Bruce W. Pepich

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Bruce W. Pepich (b. 1952, Elmhurst, IL.) is an expert in American and International Craft and currently holds the position of Executive Director and Curator of Collections at the Racine Art Museum (RAM) and Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts (Wustum) since 2003, in Racine, Wisconsin. According to RAM internal records, Pepich has taken a collection count of 253 in 1974 to a collection in 2018 of just under 10,000 pieces of contemporary craft, one of the largest, if not the largest collection in the United States. In addition, Pepich has been an Honorary Fellow of the American Craft Council (ACC) since 2012, ; a prestigious recognition of Pepich's significant contributions to the field of contemporary American crafts.

Biography

Bruce W. Pepich was raised in the western Chicago suburbs. He was introduced to the Art Institute of Chicago as a pre-teen and visited frequently. Pepich received a BA in Art History with a concentration in contemporary art, from Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, Il, in 1974. Pepich joined RAM after graduation and has remained with the institution to the present,shaping a small local museum into a major museum focusing on contemporary crafts and fulfilling his, "longstanding ambition to direct the most important craft museum in the Midwest." The museum's most significant donor and promotor, Karen Johnson Boyd, played a significant role working with Pepich in gaining national recognition for its collection, and raising more than ten million dollars for the new building in downtown Racine, WI, creating two campuses for art and education. The NEA also supports Pepich in his philosophy that "serving the community is good for us as an institution." The NEA has been a proud supporter of Pepich's commitment to art, education and the community of Racine, WI.

In addition to his leadership of the two campuses of RAM, Pepich’s career includes participation as juror on over 135 jury panels for regional and national and international competitive art exhibitions and fellowship programs. These include the Cotsen Prize for Japanese Bamboo Basketry, the coveted Louis Comfort Tiffany Foundation Artists’ Grants, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show, described as being "juried by the most distinguished experts in the various fields of craft art. This year's jurors include ...Bruce W. Pepich, Director of the Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts"; the Smithsonian Craft Show, the 20th anniversary of Craft Forms fine crafts show, and the US Artists Fellowship Awards.", In addition, Pepich has been recognized in his field and received the following awards: 2012 Inducted as an Honorary Fellow in the American Craft Council’s College of Fellows; 2011, Wisconsin Visual Art Achievement Award-Museum of Wisconsin Art, Wisconsin Visual Arts, and the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters;2010, Ann Koski Professional Excellence Award-Wisconsin Federation of Museums;2010 State of WI Governor’s Award in the Arts from the Wisconsin Foundation for the Arts and Governor Jim Doyle of the State of WI.

Personal life

Pepich lives with his wife, Lisa Englander, a celebrated artist and curator, in Racine, WI.

Publications

Articles, Director’s Forwards and Essays:

• The Surface Design Journal, Metalsmith, Wisconsin Academy Review, the Crafts Report
• Mark Adams: Catalogue Raisonné of Tapestries, Stanford University Libraries, California, 2012
• Beth Van Hoesen: Catalogue Raisonné of Limited-Edition Prints, Books, and Portfolios, Anne Kohs and Associates, Inc. with Hudson Hills Press LLC, 2011
• Jon Kuhn: Transcending Beauty, Marx Saunders Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, November 7 – December 31, 2008
• Mara Superior, Mara Superior: A Retrospective, New Britain Museum of American Art, New Britain, Connecticut, October 22 – December 31, 2006
• Spectral Reflections and Spatial Refractions: The Works of Sidney Hutter, Marx Saunders Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, September 10 – October 2, 2004
• Glass and Light: Christopher Ries, Marx Saunders Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, May 22 – June 25,2004
• The Artist as Catalyst and Mentor, The Jewelry of Robert Ebendorf, a Retrospective of Forty Years, Gallery of Art and Design, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina, and traveling nationally, 2003-2004
• Coming Full Circle: The Eloquent Sculpture of Jane Sauer, Jane Sauer: Impassioned Form, Robert Hillstead Textiles Gallery, College of Human Resources and Family Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, February 11 – March 16, 2001
• Paul Stankard, Habatat Galleries, Boca Raton, Florida, Paul Stankard, January 11 – February 3,2001
• Photo caption quotes, Teapots Transformed: Exploration of an Object, Leslie Ferrin author, GUILD Publishing, Madison, Wisconsin, 2000
• Toshiko Takaezu: An Essential Balance, Perimeter Gallery, Chicago, Illinois, Toshiko Takaezu, October 13 – November 25, 2000

Ramfan101 (talk) 17:18, 26 April 2018 (UTC)Ramfan101

References

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