Crystal Bridges and a Weather Disaster

 I am on the email list of a museum in Benton County, Arkansas called Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.  It isn't just any museum, though.  I know this because my spouse and I had the pleasure of visiting it in 2013.  Most of the post below was written several years later.

But the storms that hit much of the interior of the United States in the past several days weren't kind to the area, though, as I found out from a museum email blast. Some seven tornados hit Northwest Arkansas and nearby parts of Oklahoma on May 26. As of right now, the extensive outdoor trails are closed.  The schools of two nearby cities had to end their school years early.  That damage appears to have been from straight line winds.  Crystal Bridges had to cancel a number of their programs.

But the museum also feels it has a mission to bring comfort to the people of the area.  To quote:

"Crystal Bridges aims to offer a respite to those who seek comfort, safety, and community bonding," Emma Claybrook with Crystal Bridges said. 

Admission to the previously priced exhibit Exquisite Creatures will be free until June 3. They also plan to offer free artmaking activities for people of all ages. 

"Expanded, free, drop-in artmaking activities for people of all ages will be available, a hopeful resource for families impacted by early school year closures in Bentonville and Rogers," Claybrook said. "

Arkansas, the land of art?  Yes. 

Walmart, which is headquartered in Bentonville, has done much with this museum of art.

There isn't just folk art.  But fine art, the museum quality art of people such as Arthur Dove, Gilbert Stuart, John Singleton Copley, Asher Durand, Thomas Cole, and others.  Best of all, general admission is free. (Some exhibitions are not free, but they will be free temporarily in the wake of the storms.)

In the Northwest Arkansas city of Bentonville, where the giant chain Walmart got its start, the family of the late Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton opened a world class art museum called Crystal Bridges in 2011.  It is sponsored by the Walton family - so, when you shop at Walmart, think of this place as your reward.

It is worth seeing.  You can get right up close, and sketch if you want.  It is a dream for those who love to study art.  I am not any kind of art expert, but I enjoyed the little bit of the exhibit I saw.

When we visited back in late August of 2013, we were just slightly overwhelmed.  Yes, a blogger who grew up in New York City, overwhelmed by an art museum.

Can you imagine retiring in this area, as many have, and having something like this in your backyard?

The museum is nestled into a ravine cut by Crystal Spring (hence, the name) with the spring in the middle.

 It really fools you - you think the building is on multiple levels, but (we were assured by a docent) it is only due to the topography.

A Friday concert being set up, near the spring.

This is one of the many outdoor sculptures (it was in the 90's F, and we just didn't have the stamina after a full day of sightseeing to explore the extensive grounds.)  But tomorrow, we hope to explore some of the trails. (We have never returned, and now they have been extensively damaged).

This is one of the art works I enjoyed.  It is called "Winter Scene in Brooklyn" by Francis Guy.  Photography (without flash) is permitted and I hope it is OK to post this.  This scene is from the early 1800's and I loved the scene.

There are even two George Washington paintings by Gilbert Stuart, the man who created the portrait that is on the American one dollar bill.

Arkansas - land of surprises.  The rural Benton County I remembered from the 1980's has grown tremendously.  It was amazing in 2013.

I'm sure it is just as amazing now.

I wish Benton County, Arkansas a speedy recovery as they recover from the May 26 storms.

Dinosaurs in Arkansas #AtoZChallenge

My spouse, growing up, lived and breathed dinosaurs.

Back then, dinosaurs weren't quite as popular a subject as they are today.  My spouse read every book on dinosaurs available at the local library.  There was no Internet in the 1960's to supplement those books.

His hope was to major in paleontology in college, but the college he could afford (his parents didn't do much to support his desire for higher education and he sometimes had to work several jobs during the year and during breaks) didn't have that major.  So, his life took different directions.

One of those directions led us to Arkansas in the early 1980's, where we lived for five years.

Fast forward to 2017 when Arkansas voted to have a state dinosaur, Arkansaurus fridayi.

Now, ironically, it appears that dinosaurs may have once lived near the land we owned. Dinosaur fossils were recently discovered about 50 miles from where we lived.

It was interesting enough to find out that Confederate soldiers camped, during the Civil War, near our land, in a small town called Cane Hill (now known as Canehill.)  But living near where dinosaurs once roamed was a thrill to my spouse when I told him.

