of pioneer fiber artist Lenore G. Tawney (1907-2007) at JMKAC’s Art Preserve, in which Tawney arranged a subtle gradient of rocks from large to small. The work becomes a form of intergenerational dialogue—artists speaking to one another across time not by replicating but by amplifying, through matter, order, and attention. Clayton and Lewis will be Lenore G. Tawney Fellows at JMKAC in 2026, a fellowship that fosters new engagement with Tawney’s art environment, made possible with support from the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation. Candidates are encouraged to apply with projects that study overlooked aspects of works and movements related to Tawney or discuss previously unexplored connections between those works and art from other disciplines.&nbsp;&nbsp;“Rock Fade&nbsp;engages with the tradition of artist-built environments and the Arts Center’s work to preserve them while embracing the processes that shape them, offering a rare opportunity to witness an artwork that lives, changes, and integrates back into the environment over time. We’re proud to collaborate with Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis as this project unfolds with our community,” adds&nbsp;Amy Horst,&nbsp;Executive&nbsp;Director of the John Michael Kohler Arts Center.&nbsp;&nbsp;Rock Fade&nbsp;is designed to shift the audience’s relationship to material, scale, and time as it unfolds through multiple phases starting with the exhibition at the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (January 31-August 16, 2026). The linear installation in a white-cube space depicts the stones removed from their natural setting, placed in a controlled environment that invites close-looking and contemplation.&nbsp;&nbsp;On September 19, 2026, a community procession will follow, inviting participants of all ages and ability to help transport the stones from the gallery to an outdoor site. The procession is logistical and symbolic: an act of communal labor, care, and transformation that becomes a form of glaciation and procession through movement, merging geologic time with collective human effort. The procession will conclude at the Art Preserve where Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis will utilize the rocks for a long-term outdoor installation. The procession will be documented in a film to extend its impact and reach.&nbsp;&nbsp;For its final phase,&nbsp;Rock Fade&nbsp;will come to rest where, for years to come, environmental forces will erode and reshape the installation. Visitors will encounter the work embedded in the land, part as sculpture, part as earthwork, with accessibility top of mind to ensure a wide range of bodies are able to experience the piece.&nbsp;The project, through all the stages, reminds visitors to slow down, notice matter, and share responsibility for how they move through time and space, particularly potent during a global moment of political and climate crisis and shortened attention spans.&nbsp;&nbsp;About&nbsp;Lenka&nbsp;Clayton&nbsp;Lenka Clayton is an interdisciplinary artist whose work considers, exaggerates, and alters the accepted rules of everyday life, extending the familiar into the realms of the poetic and absurd. Clayton is the founder of&nbsp;An Artist Residency in Motherhood, a self-directed, open-source artist residency program that takes place inside the homes and lives of artists who are also parents.&nbsp;&nbsp;Recent exhibitions include&nbsp;Rising Sun&nbsp;(2023) at Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts in Philadelphia,&nbsp;Day Jobs&nbsp;(2023) at the Blanton Museum of Art,&nbsp;The Museum Collects Itself&nbsp;(2023) at the Mattress Factory Museum in Pittsburgh,&nbsp;and&nbsp;To Begin Again&nbsp;(2022) at ICA Boston. Clayton’s work has been supported by The Warhol Foundation and The National Endowment for the Arts. She has received an Art&nbsp;Matters Award, a Carol R. Brown Award for Creative Achievement, and a Creative Development Grant from Heinz/Pittsburgh Foundation. She has been an artist-in-residence at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, PA and Headlands Center for the Arts, CA and was a Sabrina Merage Fellow with Black Cube Nomadic Art Museum.&nbsp;&nbsp;Clayton’s work is held in the permanent collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, SFMoMA in California, Hamburger Kunsthalle in Germany, Mount Holyoke College Art Museum in Massachusetts, and The Carnegie Museum of Art, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and The Philadelphia Art Museum in Pennsylvania. Permanent public artworks include Darkhouse Lighthouse, and Historic Site, both made with collaborator Phillip Andrew Lewis.&nbsp;&nbsp;About&nbsp;Phillip&nbsp;Andrew&nbsp;Lewis&nbsp;Phillip Andrew Lewis is a Philadelphia-based artist who works in a variety of media including photography, video, objects, and sound. His creative research often responds to historical events, psychology, and phenomenology. This work consistently examines duration, perceptual limits, and attentive observation. Lewis is actively involved in collaboration with artists and various groups.&nbsp;&nbsp;Phillip has exhibited his work both nationally and internationally. He received a 2012 Creative Capital Grant in Visual Art for his ongoing long-term project entitled SYNONYM. He has also received generous support for his research from Black Cube, Headlands Center for the Arts, Culture and Animals Foundation, Center for Creative Photography, Foundation for Contemporary Arts in New York, Fathomers, Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, Midway Contemporary Arts Fund, Tennessee Arts Commission, University of Tennessee, UrbanArt Commission, The Heinz Endowments, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and Sabrina Merage Foundation. In collaboration with his wife, Lenka Clayton, he runs a project space in Pittsburgh called Gallery Closed, which is open 24/7 via two street-facing windows.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Lenka Clayton and Phillip Andrew Lewis: Rock Fade (~45 Billion Years)

