Racine Art Museum opens 5th Annual International Peeps Art Exhibition

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With marshmallows as their muse, entrants in this year’s Peeps show have created everything from a local children’s choir to a blooming bouquet.

The Racine Art Museum, 441 Main St., opened its annual Peeps exhibit on Friday — not a show for “peeping Toms,” but rather a show to admire all of the artistic possibilities of the bunny- or chick-shaped marshmallow candies.

More than 100 spring-themed candy pieces submitted by artists and amateurs saturated a small room in the museum with color as dozens of residents filed through Thursday night during an award ceremony, which kicked off the RAM’s 5th Annual International Peeps Exhibition, which runs for three weeks.

“It’s our most popular community event,” said Laura Gillespie, RAM’s marketing assistant, adding that 4,000 people visited the exhibit last year. “I think after winter, everybody needs a blast of color.”

Topping last year, the 2014 competition drew 129 pieces from more than 150 artists from throughout southeastern Wisconsin, all with pieces that primarily feature Peeps.

Fourteen of these pieces were given awards on Thursday night, after being judged in the best in their categories.

Winner of the “First Peep” award for a group-made piece, “Peep Accent Choir,” by David Eickelberg and Angela Janota, depicts a large choir of Peeps in rows with lights and even a director.

However, Janota said this is not just any choir; it depicts a specific choir at Gifford Elementary School in Caledonia directed by Timothy Keith Griffin Jr.

The diorama created by Janota, music teacher and orchestra director at Gifford, and Eickelberg, an auto mechanic, is detailed to the point that each Peep represents an actual student, with physical characteristics of each individual and even their names finely written on each folder.

“Each child in the program has been represented, immortalized in Peep form,” Janota said. “I want them to come and see their own Peep and their own name ... as a kid I know how I’d react.”

The “First Peep” award for artists 12 years of age or younger went to Alissa Burke, an 11-year-old student at Racine Christian School, who created a bouquet of vibrant peep flowers called “Boupeep.”

“I just like flowers,” she said of why she chose this project, which ended up taking her 5 hours to complete. “I looked for the most unique ones and the most colorful ones that would fit with the Peeps.”

All 129 pieces submitted to the contest will be on display at the museum through May 4 during the museum’s regular hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. The museum is closed Mondays and is also closed today for Easter.