6211. See the PEEP Show at the Racine Art Museum

 The Racine Art Museum puts on an art show every year featuring PEEPs candy. Artists from all over enter their creations including the public. It runs about 3 weeks around Easter each year. I have said I wanted to go and this year I told Stacy we were going. 

The Racine Art Museum is open 10-4 Wednesday-Sunday which is part of the reason it made it so hard to get to. I had to find a Saturday that worked for me and Stacy in the midst of baseball season. There is street parking or a parking garage nearby. Since the hubby came along, we just Stacy and the kids at the museum. We parked in the ramp. It is $10/adult for admission into the entire museum not just the PEEP show.

This year the PEEP show made the main gallery downstairs. I was impressed by the number of pieces of art. 

Bad Bunny was a common theme. We saw several Bad Bunny half time show works of art.

Some were play on words.

Some were from pop culture.

Each piece was unique and some were better than others.

After we checked out the PEEP show, we did check out the rest of the museum. Upstairs was an exhibit on paper cutting. 

Some were nothing more than snowflakes.

Others were very intricate.

Back downstairs in the lobby, the hubby was found the metal work pieces impressive. 

If you have never checked out the PEEP exhibit before, definitely put it on your list for next year. It is worth the visit. Even the hubby, who isn't an art museum kind of guy, found it tolerable. 

Checking out the New Trout Museum of Art

 The Trout Museum of Art moved to a new location on College Ave. It was closed for a few months while they moved. Danielle and I went to the closing exhibit at the old location so it was fitting we would go to the opening of the new location. 

The official opening was at 10 am and we both said that was way too earlier. We decided to head there after lunch. Thanks to Boldt Construction, admission to the museum is free for the first year. We parked at the library and walked. I hate parking downtown and really loathe parking ramps.

The museum itself is nice and bright. It is very spacious with high ceilings and multiple galleries on the first floor. I love the brightness of it.

The art was art. I'm beginning to realize how not an art gallery person I really am. I just found all the art to be completely random. Don't get me wrong it was very museum worthy art but each exhibit was just very random.

The fiber arts were definitely more my style even though I didn't quite get the point of some of it.

The Home Rules exhibit by Michelle Grabner was definitely my favorite. It was all very random but it was fun to look at. I like art that is fun to look at. 

The glass pieces were also my style and I enjoyed those. 

So maybe I am not just a painting kind of person. 

I did like it was a bit more interactive and made you think of the art by giving you questions to answer.

If you are in Appleton, definitely take some time this winter to go check out the new Trout Museum of Art. It has more space than the old museum and can have larger exhibits. It is worth the parking hassle and admission is free.

5975. Go to the Rahr-West Art Museum in Manitowoc

 Since the hubby had softball in Manitowoc, I decided it was a good day to keep exploring. I discovered that the Rahr-West Art Museum was within walking distance of the park and every since hearing that it had a replica of the piece of Sputnik inside, I wanted to go.

The Rahr-West Art Museum is located in front of the Sputnik Crash Site. It is open Tue-Friday 10-4 and Sat-Sun 11-4. It is free to visit and donations are gladly accepted.  The museum itself is the former home of Joseph Vilas Jr. 

Their current exhibit was probably my favorite. It is Really BIG Prints. It is a biennial print making event which is sponsored in part by Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum. The prints were of fossils and other natural things like fish. Definitely worth seeing.

The Sputnik Replica was in the hall. It also gave general history of the crash. It was not as impressive as I thought it was going to be.

Since I am not big on art, I just wandering around looking for cool pieces of art. I found several. 

I also attempted the scavenger hunt which was nearly impossible and I gave up. I "might" have found 2 or 3 of them. They just gave you a little snippet of the art work. Definitely not something for a non-art museum patron but it was fun trying to find them.

You can also take a self-guided Mansion Tour. I didn't really read about the house or the family but I definitely enjoyed the Victorian era rooms and Queen Anne Architecture. 

There was this really cool Mirro company exhibit showcasing metal kitchen items that the Mirro company made including a fun selfie spot. 

Another really fascinating part of the museum is the open storage area where items are on display while in storage. It's fun to see what other objects the museum might have acquired over the years but not really part of a current exhibit. It reminded me of the John Michael Kohler Art Preserve in Sheboygan.

Overall it was a quick visit. I really hate exploring museums, especially art museums, by myself. However, it is definitely worth checking out if you are ever in Manitowoc. The mansion alone is worth the visit.