Patty and I are just back from an overnight trip to Bentonville, Arkansas, where we visited the fabulous Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, funded to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars by the Walton Family Foundation.
Early in our marriage, Patty and I frequently drove to Hot Springs, Arkansas — much farther south than Bentonville — and had some great times at Oaklawn Park, the thoroughbred race track, nestled in the Ouichita Mountains.
This time, on the occasion of our 30th wedding anniversary, we decided to take a shorter trip and see Crystal Bridges, which opened in 2011. We had heard a lot about it but hadn’t been there until now.
…A little background about Crystal Bridges. The moving force behind it was — and is — Alice Walton, 65, Sam Walton’s only daughter. (He had three sons, one of whom is dead.) As of February 2014, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Alice has an estimated net worth of $33.9 billion, making her the 13th richest person in the world.
Alice was born and raised in Arkansas, of course, but she has lived for several years on a ranch outside Fort Worth, Texas, where she raises “cutting” horses.
In a 2013 article Forbes magazine said the Walton Family Foundation put $1.2 billion into Crystal Bridges. That figure apparently includes construction and art acquisitions.
Walmart threw in another $20 million, sponsoring free admission to the museum for the next several years.
Crystal Bridges was built in a deep ravine in the Ozarks. A tour guide told us that during construction, all that was visible to passers-by were huge cranes poking up into the sky from the valley floor.
The architect was none other than Moshe Safdie, who also designed the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. Outward-angled glass walls are a common feature of both the museum and the performing arts center — and a tip-off that the same designer was at work.
Surrounded by wooded hills and walking paths, the museum consists of several pavilions, including three “bridges” constructed over a pond fed by Town Branch Creek and a spring — Crystal Spring, to be precise.
Now you’ve heard enough from me. A few photos will tell the rest of the story.
Looking down on the museum — lobby in the foreground and one of the museum’s “armadillo” bridges at the back of the photo.
One of three “bridge” buildings houses an excellent and inviting restaurant. Note the arching beams that form the ceiling.
This is a view of the restaurant from another bridge. Steel cables suspend the “armadillo” roof (above the glass). The hulking concrete bulwarks at either end of the bridge anchor the cables. (The bulwarks are known as “dead men.”)
A closer look at one of the steel cables from which the roof is suspended.
This is another bridge building, which is used for meetings and other gatherings. Unlike the two other bridges, the cables of this one are anchored by underwater concrete bulwarks.
The glass walls are similar to the facade of the Kauffman Performing Arts Center, except that the arts center facade is several stories tall.
A cedar and sanded-concrete exterior wall.
A closer look, from inside the museum, at a sanded-concrete and cedar wall. The floor tiles are Chinese marble, and the steps are cast concrete.
Finally, a closer look at the huge beams — consisting of layer upon layer of yellow-pine laminate — that comprise the bridge ceilings. At left, you can see part of one of the cables from which the roof is suspended.
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Oh, and by the way, there’s more to the museum than its fabulous appearance. There’s plenty of great art there, too!
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
Jim:
Thanks so much for your Crystal Bridges story and pictures. I never knew what it really looked like until seeing your photos. Fascinating! Quite a resemblance to the Kauffman Center. I hope to get there sometime.
Congratulations to you and Patty on your 30th!! Wonderful!
Cheers,
Laura
You would love it, Laura…The only thing we missed was meeting Alice Walton. The tour guide told us she was in the building Sunday (we went both Sunday and yesterday) for the start of a special “Van Gogh to Rothko” exhibit. The guide said Alice is very approachable and likes to talk to visitors and staff members — much like your friend Julia Irene, who, I understand, personally greeted every visitor to the Kauffman Performing Arts Center the day it opened to the public.
Thanks, Jim. And you are right about Julia Irene. It was pouring rain that day and she was there welcoming people inside and outside, according to Star coverage, and stayed to shake hands with and thank the very last visitor for coming.
Your photos of Crystal Bridges are great.
Many thanks,
Laura
I’m glad you like the photo, Laura. I ducked out of the “Abstract Expressionism” part of the special exhibit to focus on photography. Patty said, “You’re through here already?” But the camera was calling…
Looks interesting, I’ll add it to my places to see.
I used to travel through Bentonville quite often, but tend to go around it these days, since they bypassed it with US 71/I-49.
Did you happen to make it to War Eagle Mill? It is about 20-25 miles east of the museum. If you have never witnessed an actual working grist mill, it’s a must see in my opinion.
Next time!
Congratulations on your 30th anniversary, Jim and Patty, but having been very anti-Walmart for some time now, I will refrain from making any comments about either Crystal Bridges or how it came to be. I would like to see the interior of the Kauffman Center someday, however.
We are anti-Walmart, too, Rick, but I’m not going to boycott a great art collection and a great facility because Walmart cash registers made it all possible. In fact, thats a wonderful way for Alice Walton to spend her money — that and cutting horses.
I’m with you when it comes to the stores, though — we don’t go…However, I have to admit I slipped up last summer, when I wanted to get daughter Brooks a reasonably priced baseball glove, just to toss the ball back and forth in the yard. I couldn’t find one at Target so I succumbed to temptation and ducked into a Walmart and got one for less than $20. When I walked in the door and displayed it, noting where I got it, two pairs of glaring eyes greeted me — those of Brooks and Patty. “TAKE IT BACK,” they said, almost simultaneously. (Of course, I had kept the receipt.) I then hit up a friend — a guy who years ago had been to the Royals Fantasy Camp — for a free, used one.
Agree, don’t hate the museum (or what’s inside) because of Walmart. I also don’t support Walmart, but I wouldn’t let that keep me out of a museum. With no admission fees, you shouldn’t feel shamed in supporting the corporate giant.
They weren’t always a “bad” company, and I have shopped there in the distant past, but it’s been years. Along with the bad press (low wages, running mom’s & pop’s out of business, etc.) the store they built a few years ago in my neighborhood requires 24 hour police presence in order to keep things under control. In fact, I once read that the arrests made at that location came out to a grotesque percentage (can’t recall the exact number) of Raytown’s total arrests per year. That is enough to keep me away.
Sorry Jim, for forgetting (in my previous post) to congratulate Patty and yourself for 30 years of marriage, that is saying something these days. You’re a lucky man.
Haha, I did it again,,,You’re a lucky man! Always a spelling or grammatical error with me, good thing I chose the automotive profession and not one that involves writing!
But we are all human, and I think you meant Alice has an estimated NET worth of $33.9 billion…
Fixed and fixed…Thanks for the congrats, Jason; it’s been a great three decades. If I hadn’t mustered the courage to ask Patty to marry me, my quality of life would have been pretty dang poor.
…Interesting, too, about asking her to marry me — when I was 38 and she 28. The day I proposed, we had been to a Royals game and I ran into an old acquaintance who asked me if I was married yet. I said, “No,” and he came back with, “What are you waiting on — courage?”
Bingo. I think that gave me the extra boost I needed. I have never seen him since, to tell him how his words inspired me.
Interesting story about your proposal. You may have needed a little push (we all do at some point), but I’m sure it was something you had already considered.
Nice photos, BTW. I assume no photos were allowed as far as the exhibits? The museum itself is a piece of art, I’m as curious about the buildings as what’s inside.
P.S. You gave away your age, but I figured Patty was 20 years younger than you! LOL