"Refreshing, colorful and bright!" 'Peep'-tactular art now on display at Racine Art Museum!

RACINE (WITI) -- It's an exhibit giving a whole new life to Peeps! The Racine Art Museum is kicking off its "International Peeps Art Exhibition" just in time for Easter.

"They turn them upside down, they turn them on their backs, they paint them, they melt them, they cut them up and assemble them like mosaics," said Racine Art Museum Executive Director Bruce Pepich.

Lisa Englander came up with the idea six years ago while walking through a store as crews were stocking shelves with Peeps after a long, cold winter.

"I walked down the middle aisle as they were setting it up for the holidays and it looked refreshing and colorful and bright," said Englander.

This year, 88 works of art were submitted.

"You have to either depict a Peep in the work of art, or create the object incorporating Peeps in it," said Pepich.

Some are pretty creative and humorous -- from Peep-ter Pan to Dr. Peeps, entertaining the thousands expected to visit the museum.

"They brighten up, they smile, they giggle, they laugh. It's all about 'come look at this one. Come look at that one. Look what they did here,'" said Pepich.

Not only can people come and enjoy the works of art, they can also vote for their favorite for the "Peep-oples Choice Award."

Many of the pieces came from southeastern Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, but some came from other parts of the U.S. and in previous years they've had submissions from other countries, created by artists young and old.

"We thought the children's category would be the biggest section of the show. For the last couple of years, the adult category by far is the largest portion of the exhibit. The adults really want to participate in this," said Pepich.

The 6th Annual International Peeps Art Exhibition runs through April 12th.