Rockford Art Museum | (815) 968-2787
711 North Main Street
Rockford, Illinois 61103 

Rockford Art Museum Store | (815) 972-2865

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ROCKFORD ART MUSEUM

Founded in 1913, Rockford Art Museum exists to enrich the quality of life in the Rockford region through a permanent art collection, frequent art exhibitions, and lifelong art education. 

Like many art museums around the country founded about the same time, Rockford Art Museum began in the late 19th century with a different name, but with the same purpose that exists today. No matter its moniker—Rockford Sketch Club (1887), Rockford Arts and Crafts Society, Rockford Art Association (1913), Art Guild, Art League, Art Club, Burpee Art Gallery (1936), Burpee Art Museum, and Rockford Art Museum (1986) among them—its goals have been to attract memberships in order to acquire and sustain a permanent collection within a permanent gallery space of its own, for the educational and cultural expansion of its community. This group of men and women has always had the mission of making life in Rockford better.

Rockford Art Museum boasts a diverse yet concise collection, acclaimed modern galleries, museum store, office, studios and classrooms; since 2004 the museum has been a Partner in Excellence of the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Now comprised of more than 2,000 works of art, the RAM Permanent Collection consists of modern and contemporary American art from the 19th and 20th centuries through today, from American Impressionist paintings to Chicago Imagist works to outsider art in new and mixed media; sculpture; photography; and contemporary glass. Regional art with an emphasis on Illinois artists remains a steadfast focus.

Important museum collections include the Arnold Gilbert Photography Collection, Hager Collection of self-taught African American art, Stevens Collection of contemporary art, Wiiken Collection of studio glass, Fraser Collection, and the Francis and June Spiezer Collection, called "the most significant collection of Chicago art, inside or outside the city" by art critic Paul Klein.

A nonprofit, public art museum, RAM is supported by memberships, individual and corporate contributions, and partially supported by a Partners in Excellence grant award from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Proceeds from Women's Art Board, Greenwich Village Art Fair, the Rockford Art Museum Store and fundraisers throughout the year provide additional financial support.

STAFF

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/CURATOR
Carrie Johnson
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(815) 972-2879 

OFFICE MANAGER 
Nancy E. Sauer 
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(815) 972-2870 

COMMUNITY RELATIONS 
Sarah Bursley McNamara  
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(815) 972-2881 

MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS + DESIGN 
Sarah Axelson 
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(815) 972-2877

EDUCATION + ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Kelsey Stiles 
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(815) 972-2874

STORE COORDINATOR +
EDUCATION ASSISTANT 
Lily Pocs  
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(815) 972-2865

REGISTRAR 
Elizabeth Horvath 
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(815) 972-2872

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

2020–2021

PRESIDENT 
David Boccignone 

PRESIDENT-ELECT 
Keri Benhoff 

PAST PRESIDENT
John Holevas

VICE PRESIDENTS
Jennifer Ahlstrand
Steve Bois
Lisa Lindman
Daniel G. Saavedra

TREASURER
Greg Harlan

TRUSTEES
Jim Bennett
Diane Jaroch Cain
Jordan Calgaro 
Lynn Fischer-Carlson
Jerry Kortman
Jennifer Langworthy 
Patrick O'Keefe 
Steve Pitkin
Holly Squicciarini

TRUSTEES EMERITUS
Dick Behr
Rob Funderburg

SUPPORT GROUP
REPRESENTATIVES
Scott Prine | GVAF
Anne Boccignone | WAB



All text and images published on the Rockford Art Museum website are for personal and/or educational use only. Neither  text nor images published herein are for use in the public domain unless already established as such. Any commercial use or publication is strictly prohibited. Reproduction, redistribution or exploitation, for personal or corporate gain, is strictly prohibited. Images of artworks and archival material on the RAM website are copyright Rockford Art Museum unless otherwise noted. Artworks are copyright respective artist or representative per applicable national and international laws. RAM strives to respect copyright in a manner consistent with its nonprofit educational mission.