Image: Racine Art Museum
The Racine Art Museum will temporarily close its downtown Racine building from August 5 to 15 while a new roof is installed, according to a newsletter update from the institution. RAM described the project as an investment in the long-term care of the building and the experiences it supports. During the closure, RAM’s Wustum Museum will remain open with its normal operating hours.
The update framed the work as a practical maintenance measure rather than an interruption to programming. RAM said the closure is needed for roof installation, and that the repairs are part of efforts to keep the museum a welcoming place for the community over time. The downtown site is listed by the museum as 441 Main Street in Racine, while the Wustum Museum is located at 2519 Northwestern Avenue.
Even as the downtown building is shut, RAM is directing visitors to exhibitions, classes, and events at Wustum. On view there are three exhibitions: 'Handcrafted: RAM Community Art Show', 'Stitched Stories: Narrative Quilts and Textiles', and 'RAM Showcase: Cynthia Toops'. All three are listed on the museum’s website as running June 10 to November 21, 2026, at RAM’s Wustum Museum.
'Handcrafted: RAM Community Art Show' focuses on the relationship between artist, process, and material. The exhibition brings together ceramics, sculpted wood, quilted textiles, and metalwork by artists in RAM’s community, and the museum says it was organized in celebration of 250 years of handcraft in America. The exhibition page notes that it includes work by artists from Racine and other Wisconsin communities, and highlights Rosy Petri’s 'All This and More', a finished fabric work made from material created through a workshop series and with help from participants in RAM’s SPARK! program.
' Stitched Stories: Narrative Quilts and Textiles' gathers quilted, woven, and embroidered works from RAM’s collection that use fabric and thread to tell stories. The museum says the show includes both representational imagery and abstraction, and that the works draw on personal memory, imagined worlds, and textile traditions. RAM also notes that several artists with Wisconsin ties are included, underscoring the state’s history of textile production.
'RAM Showcase: Cynthia Toops' presents the work of a polymer art pioneer who has been pushing the medium’s boundaries since the 1980s. RAM says Toops is known for her micromosaic technique, which assembles tiny shards of polymer into figurative or abstract compositions. The exhibition page also notes her inspirations, including everyday objects, botanical subjects, folk art, and cultural jewelry and ancient beads that she collects, along with collaborations with her husband, Dan Adams, on glass beads and components used in some pieces.
RAM’s newsletter also pointed visitors to nearby programming during the closure. 'Full Steam Ahead' is scheduled for Saturday, August 8, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm at Wustum, where a dozen regional artists will use a steamroller as a printing press in a relief-printing event that is free to attend. The museum also highlighted 'The Twilight Garden Series', with 'Victorian Mash-Up' set for August 11 from 6:00 to 8:30 pm at Wustum, described by the museum as a night of steampunk ingenuity and gothic romance.
