Bruce W. Pepich


Bruce W. Pepich is an American museum director and art curator. He is an expert in American and international craft. He is executive director and curator of collections at the Racine Art Museum and Charles A. Wustum Museum of Fine Arts in Racine, Wisconsin.

Early life and education

Bruce W. Pepich was born in Elmhurst, Illinois and 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, Illinois, in 1974.

Career

Pepich joined Racine Art Museum as a project director after graduation and was appointed director in 1980. During his tenure, he has built RAM 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 promoter, 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, creating two campuses for art and education. The National Endowment for the Arts also supports Pepich in his philosophy that "serving the community is good for us as an institution."
As of 2014, Pepich had participated on over 135 jury panels for regional, national, and international competitive art exhibitions and fellowship programs. These included the Cotsen Prize for Japanese Bamboo Basketry, the 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".

Recognition

Board appointments

Publications

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