RACINE, WI.- Thanks to the generous gifts of donors and supporters, the Racine Art Museum owns over 9,000 pieces, crowning it as America's largest collection of contemporary craft. Open at Racine Art Museum, February 19 - June 4, 2017, Small Gifts from Big Donors focuses on the small-scale gifts of significant donors to RAM's collection. The museum's collection would not be where it is today were it not for their combined generosity.

"Collectors donate and purchase artwork with the generous goal of gifting their acquisitions to their favored museum," quotes RAM Executive Director and Curator of Collections Bruce W. Pepich. "As many institutions are persistently strapped for funds, these gifts allow museums to build their collections and direct funding to community art education programming and growing audiences."

The collectors honored in this exhibition series include Dale and Doug Anderson, Devra Breslow, Gail M. Brown, David and Jacqueline Charak, Camille and Alex Cook, Lloyd Cotsen, Robert W. Ebendorf and Aleta Braun, Daniel Greenberg and Susan Steinhauser, Jane and Arthur Mason, Donna Moog, Donna Schneier and Leonard Goldberg, and Donald and Carol Wiiken. Throughout 2017, selections from their gifts will be featured, with four donors represented at a time.

These donors, and many more, appreciate the respect and attention that a public collection is able to provide. This exhibition aims to thank all of those who make RAM's important holdings possible. "There are many other influential donors who actively support RAM by making contributions of objects and we are grateful to them all," says Pepich. "Attracting collectors is about gathering talented and generous individuals to your museum, and developing ongoing, beneficial relationships. By working together, collectors and museums enhance their mutual strengths and further advance the field of contemporary craft."