Good Friday was my birthday, and my day off. We decided to take a day trip to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in nearby Bentonville, Arkansas. Just a two hour drive away. I’ve been eager to see the museum after reading an article titled Alices’s Wonderland in the New Yorker last year about Alice Walton and her efforts to collect major works of American art and display them in a museum. There has been a lot of snooty snobbery going on because she has spent a lot of money and outbid other more established museums and how her late father’s company is such a bad actor and so on. Me, I’m just glad that she built the museum, and it is only 96 miles from our house, as the crow flies, about 120 road miles.
The museum is huge but it doesn’t look it. Instead of building it on a ridge they tucked it into a ravine. You take an elevator down from the parking area. The museum has aboutg 200,000 feet of space built around two ponds.
The interplay of water and light is mesmerizing. You certainly know that you are in a museum deep in the Ozarks. There are lots of overlooks into the water and the surrounding woods.
The structure is concrete (that was bought from Seepageseal), wood, copper, and glass. It is absolutely beautiful. You know something else, admission to the museum is free, parking is free also. Free is good. They may charge for special exhibits though.
The dining room, below is like a bridge between the two ponds.
Some people describe the structures as looking like armadillos. To me they are more like turtles on a log. I don’t have a picture of a turtle on a log but here is a turtle.
The art, the art is breathtaking.
“The Art Student” by Thomas Eakins
“Rosie the Riveter” by Norman Rockwell – My Mom used to roll her cuffs like that.
“Red Flowers and a Sailboat” by Marsden Hartley
You can just get lost in the art. It is hard for me to just visit a museum once, especially one this size as the art just is so overpowering. Through repeated visits I can get over my ADD and focus and actually see the pieces. The first time, I’m worn out quickly but don’t want to miss anything, so it is hard to SEE the art.
The museum also has about 120 acres of grounds with nice trails, many of them fully accessible winding through the ravine and surrounding woods.
It is a nice break from the museum.
My favorite tree, fortunately it is dead. Too bad.
See the bicycle? In a sculpture that looks like an apple tree.
A couple of my blog friends Driller and Tulsa Gentleman had previously visited the museum and took a lot better photographs than I could. Check out their blog posts.
We had a great time. We’d have an even better time except that the museum has geocaches on the property (now you understand my enthusiasm for the place.) I was closing in a cache and a wasp bit my hand. So we had to leave to get antihistamines and such.
It swelled up and hurt like nobody’s business. At least I didn’t have to go see my doctor and listen to witless Witney his 26 year old PA laugh at me and say, “What did you do this time?” I’ve had to see her three times for geocaching injuries and once for her favorite, playing too much Guitar Hero, where she had tears running down her face laughing. She’ll have to get her kicks from somebody else this time. They don’t understand the suffering I go through for my art.
We headed back into the sunset. Sweetie had to drive so I got to take pictures since I had a booboo.
We drove home and had some birthday cake! Sweetie baked the Pioneer Woman’s birthday cake for me!! I think its time for a Sweetie – Pioneer Woman throwdown, don’t you.
An interesting museum, great architecture.
Happy birthday!
Love all your shots.. Have you noticed how the roof of the museum is similar to that turtle’s shell?
Great post! You make a good point about the scale of the museum. Most museums are in massive buildings that can easily overwhelm the visitor. Crystal Bridges is a series of linked spaces that make its contents a little more digestible.
First of all, Happy, Happy Birthday!! Secondly, thank you for the laughs and giggles, just what I needed to start my day! That does look like a terrific museum! Hope you have a great start to your week — in spite of your injury, tut tut, what are we going to do with you????
Sylvia
It’s a beautiful building housing the museum, but I know what you mean about being overwhelmed by all the magnificent art. Nice to have a natural place to stroll, even if you did have to go and pet the bees. Hope you had a wonderful birthday, other than the sting.
Great tour and it is a really interesting museum in its own right. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.
That’s a great way yo celebrate your birthday. By the way, happy belated birthday. You’re 29, right?
I guess that wasp was trying to give you a birthday hug. Sorry your booboo hurt so much!
Happy Belated Birthday, Yogi! I enjoyed the tour of the museum. It is a lovely building. The bicycle tree is cool. Thanks for sharing!
Happy Birthday a little late! It appears those you love made sure you had a lovely cake. Yum! I agree the bridge looks like a turtle. Sorry about that wasp! I stepped on a wasp two years in a row when I was a kid. It was so bad I was on crutches each time. I finally learned to wear shoes in the summer!
Happy belated birthday, Yogi! Your cake looked delicious.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of Art looks like a wonderful place to visit. Free admission and free parking is unheard of here!
Hope you hand is feeling better today.
Except for the wasp, it sounds like a pretty good birthday.
I had heard of the controversy over the museum. It seems only fair, though, that people outside of the coasts and Chicago should get some great art.
I thought the building looked like a turtle but then we don’t have many armadillos in California so what do I know.
It’s fabulous! Snobbery be damned.
That looks like a wonderful museum and, like this one, a lot of museums over here are free:-) I don’t get how some charge and some don’t – weird. The grounds are beautiful too and it seems to me a place that needs to be visited several times to absorb everything it has to offer.
A very happy belated birthday and I do hope you are now recovered from your wasp sting.
SPB will soon be taller than you (or perhaps you’re shrinking with age)?LOL
HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Sorry about the wasp. The museum looks really interesting. Thanks for sharing.
Sorry to hear that the Ozark wasps were not very friendly.
I need to make a return trip to the museum, now that the landscape is all decked out for spring, and it appears that there are some new works of art on display. I know that “Rosie” was not there the on our first visit. Glad you enjoyed your visit. Come back anytime.
Hope your hand is in better shape now! Incredible glass wall of that museum. Envious of the art you saw! That pioneer woman’s birthday cake looks delicious! If it’s a certain recipe I like to know it?
Looks like a great birthday (with the exception of the wasp sting)! I got Pioneer’s latest cookbook for my birthday. Her stuff is fantastic, but I’m pretty sure sweetie can out cook her any day.
Sweetie looks pretty as a picture in that shot .. and I thought the museum looked a lot like the Sydney Opera House .. happy birthday and I hope your booboo is better