StemCell Therapy

JOCELYN MURPHY

jmurphy@nwadg.com

It was a big year for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. For a museum thats only 8 years old, every year might conceivably be a big year. But in spite of its youth, the Bentonville museum has already established itself as a trailblazer and continues to achieve impressive new heights with each passing trip around the sun.

In 2019, Northwest Arkansas behemoth arts presenter organized, mounted and traveled a momentous exhibition (Men of Steel, Women of Wonder); activated outdoor spaces in new ways with an internally curated sculpture exhibition and an innovative light and sound installation; explored its namesake in a first-of-its-kind exhibition (Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today); acquired dynamic new works; and is on track to have a record-breaking attendance year.

Its a lot happening, Executive Director & Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer Rod Bigelow says with a chuckle and a touch of astonishment.

When we landed on the scene, we were labeled a disrupter, he goes on, noting the label was bestowed with both positive and negative implications. I think thats part of our DNA and our culture is that we want to continue to disrupt these discussions and have a bit of a different perspective in the field.

Early on in our life, there was a lot of criticism about who would come to see art in Arkansas, and a lot of discrediting the quality of the experience or where it was. Its good to look back on that now, he muses.

Access

This year, Crystal Bridges honed in on two points of its mission: welcoming all, and presenting a more inclusive narrative of the American experience.

Bilingual presentations in exhibitions were expanded and will continue to increase moving forward. More multi-sensory experiences for visitors with blindness or low vision were widened through a touchable art program. A new cart guide program offers guests a more hands-on way to interact with the work than the traditional walk-through museum experience. And this summer, during the museums outdoor sculpture exhibition focusing on color, Crystal Bridges was gifted 60 pairs of special color-enhancing glasses that were made available for checkout to guests who are colorblind.

The museums commitment to meeting visitors where theyre at so that everyone can experience the art in their own way has translated to almost 5 million visitors since its opening. Before the holidays, Crystal Bridges had already seen an estimated 662,000 visitors this year, surpassing the previous annual attendance record by nearly 30,000.

Outdoors

Outside the museums walls, the grounds at Crystal Bridges were host to myriad experiences the museum had never engaged in before.

We did some creative things this year, including the first campout in the forest, which was fun and exciting, especially for people who dont ever camp, Bigelow shares. And then we did a big Chalk Festival where we had 23 artists come and create a multi-day experience in our parking garage. If you havent seen chalk art being created moment-by-moment, its a fascinating experience. And although it was hot, it was terrific.

The North Forest was also host to two other exciting moments for Crystal Bridges. This summers Color Field was the museums first internally curated outdoor sculpture exhibition and was displayed in conversation with the temporary exhibition at the time, Natures Nation.

In the fall, Crystal Bridges new partnership with Montreal-based multimedia and entertainment studio Moment Factory resulted in the immersive, experiential installation North Forest Lights.

That is a very different kind of experience for us, and that was our intention, Bigelow says of the group of five artistic light and sound installations that are open at night through Feb. 16. What I love about being out in the forest is that every experience is different. And I think thats a poignant impact that weve created in that space and that will continue.

Acquisitions

One of the things that was really important for us this year was our continued growth in our collection, and acquiring objects that are more representative of America, reflects Bigelow.

In focusing on creating a more inclusive view of the American experience, Bigelow reveals curators were very intentional about acquiring works by women artists and artists of color. Two of the new works that have incited significant enthusiasm from viewers are Yayoi Kusamas Infinity Mirrored Room and Kehinde Wileys Portrait of Florentine Nobleman, both on display in the Contemporary Art Gallery.

These and other acquisitions for the Contemporary Gallery instigated the opportunity to re-imagine a portion of the space. Prior to the redesign, the gallerys flow was more chronological. Now, the experience in the immersive Infinity Room abstraction, repetition informs what guests will see in the rest of the gallery space. The section following Kusamas piece is full of newly acquired works by artists concentrating on figuration influenced by abstraction, assistant curator Alejo Benedetti revealed to Whats Up! earlier this year.

Among these contemporary artists of color and female artists pushing boundaries of representation are:

Jordan Casteel, Ourlando; Loie Hollowell, Mothers Milk (featured in 2018 exhibition The Beyond: Georgia OKeeffe and Contemporary Art); Nathaniel Mary Quinn, Dave Forsythe; Emma Amos, The Reader (featured in 2018s Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power).

Crystal Bridges also acquired 23 works by Los Angeles-based collector Gordon Bailey this year.

Added to the Early American Art Gallery, pioneering African American artist Henry Ossawa Tanners The Good Shepherd is another important 2019 addition.

Read this article:
Crystal Bridges ups the wow factor in 2019 - The Free Weekly

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