Currently under construction in Bentonville, Arkansas, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art founded by Alice Walton is envisioned as a premier national art institution dedicated to American art and artists that will spur the continued economic development of Northwest Arkansas. On Tuesday, October 7, Robert G. Workman, executive director of Crystal Bridges, will discuss the art, architecture, and planning of this new museum project scheduled to be completed in 2010. His lecture, “Creating a Sense of Place: Art, Architecture, and Nature at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art,” part of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute’s Directors’ Perspective Series, will be held at 7 pm. Admission to the lecture is free.
Similar to the Clark’s campus enhancement and expansion program, Crystal Bridges embraces its rural surroundings creating a park-like campus in which visitors interact with art and the natural environment. Reed Hilderbrand, landscape architect for the Clark’s expansion, has been selected as landscape architect for Crystal Bridges. The main pavilions at Crystal Bridges are designed by architect Moshe Safdie, and will house a permanent collection of American art masterworks from the colonial era to the modern day. The heart of the permanent collection will include the Hudson River School masterwork Kindred Spirits by Asher B. Durand; Charles Willson Peale’s 18th-century painting of George Washington; Gilbert Stuart’s George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait); Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand by Thomas Eakins; Spring, by Winslow Homer; and Marsden Hartley’s Hall of the Mountain King. A dynamic temporary exhibitions program will complement the holdings of the permanent collection and exemplify the diversity of American artists.
Workman, a 30-year museum professional with a comprehensive background in all aspects of museum management, has been involved with the project since its inception. He began his association with Crystal Bridges in December 2003, working as a consultant to assist with early-stage planning, acquisitions, building design, and pre-construction processes. Prior to joining the Crystal Bridges project, Workman was deputy director of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, where he led the museum’s $39 million renovation project and expansion.
The Clark is located at 225 South Street in Williamstown. The galleries are open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 am to 5 pm (daily in July and August). Admission June 1 through October 31 is $12.50 for adults, free for children 18 and younger, members, and students with valid ID. Admission is free November 1 through May 31. For more information, call 413-458-2303 or visit www.clarkart.edu.