Spanning The Art World

Crystal Bridges still finding new fans, new acquisitions

Students frolic outdoors after taking a tour of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The museum, which opened last November, has attracted about 604,000 visitors since its debut.
Students frolic outdoors after taking a tour of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The museum, which opened last November, has attracted about 604,000 visitors since its debut.

On college football game days in Fayetteville, two types of people visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

Some come in Arkansas Razorback gear. Many others wear the collegiate apparel of the team the Razorbacks are playing.

The juxtaposition illustrates a larger trend at the museum, says Sandy Edwards, the museum’s deputy director of museum relations. People from all across the country are visiting Crystal Bridges, and they are visiting in large numbers. When the facility opened on Nov. 11, 2011, officials there planned to handle about 200,000 to 250,000 visitors in the first 12 months. Now, about 13 months after opening, Edwards reports 604,000 guests have entered the museum.

Of the visitors, 60 percent come from Arkansas and another 18 percent come from adjacent states such as Missouri, Tennessee, Louisiana and Texas.

That means the other 22 percent of Crystal Bridges patrons come from points elsewhere, including from outside the United States. Travelers from England, Germany and Italy lead international visitors, Edwards says.

Edwards says museum officials understand some of the high visitor numbers may be a result of the newness of the displays, which opened to much local and national fanfare.

But after several reports of much-higher-than-expected attendance in the first few months, Crystal Bridges staff realized the numbers might sustain at that level.

“We are really pleased with the number of repeat visitors, perhaps to see the different exhibitions we’ve had,” Edwards says.

Indeed, Crystal Bridges debuted much new work this year, courtesy of highprofile acquisitions (works by Thomas Hart Benton and Mark Rothko among them) and via traveling or temporary exhibits. In particular, a collection of pastoral, colorful works called “The Hudson River School: Nature and the American Vision” drew some 175,000 visitors. An exhibit featuring a signed copy of theDeclaration of Independence and other historic documents also drew particularly well. The centerpiece of that exhibit came from a private collector, but the Hudson River exhibit came courtesy of a collaboration with the New-York Historical Society. Partnerships between Crystal Bridges and other museums will result in further loans.

Art critics, particularly those on the East Coast, made an angry fuss about Crystal Bridges’ central location and its possession of some New Yorkcentric pieces. But 13 months in, Edwards says the receptionto the museum has been largely positive.

“I believe we have been very well received in the museum field. We’ve been visited by the major museums. They have been very generous with their feedback and giving us great kudos with the collection. The quality and the depth of the collection have been very well received,” she says.

Also well received have been adult education classes, youth classes and various other artrelated discussions. The trails and the public-access nature areas surrounding the museumhave also been popular, Edwards says.

Museum officials expect continued success in 2013. An exhibit featuring the works of Normal Rockwell, slated to debut on March 9, is expected to be a heavy draw.

Whats Up, Pages 16 on 12/28/2012

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