We
had a great trip driving
over to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, in Bentonville
Arkansas.
This museum was founded in 2011 by Alice Walton and the Walton Family Foundation as a
nonprofit charitable organization and is free to the public. It does have paid options and I took one of those each time I have visited and enjoyed both of them.
They sponsor some impressive artists. We just missed a Chihuly exhibit this time. Last time I saw Salvador Dali and Picasso paintings. I mean, I was standing two feet from them! In the foothills of the Ozark mountains in Arkansas.
It’s a little more than a two hour drive
over there. Not bad on a pretty day. We had lunch in Bentonville, toured the
museum and were home for supper. They also have a restaurant on premises, but it's only open at certain times, so check their website.
We drove over on a weekday, and found
plenty of parking. When we
exited the elevators that took us down to ground level, a giant spider welcomed us!
We toured the galleries of the early American art, then visited the Frank Lloyd Wright house on the premises. We weren't allowed to take photographs or video tape there, but we are glad we went. The rooms are very small. I could barely walk through the hallway without my shoulders touching on each side. The living room is fantastic, though. The glass wall to the woods and the flooring that continues outside makes the room look like it's as much outside as inside.
After the tour, we continued to the more modern art galleries. We especially wanted to see the the Georgia O'Keeffe painting, because, when we visited her museum in Santa Fe, we were told that the purchase of that one painting by Crystal Bridges funded the entire O'Keeffe museum.
This oversized 3D sculpture of the artist, complete with his own hair, fascinated Dan. It was pretty spooky.
One of the cool things about Crystal Bridges is that it is built with glass walkways between the galleries, a way to kind of cleanse the palate before your senses are overwhelmed again.
We enjoyed a lot of the modern art but questioned some of it, like the giant silver pile of poo, titled, "Eat Meat." You can see it in the video.
This museum is definitely worth a visit if you are nearby. And Bentonville is a fun American small town to visit, with some great restaurants.
Our video below features a lot of the artwork displayed there, and our reactions to it. Be sure to subscribe to this blog and/or our YouTube channel for stories of more of our roadtrips.
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