Art in the Middle of America

We drove four hours to see.

For years we had heard about the building of the Crystal Bridges Museum. The museum houses American art in the middle of the country in a small town in northwest Arkansas. It finally opened in the fall of 2011.

The art didn’t make it to the museum without controversy. At least that is what we read in the papers, heard on the news. The art lovers in the cities didn’t feel that such pieces should be displayed in city with no buildings scraping the sky.

Last year when I was in Paris, I didn’t see a city of skyscrapers but I did see the finest collection of art in the world. Most of it didn’t even come from the country of France.

France has gotten away with “looting” the world of ancient treasures. And I suppose Alice Walton (daughter of Sam, founder of Wal-Mart) with her deep pockets, has gotten away with bringing a few masterpieces to Arkansas, whose population is less than most small cities in Texas.

The collection at Crystal Bridges is held in modern building cradled in a ravine. It sits tucked into the hills only a couple of miles from the town square.

Driving up to the building the first thing you see is the tree sculpture rising like lighting in front of the building. 

The building itself is a piece of art. The outside is landscaped with biking and walking trails in the shade of a mature forest. This place is to be enjoyed from outside and in.

Admission to learn, to grow, to be inspired: Free.

I stood beside my eight-year-old niece looking at a painting by Andrew Wyeth.

“Avery, do you like this painting?”

“Yes, very much.”

“What do you see?”

“I see a lake and a house.”

“What do you like most about this painting?”

“The feathers!”

“The title of the painting is “Airborne.”

Her reply, “Perfect.”

Taking the Joy Dare with Ann:

- "cabinning" with my forever friend, a Spring Break treat

- laughing again that redbuds actually bloom purple

- hobo dinners

-an art museum that I don't have to fly to get to

-for the Most Creative, the inspiration for all things beautiful

-green, coloring the world against a blue sky

-for cardinals that sing, "pretty"