Return to Bentonville, AR

Return to Bentonville, AR

First of all, Geri was the only one to get the identity of the cowboy right, the bartender/film star was Tom Mix.

This day was a return visit to the wonderful Crystal Bridges Museum of Bentonville.  Check our November 2013 blog for background on this Alice Walton creation.  We had learned that the museum had acquired the Bachman-Wilson House, a Frank Lloyd Wright home originally built overlooking a New Jersey river.  After several years of flooding, the owners sought out Walton to purchase the home.  After thousands of detailed photographs, the home was dismantled and brought to Bentonville.  There it has been reconstructed and now overlooks the springs of Crystal Springs.  The setting is so lovely.

A word of warning, reservations for a free tour of the home must be made in advanced.  We did not know that and only through the kindness of a docent were we able to take an audio tour of the interior.  The Usonian design is typical with wood, concrete and glass being the materials used.  The side of the house overlooking the stream is all glass.  The interior, detailed (dictated) by Wright, uses natural light and natural materials.  The home is small with narrow hallways and small rooms.  We could not take interior photos but did get nice ones of the exterior.


Back in the museum was visited the temporary exhibit The Open Road.

It was not what we expected.  The many photographers did drive the highways and byways of America from the 1950s through 2000 but what captured their lenses was life in its hard and rugged state.  They photographed small, poor towns, along flat, featureless roads and watched ordinary people struggling through life.  Thought provoking, not scenic.  Quotes by icons such as Walt Whitman abound

We followed an excellent docent through the sculpture garden revisiting items we had seen before and seeing new installations.  Her narration brought new meaning to what we had seen by ourselves.

Anna Lee carefully investigated Stella, the pig.

This bear is deliberately positioned to greet passers-by as he chews on his catch.

Debra Butterfield’s Red Stick stands proud in her new outdoor location.

Jerry thought this one represented Virginia but it actually was first installed in Indiana.

Untitled by Felix Gonzalez-Torres is a replenish-able array of green candy.  Torres died of AIDS in 1996.  This is art you can touch, taste, and take.  Alice Walton acquired the installation in November 2015 for the 4th anniversary of the museum.  She paid $7.67 million for it.

You have to look hard to see this is not a dead tree but actually a bronze sculpture and that there is a bicycle in its branches.

We think this Vaquero looks better here than at the National Gallery of Art in DC.

This guy, by Duane Hanson, was still sitting on the bench.  We remembered him from our last visit.

This building with it a hole open to the sky reminds us of the Quaker Meeting House we visited with our cousins in Philadelphia, then we learned the artist is also Quaker.  In the evening lights glow accenting the view of the sky, much like the Philadelphia Meeting House.

As previously mentioned, the museum is free except for some temporary exhibits.  Otherwise the only place to spend any money is the Eleven Café and the gift store.  We had an inexpensive and delicious lunch at the café.

We camped in Carthage, MO and were awakened by a thunderstorm.  The weather report threatened strong winds and hail, so we left town and drove east. through the Ozarks.  Anna Lee expected more of a swampy land but found the area beautiful.  While Jerry drove along occasionally fighting the headwinds, she watched the rolling hills pass. 

The lush ranch land feeds cattle and horses.  Huge stacks of hay have been gathered for transport.
Red bud and dogwood are abloom in the forest.

Small ponds and creeks are plentiful.  The towns along the route are small and the churches many and large.