When Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art opened at Bentonville on Nov. 11, 2011, it was a great gift for the people of Arkansas and the region.
Though not on the scale of Crystal Bridges, which is world class in every respect, the total transformation of what had been Arkansas Arts Center is a similar gift for Arkansans. It will be a destination museum that will draw visitors from across the state and region to MacArthur Park in downtown Little Rock.
On a gray Monday late last month, those associated with Arkansas Arts Center announced that the institution will change its name to Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and that the fundraising goal for the renovation and expansion of the existing facility will be raised to $142 million. Of that total, $136 million already has been pledged.
When the idea of a renovation was first discussed in 2015, a figure of $46 million was mentioned.
"As they began to plan more specifics, officials grew unimpressed with what they could accomplish with that amount, so they launched a private fundraising campaign with aims of a transformational project," Eric Besson wrote in this newspaper on Jan. 26.
"Officials elevated the goal to $128 million in May 2019. New features will include expanded gallery space and a glass-enclosed 'cultural living room' overlooking Ninth Street on the building's north side.
"A pathway covered by a curving, layered roof will link the building's north side to the south, where a second entrance spills into MacArthur Park. The renovation includes expanding the museum's footprint in the surrounding park and extensive landscaping, with a new garden and cypress trees replacing parking lots. A restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating will face the park. The architectural design, by Chicago-based Studio Gang, aims to draw in an abundance of natural light."
Those who have followed the projects of Warren and Harriet Stephens through the decades knew that this effort would grow. The couple led the fundraising committee, and they only know how to do things first class. It's why Alotian Club just west of Little Rock is among the best golf courses in the world. It's why Capital Hotel in downtown Little Rock is one of the best hotels in the country.
Van Tilbury, president of the museum's board of trustees, said the name change "reflects our future, but it was carefully chosen with great pride and respect for our past. . . . We strive to improve the quality of life for everyone in central Arkansas, but we have also set our sights much higher. We strive for a new arts center that connects central Arkansas with the region, the nation and beyond."
The women who formed Fine Arts Club of Arkansas in 1914 would be smiling if they were around today. Members of that organization were instrumental in the creation of the original Museum of Fine Arts in 1937.
In 1959, Winthrop and Jeannette Rockefeller joined forces with Fine Arts Club and Little Rock Junior League to expand the city's arts museum. The Rockefellers (this was seven years before Winthrop was elected governor) played the same role then that Warren and Harriet Stephens play now.
The name was changed to Arkansas Arts Center in 1961. By 1963, there were five art galleries, four studio classrooms, an art reference library, a 381-seat theater and a sculpture courtyard. The next big step in the growth of the museum came with the hiring of Townsend Wolfe as director in 1968.
According to Central Arkansas Library System's Encyclopedia of Arkansas: "With input from the board of trustees, new programs and services were introduced. The studio classrooms developed into a community school for children and adults, and a state services department was formed. At this time, the Arkansas Arts Center began to look beyond the city for private funding.
"In 1971, Wolfe and the board of directors decided that the collections would be concentrated primarily on drawings, an area to which few museums were committed. They believed the center could acquire drawings with limited resources, excel in the area and make a unique contribution to the field. The quality of exhibitions increased accordingly. The Arkansas Arts Center Foundation was formed in 1972 as a nonprofit organization to hold title to the endowment (apart from the city) and the permanent collection."
The city owns the building and the park property on which it sits. City directors sign off on appointments to the museum board. The city also makes annual maintenance payments to the museum. Little Rock voters in 2015 approved hotel tax-backed revenue bonds expected to generate $31.2 million for the current expansion. Meanwhile, Arkansas Arts Center Foundation still owns the art collection and controls the museum's endowment.
The state pledged $5 million toward the project, Windgate Foundation pledged $35 million, and Winthrop Rockefeller Charitable Trust pledged $5 million. There have been 21 donors who have given between $1 million and $35 million each. An additional 55 donors have pledged more than $100,000 and another 34 have pledged between $25,000 and $100,000.
"The project has definitely evolved," Harriet Stephens said. "We've expanded our ambition."
Victoria Ramirez, the museum's executive director, recently told Arkansas Money & Politics: "This project will get national and international attention. People will want to come and see it."
The most recent renovation before this one occurred in 2000. When the current project began, architects had to determine how to pull together a hodgepodge of eight buildings.
"We were shooting for game-changing," Warren Stephens said. "Until you see it, you don't really get it. . . . We were selling a dream three years ago. Now, we've really got something to sell."
Ramirez came to Arkansas in 2019 from her previous job as director of the El Paso Museum of Art. She was attracted to the state by the dreams of the Stephens family and others. It was the same type of vision that the Rockefellers had used to lure Wolfe when he was hired in 1968. He came to a rural state that had lost a higher percentage of its population than any other state from 1940-60. Winthrop Rockefeller was in his first term as governor in 1968, running for reelection and determined to change the image of Arkansas.
Three years after the formation of the foundation in 1972, studios and art storage areas were enlarged. The theater was transformed into a children's theater. In 1982, the 3,200-square-foot Rockefeller Gallery was added. Seven years later, the 1,300-square foot Strauss Gallery was built. It was designated for rotating exhibitions beginning in 2000.
The 2000 expansion resulted in a 30,000-square foot addition, renovation of existing areas and an increase in the museum's endowment. A $22 million capital campaign funded the effort. In July 2001, the Donald W. Reynolds Center for Drawing Research & Education opened along with the Paul Signac Gallery. The museum earlier had received a gift of 133 watercolors and drawings by Signac.
After Wolfe retired, Ellen Plummer served as executive director from 2002-10. Todd Herman was named executive director in April 2011 and served until 2018.
Prior to her job in El Paso, Ramirez was deputy director of Bullock Texas State History Museum at Austin, overseeing a staff of 85.
When she came to the state in August 2019, Ramirez said: "The Arkansas Arts Center is a jewel for Little Rock and the region, and the project to reenvision the center will undoubtedly usher in the most expansive era in the institution's history. It's an honor and a privilege to be the next executive director during this transformative time."
Transformative indeed. Sometime next year, we'll be able to open this gift for the people of Arkansas.
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Rex Nelson is a senior editor at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.