Officials at Bentonville's Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art announced in August that 1 million visitors had passed through its door.
The count continues to climb, and current estimates place the total close to 1.2 million visitors.
The museum, which opened in November 2011, offers more than 201,000 square feet of indoor space and about three miles of trails on 120 acres of property. The majority of the exhibit space is devoted to American masterworks, from the Colonial Era to the 20th century.
The museum serves as a gateway to other local institutions such as art galleries and restaurants that have popped up on the Bentonville square.
"I don't think that will slow down," said Sandy Edwards, deputy director of the museum.
Collection efforts continue at the museum, she said, which means guests continually have something new to look at when they visit. The museum recently unveiled several works by pop artist Andy Warhol, hung a giant heart by contemporary sculptor Jeff Koons and announced the acquisition of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed home that will be transported to the museum grounds.
An exhibit yet to go on display is already attracting much attention, including front-page treatment from The New York Times. Museum president Don Bacigalupi and curator Chad Alligood have traversed the country in search of contemporary works for an upcoming exhibit called "State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now." The exhibit, which has the duo visiting unknown or undiscovered artists in dozens of states, debuts Sept. 13.
"It's a major commitment to the art being made now. And it will only be here. ... It's something so new and so different, people will pay attention to it," Edwards said.
Estimates suggest the museum, with the new exhibits and continued education efforts, can sustain 500,000 visitors per year.
Meanwhile, the greater Northwest Arkansas art community continues to evolve. The Fayetteville Underground is working to become more of a community space. The gallery on the southwest corner of the Fayetteville Square claimed its current space with the help of a grant from the city's Advertising and Promotion Commission. Community and education will be the emphasis of the Fayetteville Underground going forward, said Samantha Sigmon, executive director.
The space occupies an important role in the arts scene. Crystal Bridges attracts national talent. The Underground, a 20-plus-member cooperative, wants to host the best of what's made by regional artists.
"It's as local as you can get, but the finest of local art," Sigmon said.
Between Crystal Bridges and the contemporary art contained inside the new 21c Museum Hotel just off the Bentonville Square, that town has a future as a visual arts community, said David Deggs, executive director for Downtown Bentonville Inc., a Bentonville advocacy and planning group.
"They definitely help us increase our status as an arts destination," Deggs said.
Several galleries exist in the area surrounding the downtown square. Deggs said an increasing number of downtown restaurants and businesses are jumping at the opportunity by showcasing art works.
Downtown Bentonville will attempt to foster art tourism courtesy of the monthly Around the Bloc events that debuted last year. Around the Bloc returns this year between June and October, and there's activity in long term planning, too. The Bentonville City Council recently approved a plan which aims to develop an area just to the square's southeast as a place for artists to live and sell their works.
Sigmon cited another vacancy in the art community, one she hopes can be filled with her new gallery space in the Quonset huts just off Center Street in Fayetteville. The aesthetic of the newly repurposed space, which will be called Backspace, will be that of a no-fuss, few-rules community center. Sigmon said she grew up appreciating culture courtesy of do-it-yourself music shows. The same concept will now apply to the new gallery space, which will be operated jointly by Sigmon and written-word enthusiast Matthew Henriksen. Local artists will always be featured at Backspace.
NW News on 03/23/2014