David R. Harper: Good Morning Sweetheart&nbsp;brings together sculpture, textiles, ceramics, stained glass, and found imagery to explore how memory takes shape in objects. Couches, perfume bottles, motel soaps, detergents, birds, flowers, fragments of figurative sculpture, and everyday household items appear throughout the exhibition. Familiar at first glance, these things are carefully handmade, altered, and recombined—becoming intimate, uncanny, and quietly charged.The exhibition unfolds across two connected spaces. In the MMoCA Icon, Harper creates a suspended environment centered on a lightweight mid-century couch upholstered in handwoven tones of pink, sherbet, melon, and honey. Embedded with domestic cleaning products, the couch becomes a floating “memory bank”—a meditation on home, care, and repose—surrounded by a mobile featuring a summer patio umbrella and garlands of cast-ceramic Froot Loops.In the State Street Gallery, the exhibition pivots around&nbsp;She Drank the Water That Was Meant for the Orchids&nbsp;(2019), a recent addition to MMoCA’s collection. New large-scale embroideries, stuffed horses with embedded objects, shelves of ceramic vases covered in cast cicadas, and ceramic flower bouquets extend the exhibition’s domestic and emotional terrain.Across both spaces, memory functions as a material. Objects act as containers of experience—holding care, pleasure, grief, desire, and loss. Rather than telling a single story, Harper creates environments where meaning emerges through movement and attention. Looking becomes an active process, shaped by proximity, perspective, and the viewer’s own lived experience.About the ArtistDavid R. Harper (b. Toronto, Canada / Lives and Works in the American Midwest), received his BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, and his MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in Fiber and Material Studies. He currently teaches in the Painting and Drawing department at the Art Institute of Chicago and the New Studio Practice department at the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design.&nbsp;Harper’s work employs both traditional and non-traditional materials such as embroidery, ceramic, and casting materials such as salt and charcoal in a cross-disciplinary manner to create objects installations that grapple with notions of loss, love, feelings of belonging and how we use objects to inform our notions of self.&nbsp;Harper has been included in group shows at museums in the US and Canada, including MASS MoCA, National Gallery of Canada and the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art and has participated in numerous solo exhibitions including&nbsp;My Own Personal Ghost&nbsp;(The John Michael Kohler Art Center),&nbsp;Plateau&nbsp;(South Bend Museum of Art)&nbsp;Skin and Bone&nbsp;(Textile Museum of Canada), A solo touring exhibition of Harper’s work titled&nbsp;Entre Le Chien et Le Loup&nbsp;was organized by the University of Toronto in 2013&nbsp;He has participated in several residencies, including the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation Residency (2016), Bemis Center for Contemporary Art (2014), and the Kohler Arts Industry (2012/2014)&nbsp;&nbsp;His work can be found in a number of notable collections, including The Museum of Arts and Design (NYC), The John Michael Kohler Art Center, The Museum of Wisconsin Art, The National Gallery of Canada, the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation (Los Angeles), and the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia.

