BENTONVILLE, ARK.- On November 11, 2011,
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened its doors for the first time. Over the course of a decade, the museum has greeted over five million visitors from around the world to enjoy world-class art, architecture, and nature. This year marks a decade since Crystal Bridges opened, and the museum is recognizing this milestone with a new exhibition celebrating its collection and community.
Crystal Bridges at 10 is an immersive exhibition with 10 distinct art experiences celebrating the museums collection and the local community one decade into the museums lifetime. Primarily drawing from the museums collection, the exhibition features 130+ artworks, presenting crowd favorites in new ways, showcasing works never before on view at the museum, and lifting up artist voices.
Step into Maxfield Parrishs The Lantern Bearers with a life-size tableau vivant, or living picture. Discover a collection of works inspired by the four elements of air, earth, fire, and water, designed by artist Mark Dion. Enjoy a room of art curated from an artists point of view: Dyani White Hawk (Sičáŋǧu Lakota), whose work is part of the Crystal Bridges collection. Watch as Fayetteville-based artist Ziba Rajabi creates a new work of art before your eyes. Walk through the museums forest in the galleries with an immersive light-and-sound installation.
Through collaborations with local artists and experts, the Northwest Arkansas community is also represented in the exhibition. Inspired by Norman Rockwells Rosie the Riveter, read the stories of some of Northwest Arkansass community champions. Watch as the University of Arkansas takes a digital dive into Francis Guys Winter Scene in Brooklyn. See self-portraits made by local children framed on the wall next to self-portraits from the collection. Discover all of this and more.
In a spectacular celebration of art brought to life from voices both within and beyond the museum, Crystal Bridges at 10 revels in the museums first 10 years and sets the precedent for the decade to come.
Crystal Bridges at 10 is curated by Mindy Besaw, curator, American art and director of fellowships and research, and Lauren Haynes, director of artist initiatives and curator, contemporary art at Crystal Bridges and the Momentary.