2023: RAM’s Year of Celebration
The Fort Smith Regional Art Museum (RAM) is celebrating its 75th anniversary throughout 2023. Groundbreaking special exhibitions, innovative art classes, a city-wide scavenger hunt, a fundraising Gala, and a time capsule have been planned. From regular museum-goers to those who might be visiting for the first time, there will be something for everyone to enjoy.
A citizen-led effort to provide art exhibitions and art classes for the public began in 1948. The same mission is carried on by the museum today.
Three exhibitions will kick off RAM’s anniversary celebrations. These open to the public Sunday, January 22; RAM members and supporters will attend a sneak preview reception on January 21.
Pablo Picasso: 25 Years of Edition Ceramics from the Rosenbaum Collection is the grand centerpiece of three new exhibitions that launch to the public on Sunday, January 22. Internationally famed for his paintings, sculpture, and graphics, Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) was long intrigued by ceramics. The whimsical ceramics featured in RAM’s main gallery showcase Picasso’s ceramics made when he partnered with George and Suzanne Ramié and the artisans at their Madoura Pottery workshop in Vallauris, Southern France. Over the years, Picasso and the Madoura studio produced 633 different plates, bowls, vases, and pitchers in limited editions ranging from 25 to 500. From plates with faces to pitchers in the shapes of birds and people, the exhibition features 46 ceramic works designed by Picasso, including two original ceramic works, from between the years 1947 and 1971. It also includes original posters from previous exhibitions and photo murals of Picasso at work at Madoura Pottery. This exhibition will run until April 23 and is free to the public.
Art Center to Museum: The Last 75 Years exhibition will take visitors on a journey of RAM through a timeline of organizational milestones and a 15-foot collage of more than 300 photos taken of people and events. This exhibition will tell the story of RAM, from Art Center to Museum. This exhibition will run until April 9.
Through acquisitions and donations over the last 75 years, RAM has acquired a beautiful and diverse Permanent Collection. The artwork on view daily represents a small portion of RAM’s Permanent Collection, now numbering more than 500 pieces. 75 Years: The RAM Permanent Collection will feature art with an array of subject matter and tell the stories of numerous artists whose works have graced its walls over the years and helped the Museum become the cultural treasure it is today. This exhibition will run until April 9.
Art classes in 2023 will also feature innovative ways to include the community. Guided tours of the exhibitions will be available through mid-April, and various art classes will highlight exhibitions and RAM history. In collaboration with Arts on Main, “Plates to Go with Picasso” classes are 2-hour ceramics workshops under the direction of artist Stephanie Payton. With Picasso’s pottery as inspiration, students will be able to create up to three plates which will go through the firing process so they can be used or kept as pieces of art. Even the Tuesday night online class, “RAM Sketch,” will celebrate RAM’s 75th by featuring Pablo Picasso in March. The online attendees will try out Picasso’s various art styles using unconventional materials, as well as sketch a still life of his pottery.
The museum will also continue its regular art programs, which include a monthly Paint ‘N Sip class, a Drop in and Draw live-model sketch class on Thursdays, and make-and-take art activities for RAM Saturdays.
In celebration of the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum’s anniversary, RAM is hosting the RAM Community Hunt, executed by Baker Media Group. There will be a map, daily clues given over the radio waves and social media, and local businesses with Clue Boxes. The Hunt hopes to send you and your family and friends on a fun and exciting journey through the arts in Fort Smith and the River Valley, in search of clues.
Because art museums take you places and educate you in a fun way, RAM will be taking supporters to Paris—featuring its historic Belle Epoche period (“the beautiful era”)—for the 75th Anniversary Celebration Gala April 29. Come celebrate the community effort that has made your art museum alive, well, and dynamic after 75 years.
This year’s RAM Annual Invitational, which will run from April 29-July 30, will have artists’ entry fees waived for the anniversary year in celebration of our local and regional artists. The annual invitational is a national competitive exhibition that has been hosted by RAM since 1950. All works will be for sale, with proceeds will benefitting RAM’s exhibitions, educational programming, and the participating artists.
In honor of RAM’s 75th Anniversary, items are being sought for inclusion into a Heritage Time Capsule that will be dedicated during a special ceremony December 9, 2023 at the RAM Holiday Art Party & Family Day. The Museum is looking for a wide range of artifacts from various organizations around the community. The time capsule will not be exhumed until RAM’s 150th Anniversary in 2098.
1948-2023
In 1948, the first signs of the museum-to-come originated as the Arkansas Association of University Women. In 1951, after a name change to the Associated Artists of Fort Smith, art exhibitions and art classes began in various locations throughout Fort Smith, Arkansas. By 1960, space for an art center was purchased—the Vaughn-Schaap House—and in 1968, the Fort Smith Art Center was incorporated. This small art center served local and regional artists well for five decades. The opening of the new museum, located at 1601 Rogers Avenue near the heart of downtown Fort Smith, marked a major turning point for this organization. Arvest Bank made the expansion possible by donating the 16,000 square-foot mid-century modern building to the Art Center in January of 2009, following a $211 million dollar buyout of Superior Federal Bank in 2003. The Art Center was fully re-branded and opened in January of 2013 as the Fort Smith Regional Art Museum that is fully compliant with the standards of the American Alliance of Museums.