David R. Harper: Good Morning Sweetheart

Gelsy Verna (1962–2008) was a Haitian-Canadian artist, educator, and collaborator who taught at UW–Madison and left a lasting impact on students and colleagues. Working primarily in collage and drawing, Verna used symbols, text, and layered images to explore how meaning is never fixed, but constantly shifting.Throughout her work, Verna often challenged familiar cultural icons. In one series, she reimagined Martin Luther King Jr. with different hairstyles, patterns, and even Mickey Mouse ears. In another, she portrayed Marilyn Monroe with brown skin. With wit, courage, and imagination, these works invite viewers to question how identity, history, and power are constructed.Mother, Father, Please Help Me&nbsp;was drawn and redrawn over several years in collaboration with artist and frequent collaborator David Dunlap. Built through many layers of images and marks, it functions as a palimpsest—a surface that holds traces of earlier versions beneath what we see now. The work embodies Verna’s belief that images and symbols change over time, and that new meanings emerge through revision, proximity, and combination.This artwork has both a front and a back, and both are essential to fully experiencing the piece. To allow visitors to encounter the complete work, the reverse side has been carefully reproduced and printed for display.Recently acquired by MMoCA from the artist’s estate,&nbsp;Mother, Father, Please Help Me&nbsp;is among the last major works available from Verna’s studio. Verna died suddenly in 2008 at just 46, leaving behind a rich artistic legacy that her sister, Mahalia Verna now works to preserve.&nbsp;

Gelsy Verna: Mother, Father, Please Help Me

Papercutting as a creative handcraft has roots in many cultures, including centuries-old examples from China, the Polish tradition of&nbsp;wycinanki,&nbsp;and the Mexican history of&nbsp;papel picado. Celebrating handwork and recognizing its potential to connect across time, space, and geography, this exhibition combines various forms of papercutting.&nbsp;Through large- and small-scale works, contemporary makers expand upon tradition, adding their voices to rich creative lineages. To further illustrate this concept, shadow puppet theater utilizing paper silhouettes will be performed throughout the run of the show.Cut It Out&nbsp;is part of&nbsp;<a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.handwork2026.org/" target="_blank">Handwork 2026</a>, Craft in America’s nationwide semiquincentennial collaboration showcasing the importance of the handmade and celebrating the diversity of craft that defines America.

Cut It Out: Papercutting Traditions and Beyond

How do you throw a brick through the window… is inspired by artist and activist Johanna Hedva, who poses the question, “How do you throw a brick through the window of a bank if you can’t get out of bed?” Hedva’s statement questions the rights and opportunities of individuals with disabilities as they navigate forms of protest.Through new commissions and recent works, artists Yani aviles, Chloe P. Crawford, Nat Decker, Jeff Kasper, Carly Mandel, Jeffrey Meris, and Libby Paloma look toward Hedva’s work to prioritize modes of dissent that influence personal, political, and social systems.&nbsp; Each artist uses strategies of movement, communication, interruptions in time and space, or moments of play to achieve such transformation. As Hedva suggests in her question, the most meaningful strategies for challenging cultural systems and governing bodies are actions that take place beyond the streets. By circulating these artists’ processes of resistance, this exhibition makes enacting a revolution become more approachable and possible on both individual and communal scales.How do you throw a brick through the window… is co-organized by Tufts University Art Galleries (TUAG) with the John Michael Kohler Arts Center (JMKAC).

How do you throw a brick through the window…

Italian immigrant Silvio Barile spent decades converting his pizzeria into a museum to honor his heritage. The Italian American Historic Artistic Museum in Redford Charter Township, Michigan, was once enormous. The interior walls of the restaurant were covered with murals, photos, and postcards of iconic Italian imagery such as statues of Julius Caesar, Roman ruins, Renaissance-era paintings, olive trees, and Italian and American pop culture figures. In addition to two-dimensional adornments, Barile fabricated large-scale concrete statues depicting events and characters renowned in Italian and American history. His sculptures filled the pizzeria, then the patio behind it, then the acre of woodland behind the patio. Even after the restaurant closed in 2002, the museum remained and continued to grow.After Barile’s death in February 2019, increasing costs and pressure from the community resulted in the destruction of the site in 2020. In May 2021, the John Michael Kohler Arts Center acquired three large painted concrete works by Barile that were believed to be the last remaining components of the museum. In the early months of 2022, a grouping of eight additional works was found and acquired by the Arts Center. This is the first time these works are being shown outside of the Michigan site.

