BENTONVILLE — Every morning before the doors open to the general public at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, yellow school buses line the circle drive in front and disgorge dozens of children.
These students descend into a museum where they are surrounded by world-class works of art from some of the nation’s most revered artists. About 150 students a day walk through galleries, wonder down nature trails and eat lunch in front of the museum’s glistening ponds.
At A Glance
Museum Library
The Crystal Bridges library is open to all researchers and guests during the museum’s public hours. It provides resources for children and adults on art, though patrons are not allowed to take materials home. Many books, however, direct patrons to a local library that carries the same item and allows check out.
Source: Staff Report
The museum turn a year old Sunday.
The visits, sponsored through gifts to the museum’s Next Generation Fund, don’t cost schools a dime. The program ensures all districts can afford the trip from gas to lunch.
More than 11,500 students will have participated in a school visit to the museum by the end of 2012, according to Diane Carroll, museum media relations manager. They came from across Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma and southern Missouri.
Students and their teachers receive educational materials on the artwork prior to the visit so they are primed to benefit from the experience.
The program has helped facilitate a meeting between some south Arkansas high school students and their distance learning teacher. Bentonville resident Angelia Greiner taps into a classroom in Texarkana every day via Skype to teach U.S. history to a group of juniors in a district that is short on teachers.
Crystal Bridges brought the students to the museum, where Greiner met her students in person.
“This is such a great resource,” Greiner said. “There is a lot to offer up here.”
The Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation endowed the school visit program with a $10 million gift in September 2011.
The museum also offers education programs for homeschool students. Homeschool sessions meet weekly and include exploration in the gallery and hands-on art projects.
A partnership between the museum and the Walton Arts Center invites teachers to attend regular programs to help integrate the arts into the classroom.
“We both feel very strongly that the arts are essential for students,” said Laura Goodwin, vice president of learning and engagement for the Walton Arts Center. “Art brings humanity to the subject. It’s a great tool to making kids understand the human story behind what they’re learning. The arts really teach kids how to observe carefully and to notice detail.
“It’s been wonderful to have this amazing team just up the road that we’re able to collaborate with.”
Jerris Palmer, an art teacher at Washington Junior High School in Bentonville, has attended several of the museum’s teacher education programs. She said she loves being able to tell students they can see an piece of art they are studying just up the road at Crystal Bridges.
“It’s been a wonderful asset for our classroom,” she said.