Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville Arkansas
We journey east from Colorado in our retirement travel towards Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Along the way we stopped in Wamego, Kansas, at the Oz Museum and the Three State Marker for Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
The Crystal Bridges Museum has been a bucket list item for many years and certainly didn’t disappoint. It was founded by philanthropist and arts patron Alice Walton as a nonprofit charitable organization for all to enjoy. With that in mind, admission is free to the public.
Alice is the daughter of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. While having a early love of art, there was little art to be found in NW Arkansas where she grew up. She decided to change that and created one of the most beautiful museums in the world. She has spent over half a billion dollars on art to display for middle America.
The building was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie, opened to the public on 11-11-11. Many wonderful masterpieces of American art are on display such as Chihuly glasswork. There is also a spectacular example of Frank Lloyd Wright houses that was relocated to Crystal Bridges from New Jersey.
