The country’s largest collection of contemporary craft art can be found right here in Wisconsin — at the Racine Art Museum. The museum has thousands of pieces from ceramics and fibers to metals and jewelry.
Every spring the RAM hosts a PEEPS exhibition. It's a quirky show that celebrates the colorful candy and anyone can get involved. Submissions from adults, children and groups are welcome. The 17th annual exhibition kicks off on April 1.
"You can either use the candy as the media or you can depict it. So we've seen the whole gamut of what you can possibly do in that regard. We've seen people use the PEEPS in super creative ways," Tyler Potter, the marketing and communications specialist at RAM explains.
For the first time this year, the exhibition will be held in the RAM's first floor gallery to provide more space for the work. There will also be a PEEPS-inspired installation on display from Chicago-based artist Andrea Jablonski.
You can see some really unexpected work at this show. The pieces are diverse in medium, size and subject. You can see everything from dioramas to sculptures to paintings.
"There are just so many ways that people will utilize the PEEPS that every year I feel like I've seen the extent to which you can push this kind of topic. And every year I'm just surprised at what people come up with," Potter says.
The subject matter is often inspired by current events and some artists get especially punny with the names.
There are a number of awards given out each year. The most coveted is the PEEPles Choice Award. Visitors to the exhibition vote on their favorite pieces and after the show wraps up, a winner is announced.
The 2026 RAM PEEPS exhibition runs April 1 - 18. Donate to WUWM during the Yours. Truly. Member Drive on Friday March, 13 for a chance to win tickets to the exhibition.
