Who wouldn’t want public collections on their resume? This has become more common as major American art museums have begun to collect contemporary Art Jewelry. Using the development of the Racine Art Museum’s collection, RAM executive director and curator of collections Bruce W. Pepich will explain how collectors, artists, and the museum staff work together to document artists’ career achievements and increase public appreciation.

Bruce W. Pepich is the executive director and curator of collections of the Racine Art Museum and the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts. In the '90s he assembled one of the most significant contemporary craft collections found in any art museum in North America. He opened RAM in 2003 in downtown Racine as a second campus that is home to this collection. Pepich curates exhibitions from RAM’s 9,000 piece collection and regularly presents lectures on contemporary crafts around the country. He is a published writer and has served as a juror for more than 125 national and international art competitions and fellowship awards. In 2012, he was named an American Craft Council Honorary Fellow, and he currently serves on the Council’s board of trustees.

This presentation will be held at the Sheraton Hotel, on the main stage, Napoleon A/B, and is co-sponsored by the Society of North American Goldsmiths and the American Craft Council as part of the 2017 SNAG conference, "Nexus: A Connection of Ideas," May 24 – 27.