Buckyball, Crystal Bridges, Bentonville, AR 2013

When we returned to Arkansas for a brief visit in 2013, we visited the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.  In case you are wondering, its most famous acquisition may be the Norman Rockwell work "Rosie the Riveter".

Portion of outdoor art trail, Crystal Bridges, August 2013

The dinosaur fossils were discovered during the building of a new wing and construction has temporarily been halted while scientists study the find.

Imagine that - as of February, 2017, Arkansas has a state dinosaur, and my spouse learned about a dinosaur new to him.  With all his reading, he was not familiar with Arkansaurus fridayi.

Traveling through time and space - we just never imagined how far back in time this Challenge would take us.

 And now, as a bonus, a Weird Al song about dinosaurs.  Too bad it doesn't start with "D".

Civil War Sunday - Tar Heels

The United States Civil War's 150th anniversary commemoration is almost over.

But now, one of the remaining focuses turns to the state of North Carolina.

General Sherman, known for his "March to the Sea" from Atlanta, Georgia to Savannah, Georgia in the fall and early winter of 1864, had shifted his focus to the Carolinas.  In early 1865, his armies (including the local regiment fielded by Broome County, New York, where I live) had fought their way through South and North Carolina, on their way to meet up with Grant's Army of the Potomac.  If this happened, the war would basically be over for Robert E Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and the Confederate States of America would be forced to surrender.

On March 19, 20 and 21 remnants of four Confederate armies faced off against Sherman's forces at Bentonville, North Carolina.  This was the largest battle of the war fought in North Carolina.

Today, I attended a reenactment of that battle.  Unlike previous reenactments I have gone to, this one was on part of the actual battlefield - the Morris Farm.  It made the reenactment, if anything, more meaningful.

The Confederate reenactors, including troops from North Carolina (called "Tar Heels") march to the battlefield.  You can see how they are dressed, in various odds and ends.  But they are bravely ready to fight.

At the battlefield (again, the actual Morris farm where some of the three day battle took place) Federals enter.

The Harper House, an 1850's farmhouse that served as a field hospital for Sherman's troops, a long walk away from the Morris Farm.

What happened at the end of the battle?

The Confederates withdrew, but this battle weakened them so much that, a month later, the largest surrender of the war (which was NOT Lee surrendering to Grant)  took place a few miles away.

I won't show pictures of the battle, but will note that, at one point, the Confederates started chanting "Tar Heels!  Tar Heels" in addition to sounding their rebel yells.

North Carolinians, to this day, are proud to be called Tar Heels.

Civil War Sunday - Arkansas and Missouri

My spouse and I are getting ready to wrap up our stay in Northwest Arkansas.  Tomorrow, we are homeward bound.

Yesterday, we were in Bentonville, AR (where Wal-Mart started) and, across from the original Walton 5 and 10 cent store (worth the visit, incidentally), we saw this at the town square.

Arkansas was one of the "border states" of the Confederate States of America.  In fact, it did not secede until after Ft. Sumter, which started the war in April of 1861.  Its loyalties were torn between the United States and the Confederate States of America, and its people suffered - suffered terribly - due to the war.  I want to bring that story to my blog in future Civil War Sundays.

Here are a couple of more views of this granite monument.  One thing I noted (as a Yankee from New York State) was all of the American flags surrounding the monument. 

When we lived in Northwest Arkansas too many years ago, we were vaguely aware of the Civil War history of the area.  Every day, in fact, we both commuted to work through two Civil War battlefields - Prairie Grove and Cane Hill.  A major battlefield, Pea Ridge/Elkhorn Tavern, was about 50 miles from where we lived. 

Few people we knew seemed to care about the Civil War back then.  Now, it's totally different.  In this area that has seen some of the most rapid growth in the United States over the past 10 years, signs now guide the traveler to the Cherokee Trail of Tears (we didn't live that far from that historic trail of suffering, either, and never knew!) and various Civil War sites. 

We visited Prairie Grove, Pea Ridge and Cane Hill this past week, and tomorrow hope to see Wilson's Creek in Missouri (the "Bull Run of the West") on the way home to upstate New York.

Missouri, another border state, and a slave state, stayed with the Union but its soldiers fought on both sides of the war.  Its people also suffered terribly during and after the war.

If you are interested in the Civil War, I highly recommend you don't stay on the East Coast if you travel to sites.  There is a lot of fascinating history out "west", in Missouri, Arkansas and even beyond, and you will be pleasantly surprised by what you learn.

We were.