CRYSTAL BRIDGES

Can you spot us?  Dave and I had just finished lunch and we saw some young folks were taking "selfies" in the heart.  Old fuddy-duddies can do it too!  The heart was suspended above the dining room in a great art museum called Crystal Bridges.

 



Crystal Bridges is Alice Walton's gift to Bentonville and the world.  When you have more money than God, you can afford to gift an art museum!! It is free, except for special exhibitions.  There are 5 truly amazing galleries/buildings.  Two house Early American art, others have contemporary and modern art and one building has special exhibitions.  We were there 10 years ago as it was just opening and only had a few hours to see it all.  Today, we spent the day but needed more.  It is sort of like touring the Smithsonian museums:  too much to take in at once!  Our energy definitely ran out before our eyes took in all of the art!

They have added a performance pavilion since we were here, but it did not have an event this week.  But we were very excited to see that they had added an entire Frank Lloyd Wright House!  It was being flooded in New Jersey and they disassembled it and rebuilt it on the grounds! Poor Frank!   Water is definitely his nemesis in most of his houses!! This was a raised Unisonian,  one of a handful of two-story houses FLW built.  We could not take pictures inside, but it was yet a new wrinkle in viewing his architecture.  The video of them taking it apart, and reassembling it was amazing on its own!





The narration pointed out the cantilevered carport:  completely open so that it would not accumulate stuff.  FLW hated "stuff"

We also visited their special exhibit:  The Dirty South, a celebration of Black Culture in the South.  It was both disturbing and inspiring.  Then we spent the rest of our time in the Contemporary and Modern galleries.  Chihuly had obviously had an installation in the museum in the last 10 years!!  And one last thing.  We checked the weather before we set off and I did put my leopard sweatshirt in my suitcase at the last minute, but Weather Underground did NOT prepare us for the cold, wind, and actual snow flurries this morning.  Dallas is supposed to be near 90 degrees.  That sounded hot, but now it sounds wonderful!!







Let Them Be Children


Shrouded Figure in the Dirty South Exhibit


We've had a nap, and Dave found a brewery with "excellent reviews"... so we were off again!  Social Connections was really great.  We definitely tasted several great IPA's (hazy triples), porters, a Saison, and a sour.  We asked where to eat BBQ and they sent us to Wrights, a hole in the wall near the old downtown.  They were closing in 10 minutes and it was a 7-minute drive, but luckily they had some ribs and burnt ends left.  We got take out and brought it back to the hotel.  We would never have found it without the folks at the brewery.  They had their menu on a chalkboard and signs written (very neatly!) on cardboard.  It was VERY GOOD.  After we got our food, we drove through the old town and saw the original Walton's 5 and Dime.  It is now a museum (and we were secretly glad it was closed!!  Enough museums today!)

Tomorrow is a travel day to Dallas, so it is doubtful I'll post until after we meet our friends there.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FIVE VINTNERS 20TH VINTAGE CELEBRATION

Image
  It is a BIG Vintage!! Twenty years ago when we first began wine tasting in "earnest" with Glenn Kelly as our guide, we discovered Five Vintners at a restaurant.  The owner/winemaker Krisi Raymond did not have a tasting room but invited us to her home.  We weren't able to go, but 20 years and 20 vintages later we finally made it.  Due to confusion in time zones, we were more than fashionably late to the party but were welcomed with open arms and hugs.  We enjoyed several vintages and met Krisi's daughter who is coming to NC to explore colleges and several of her friends.  It was a delightful party and we stayed and helped bring in cushions before the "big" rain that was expected the next day. Krisi greets us at her 20th Vintage Celebration David enjoyed talking to Krisi neighbor and bartender, John.   He also kept pouring vintages!! Every party has its "joker".  This guy took the "Big Gulp" picture! The promised rain did come the next da
Read more

HOMEWARD BOUND

Image
We finally used the segways in Montgomery!! We left South Padre Island Friday and drove to Channelview Texas.  We never did find the channel or the view, and ended up eating "down home cookin'" in a Karaoke bar.  They did not serve enough beer for us to join in, tho the locals seemed to have a good time!  My Dad would have gotten into the Patsy Kline songs, but up-tempo, it was not!  The most contemporary song we heard was Harper Valley PTA!! Saturday morning we drove to Biloxi.  We considered going into town and trying a Community Theatre production of an Elvis musical, but after thoughtful consideration decided we weren't quite "covid comfortable" with an unknown theatre crowd.  We opted for Cajun seafood by the river instead.  It was delicious and the whole time we sat by the window, we watched a storm come in and leave and a "junk raft" tie-up under the bridge for shelter.  It looked like the boats that Johnny Depp had in Chocolat , and we
Read more

AND DAVE DO DALLAS! Art and Words with New Friends!

Image
Deb and Dave meet Jo and David  Sunday, after charging in the underground parking deck (it took 2 trips to find it!), we went to a juried art fair in a park in a neighborhood close to downtown Dallas.  (Think the neighborhood around Freedom Park but with high rises!!)  The show had great art and jewelry and we bought a few things:  some jewelry for gifts and a few prints, nothing really notable.  But we had a good time talking to several of the vendors and suggested to a few of them that they apply for Artisphere next year.  I asked several artists if I could photograph their art so that I could talk to Abbie about the different techniques.  We had a great time texting back and forth and I finally got an idea for her real birthday present.  Since her mother will probably have to work Mothers Day, she and I will go to Artisphere and get a "birthday art fix".  If that doesn't work out, I'll take her into Asheville to the River District.  In NC  "art fixes" sho
Read more