Crystal Bridges Museum

World Class Art Museum Set for Region

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, the dream of founder Alice Walton, will deliver to the nation's heartland a spectacular new venue for American art. Set to open in 2009, the museum will lure art lovers from around the country to the 105-acre wooded venue located just north of the downtown Bentonville square.

Envisioned as a premier national art institution dedicated to American art and artists, the museum complex will encompass approximately 100,000 square feet of gallery, library, meeting, and office space, a 250-seat indoor auditorium, areas for outdoor concerts and public events, gallery rooms suitable for large receptions, as well as sculpture gardens and walking trails.

Crystal Bridges is expected to draw more than 250,000 visitors annually with the potential for a direct economic impact of $17.2 million on Northwest Arkansas.

The heart of the permanent collection will include signature paintings and sculptures from American artists from the Colonial period through the modern era. The museum has announced more than a dozen of its acquisitions, including Hudson River School masterwork "Kindred Spirits" by Asher B. Durand and "George Washington (The Constable-Hamilton Portrait)" by Gilbert Stuart. The museum's most recent announced purchase was Thomas Eakins' "Portrait of Professor Benjamin H. Rand."

The museum will also have galleries dedicated to regional art and artists, including American Indian art.