Crystal Bridges Museum in Bentonville

This was an all expense paid trip through Soapbox. All opinions are my own. 

I love visiting new places and exploring them. My latest adventure took me to a small town in Arkansas called Bentonville. I was pleasantly surprised by the town, and everything there was to do in the area. I will be sharing more about Bentonville soon. Today I wanted to highlight the Crystal Bridges Museum and share my experience as well as the Space Project Celebration that I was able to attend before I left. An original piece of art was launched into space which was very fun to see! Keep reading to hear all about it!

My trip to Bentonville to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”]

The day we visited the Crystal Bridges Museum is was really cold and snowy. I didn’t get to explore outside as much as I would have liked to, but the grounds are magnificent, with over 4-miles of trails on the museum’s 120-acre grounds every year. They get more than 250,000 people coming to enjoy them. I know I want to go back in the summer and explore them all. Make plans to go and explore the trails and see the beautiful nature and art for yourself.

We did get an extensive tour of the museum, and I loved not only the art but the building itself. There is so much to see and do there. Even VR experiences that let you get up close and explore paintings. There is an extensive library as well as plenty of places to sit down throughout the museum so you can stop wherever the art is speaking to you and soak it in.

The guided tour is fantastic. I learned so much and really enjoyed getting to see everything and learning more about the history and background.

Crystal Bridges Museum

One thing that they told us during the tour was that they are able to help thousands of school children visit the museum and participate in the programs and tours, completely free of charge. They help provide the buses, lunches, etc to make the experience as perfect as possible. This makes it so the kids have the opportunity to be exposed to as much art and nature as possible. They have generous sponsors who make it possible for visitors to see our permanent collection free of charge as well.

Click on the images below to see them larger, and then click the back button to return here

As you can see, there is such a wide variety of art and collections here. Crystal Bridges is the newest American art museum to open in more than a generation. Since they opened in 2011, nearly 4 million people from 50 states and six out of the seven continents have visited.

The collection at Crystal Bridges Museum spans five centuries of American art from Early American to Contemporary. Some of the signature works include Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter, Kerry James Marshall’s Our Town, and Jimson Weed by Georgia O’Keeffe.

Learn more about Crystal Bridges Museum on their website at https://crystalbridges.org and on social media at

• https://www.facebook.com/crystalbridgesmuseum
• https://twitter.com/crystalbridges
• https://www.instagram.com/crystalbridgesmuseum

 

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Space Project Celebration

I was also able to be part of the Space Celebration Event where they launched an original piece of art into space. This was fun to see as they attached it to a big weather balloon and then let it go up into space.

Men of Steel, Women of Wonder Exhibit

Open February 9 to April 22, 2019

Superman and Wonder Woman are two of the most beloved icons in American pop culture. Created in times of economic adversity and world war, these characters quickly emerged as beacons of American morality, representing the ideals of truth, justice, and the American way. Men of Steel, Women of Wonder is a new exhibition developed by Crystal Bridges’ Assistant Curator, Alejo Benedetti, that examines art world responses to Superman and Wonder Woman ranging from their Depression-era origins to today’s contemporary artist interpretations. The exhibition features over 70 paintings, photographs, installations, videos, and more by a wide range of artists.

Offering fresh perspectives on these cultural icons and tapping into our current national love for superheroes, the artists in Men of Steel, Women of Wonder use Superman and Wonder Woman to explore national identity, American values, social politics, and the concept of humanity in an exciting, thought-provoking, unforgettable exhibition.

Debut of the exhibition that Crystal Bridges organized [will travel to San Antonio Museum of Art (San Antonio, TX) from June 22 to September 2, 2019, and will make a final stop at Addison Gallery of American Art (Andover, MA) from October 5, 2019 to January 5, 2020.] So if you don’t get to see it in Bentonville at the Crystal Bridges Museum, you can find it in Texas or Massachusetts later this year.

 [/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]