Image: Racine Art Museum
Racine Art Museum is inviting the public into the making of Amanda Browder’s 'Zig and Zag', a large-scale fabric installation scheduled to premiere on the museum’s façade on September 18, 2026. According to RAM’s exhibition page and newsletter, the project will weave the building’s acrylic-paneled exterior with multi-colored fabric and will remain on view through mid-fall, weather dependent.
The installation is part of the inaugural In/Between multi-arts festival, placing Browder’s work within a broader seasonal program rather than as a standalone exhibition. RAM describes 'Zig and Zag' as a project crafted by local volunteers during sewing days hosted by the artist, and says the installation is intended as a celebration of color, pattern, location, community, and sustainability. The museum also frames it as a work that blurs the boundaries between individual and collective effort.
Community participation begins this week, with sewing days scheduled from July 21 through July 31 at various locations throughout Racine. RAM’s newsletter says people of all ages and abilities are welcome and that no sewing experience is necessary. Participants can sew, trim, pin, or chat while helping produce the fabric components that will eventually cover the museum’s exterior.
The museum’s exhibition page adds that the project is designed to offer “a new perspective on a familiar building” and to become “a visible expression of shared stories and a celebration of Racine.” The public sewing schedule posted on RAM’s website includes events at RAM’s Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts, Sew ‘n’ Save, the Racine Farmers Market, and Lake Oaks Senior Apartment Homes. The July 23 session at RAM’s Wustum Museum runs from 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm CDT, followed by July 24 at Sew ‘n’ Save from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm CDT, July 25 at the Racine Farmers Market from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm CDT, and July 27 at Lake Oaks Senior Apartment Homes from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm CDT.
Browder’s practice is rooted in collaboration. RAM’s artist biography says she was born in Missoula, Montana, received an MFA/MA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, taught at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and now lives in Brooklyn. The museum notes that she has produced more than 30 large-scale fabric installations around the world and that her work amplifies multiple voices through collaborations with local community groups and textiles sourced from local donations.
RAM’s notice arrives alongside the museum’s other summer programming, but the Browder project stands out for bringing the public directly into the fabrication of an exterior installation that will physically alter the museum’s look. The project’s scale and process are central to its presentation: rather than arriving fully formed, 'Zig and Zag' will be assembled through a sequence of sewing days before it is installed for its September debut at Racine Art Museum.
