Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art The GRAND OPENING 11-11-11 PDF Print E-mail
Arkansas Art News
Written by rhonda   
Saturday, 05 November 2011 21:20
1pgSVE.SlMa.81The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will open to the public on November 11th.The museum will feature American works of art, possibly the nations finest collection, with more than 600 acquistions.  The collection will include works from the Colonial period through the modern era. Admission to the museum is "free to all" thanks to a twenty million dollar gift from Walmart. Visitors will need to obtain a timed ticket to enter the museum from November 11th through January 2nd. After January 2nd, an entry ticket will not be required. To reserve a timed ticket, visit TICKETS (Please note, as of press time all tickets for the first day, Novevember 11th, have all been reserved.) Original members, the first three-thousand who joined the museum's membership, will visit Crystal Bridges during a special "round-the-clock" preview showing on November 9th.

The museum's collection is a stunning overview of American Art that consists of works from well-known artists as well as pieces from lesser-knowns. All collected artists have contributed to the rich fabric of the artistic history of the nation. Included in the collection are works by John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, Asher Brown Durand, Thomas Eakins, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent, Maxfield Parrish, Thomas Hart Benton, Norman Rockwell, Andy Warhol, and more.

The museum's collection is housed in several inter-connected buildings designed by architect Moshe Safdie.  He used architectural concrete for the walls, while incorporating ample glass to take advantage of the building's natural wooded setting. Corners in the buildings are few and far between if any. Safdie created soothing curves that seem to reflect the orgnic naturalistic setting of the museum.  In several of the buildings the curved ceilings are supported by massive laminated beams that were constructed from Southern pine by a company in Magnolia, AR. Onsite there are two suspended buildings that are curved glass-encased bridges. The bridge-buildings span a creek that runs through the museum's property. While one of the bridge-buildings houses art, the other is the museum's café.In addtion to the galleries, the museum campus is home to the staff offices, a gift shop, a Great Hall, and  The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Library. The library houses a collection of more than 50,000 items on over 3,000 feet of shelves.
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I am your host at Canvas Junkie and work in several media. I design and make one of a kind sculpture you can wear or jewelry.

As well as paint, make found object sculpture and generally will chase after anything sparkly. When I was a teen my dad would introduce me as his daughter with the disclaimer of "You know artists are weird".

Now that I have seen many years of life pass by (I'm in denial about exactly how many)............. I'm happy to be known as an artist because....... life is just weird.