Silvio Barile

<a href="https://kimstoragegallery.us22.list-manage.com/track/click?u=63eb3ae92ac5ae9371f4d5ed0&amp;id=af142533d1&amp;e=0feabe6389" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);" target="_blank">Doug Fath</a>’s paintings are open narratives that examine myth, culture, pain, and hope. Working in a Magic Realist style, his canvases invite viewers into dreamscapes where the familiar and the fantastical converge — where blindfolded pigs recline in lush abundance, armed bears stand vigil amid wildflowers, and bluebirds rise singing into darkened skies. Through vibrant color and the charged presence of animals, Fath constructs a symbolic language that is at once personal and universal, poetic and politically alert.&nbsp;At the heart of his practice is a commitment to painting as a healing mechanism — a space where isolation, grief, injustice, and resilience can be held together without easy resolution. Fath’s imagery draws on encyclopedias, folk art, scientific illustration, literature, and poetry, weaving them into allegories that speak to the current political and social moment. The narrative is always open-ended, never didactic — he invites the viewer to complete the meaning, to bring their own experience into dialogue with his.&nbsp;His primary influences are the women of the Mexican Surrealist movement — Frida Kahlo, Leonora Carrington, and Remedios Varo — whose unflinching examination of pain, isolation, and the inner life runs throughout his work. Fath received his MFA in Photography from the University of Illinois at Chicago and has exhibited across the United States at venues including the James Watrous Gallery, Arts + Literature Laboratory, Tory Folliard Gallery, the Dubuque Museum of Art, and the Museum of Wisconsin Art.

Doug Fath

New England…has recently posited itself as a grand signifier in my existence as a jewelry artist. It is learning about New England’s seminal history as the seat of the American Industrial Revolution, the undeniable gravity to the founding of this nation, its growth and ultimate dissolution, and the remnants and detritus that are informing my current work. My formative years were spent in southern California where cultural imprints positioned me in a liminal existence between prejudice and privilege. I am half Black and half White. Living in a middle-class suburb of Los Angeles and visiting my father in socio-economically and racially divided South Central Los Angeles impacted my identity as a young person searching for which culture to occupy and how. Ultimately, I realized the choice itself provided me with a tool of social leverage.&nbsp;—Tanya CraneResponding to her own biracial background, Tanya Crane imbues her enamel, metal, and found object jewelry with reflections on history, resiliency, migration, community, adornment, humanity, identity, family, and heritage.&nbsp;As she considers how traditions shift across space or through time, Crane creates patterns that echo designs of global Indigenous makers. This exhibition features jewelry inspired by historical adornment in RAM’s permanent collection—specifically, incised metal bracelets and neckpieces from West Africa that were used as currency. Objects like this were exchanged within trade or barter networks, not only for local agricultural and luxury products but also in transatlantic slave trade negotiations. This potential compelled Crane to cautiously move forward with her explorations.As she states, “The research for my jewelry encompasses both a response to my immediate landscape and my family stories relative to the impacts of the Great Migration. It is through this lens that I interact with and respond to the museum’s collection, contextualizing that historical work through a contemporary lens and providing a dynamic framework to investigate the past in the present.”Crane’s artwork metaphorically embodies the many layers of human existence—specifically, history, race, class, and culture. Through her practice, she reaches into the past to better understand the present and, potentially, the future. As a contemporary jeweler, Crane centers mark-making, patterns, and material choice to build the content in her individual pieces, and doesn’t shy away from using scale to create bold statements. The sgraffito technique she often employs means she carves through one layer of information to get to another—literally uncovering and exposing what has come before.In 2022, RAM invited Crane—who was teaching at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts at Tufts University, and has since moved back to her home state of California—to consider making work in response to a small selection of historical African pieces in the museum’s collection. Crane’s personal investment in using jewelry to make connections and her stated interest in the history of adornment made her a good candidate for this provocative project—she was ready to consider tackling the metaphorical weight of these metal historical objects that once functioned very differently than they do in a museum collection.<h5> </h5>Tanya Crane received her MFA in Metalsmithing + Jewelry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and her BFA in Metal from the State University of New York at New Paltz. Crane is an Assistant Professor of 3D Foundations, Jewelry and Sculpture at Long Beach City College. Named a 2024 United States Artist Fellow in Craft, she was selected in 2023 to be an inaugural recipient of the Center for Craft’s Teaching Artist Cohort. Crane was also a recipient of The Doris Prouty Foundation Artist Grant—offered to BIPOC/AAPI women artists in Massachusetts and North Carolina to further their artistic activity and practice. She was the 2018 Society of North American Goldsmith’s Emerging Artist and selected to present at SOFA Chicago, as well as the 2017 winner of the Society of Arts and Crafts–Boston Artist Award.Crane’s work is in the collections of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, AR; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; National Ornamental Metal Museum, Memphis, TN; Philadelphia Art Museum; Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, OH; Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT; and Racine Art Museum.

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