Bentonville expecting growth after new art museum opens

BENTONVILLE — Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is an economic driver for Bentonville that’s set the stage for the Momentary to have a similar influence.

The Momentary is a multidisciplinary contemporary art space owned by Crystal Bridges that opened Feb. 22 in the former Kraft Foods plant downtown. The space had 13,909 visitors its opening weekend, said Emily Nueman, the Momentary’s public relations manager.

“Crystal Bridges has been a game changer for Northwest Arkansas — not only enhancing the quality of life of residents but serving as a major economic driver,” said Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council. “We expect the Momentary to further establish the region as a hub for arts and culture.”

Crystal Bridges has contributed to growth, job creation and tax revenue for the region, something the Momentary hopes to continue, said Lieven Bertels, Momentary director. The museum opened Nov. 11, 2011.

“The creative industries are an important part of the economy overall in the U.S,” Bertels said. “We don’t typically connect the dots between artists and arts and the wider economy.”

Information on the full economic impact of Crystal Bridges isn’t available, according to Beth Bobbitt, media relations manager. The museum’s success can be quantified through the number of people it employs, its exhibits and its attendance, she said.

The museum employs 343 people, and its curatorial and exhibition team developed the three major, temporary exhibitions of “Men of Steel,

Women of Wonder,” “Color Field” and “Crystals in Art: Ancient to Today” in 2019, she said.

“Last year, we welcomed more than 700,000 visitors to the museum,” Bobbitt said of the Crystal Bridges record attendance. “We are nearing 5 million since we opened.”

About 50% of the museum’s visitors are new, with about 60% coming from Arkansas, Bobbitt said. Some 40% of the museum’s guests are national or international tourists, with the highest concentration coming from Missouri, Oklahoma and Texas.

Nationally, museums generated more than $50 billion for the economy, 726,200 jobs and $12 billion in taxes in 2016, according to the American Alliance of Museums report “Museums as Economic Engines.” The group’s mission is to champion museums and nurture excellence in partnership with their members and allies.

The museum industry in Arkansas supports an estimated $385 million in economic activity, 7,250 jobs and $89.4 million in taxes annually, according to the report. Some $258 million in wages and other income are earned by people working within the state’s museum sector each year.

The Momentary opened with 54 employees, Nueman said.

Bertels said his team isn’t projecting how many people will visit its first year.

The 63,000-square-foot venue was created in the market district of southeast Bentonville. The venue is the first in the region to offer multidisciplinary art programming to include visual, performing and culinary art experiences; festivals; and an artists-in-residence program all in one location.

“We see what the potential is, but it’s so unpredictable, and we don’t want to be driven by numbers,” he said. “We want to be driven by meaningful conversations, great opportunities and setting the right tone.”

BENEFITING BENTONVILLE

Bentonville has experienced dramatic growth since the announcement of Crystal Bridges’ opening, said Kalene Griffith, Visit Bentonville president.

“Crystal Bridges spawned economic development, especially in the hospitality industry.”

Just two restaurants were on the downtown square when Crystal Bridges was announced in 2005, she said. There are now 16 restaurants on the square.

“That also adds to the economy’s health, because then you have multiple quality-of-life experiences and some additional opportunities for people to invest in our community,” Griffith said.

Bentonville also has grown to have more than 100 miles of bike trails, the Scott Family Amazeum and numerous pieces of artwork in public places, she said.

“It’s hard to deny the fact that Crystal Bridges has been more than transformative for the city of Bentonville,” said Mervin Jebaraj, director of the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville Center for Business and Economic Research. “It’s safe to say that there wasn’t a whole lot of activity in downtown Bentonville in that area until the project was announced and the building started.”

Hotel rates and occupancy have increased since Crystal Bridges opened, which is reflected in the 2% tax Visit Bentonville collects from hotels and the 1% tax it collects from restaurants, Griffith said.

The visitor’s bureau collected more than $1.3 million in taxes in 2011 and about $2.8 million in taxes in 2019, she said.

“We’re nine years into it, but I think that’s huge growth to show, and I think Crystal Bridges and some of the other attractions have a huge impact on that,” Griffith said.

Crystal Bridges’ success has led to the opening of the Momentary but has also encouraged others to invest in Bentonville, she said, using increased hotel room occupancy as an example.

Room occupancy has grown from about 1,400 rooms in 2011 to 2,100 in 2020, Griffith said.

The 21c Museum and Hotel added 104 rooms to the city when it opened in 2013, said Emmanuel Gardinier, general manager. The hotel chain decided to open its third location after Crystal Bridges approached them, he said.

“They were really interested in creating that synergy with Crystal Bridges, so we thought that was a great opportunity to be in a place where a brand new, incredible museum was,” Gardinier said. “We’re able to dovetail perfectly with them to give our guests an incredible experience.”

The hotel brings art to places where art isn’t usually present, he said. The hotel includes all the amenities of a hotel, and fine art is throughout the lobby, rooms, restaurant, hallways and gallery spaces.

“You basically sleep with the art here,” Gardinier said.

Before Crystal Bridges, Bentonville was a passthrough destination, Griffith said.

“You came in, you saw the Walton 5&10 and then you continued on down to your next destination,” she said. “Now, we have multiple days of experiences for that visitor.”

The Walmart Museum is on the square and includes the Walton’s 5&10, an exhibit gallery and The Spark Cafe Soda Fountain.

The city renovated the interior of the square in 2001, and the streets, sidewalks and lighting around it in 2008. Community events, such as First Fridays, farmers markets and art strolls, are offered throughout the year on the square, officials said.

“Development in downtown Bentonville gives the downtown a lot of staying power, so people are not just coming in and going to the museums and leaving,” Jebaraj said.

Having more than one art venue creates the opportunity for multiple days of experiences and spending, he said.

“People may not tend to visit two venues in one day, so now they might stay a couple of days to spend time at both places,” Jebaraj said. “They hang out to go to the restaurants and things like that.”

FORWARD FACING

The Momentary has an opportunity to further enhance the quality of life in Bentonville, Griffith said.

“There’s this connectivity that we’re going to see that I think is going to create even more jobs and more opportunities for development because people will want to be part of that,” she said. “The whole region has an opportunity with the arts to impact our communities.”

The contemporary arts space will continue to enhance the community’s sense of place, she said.

“Our identity prior to Crystal Bridges was we were the home of Walmart,” Griffith said. “We still are the home of Walmart, and we value that, but I think we have this creative side of our community that has really kind of developed a different identity for us.”

What the Momentary has to offer is just the tip of the creative iceberg in the region, Bertels said.

“A lot of people in the businesses that really drive this region see a lot of creativity around them in sectors such as product design, marketing, architecture, copywriting, graphic design, audio visuals, advertising, those kind of areas,” he said.

The Momentary serves as a chance to further develop that creativity by inspiring people to think of the art sector as an important aspect of the region’s economy that encourages and invests in local artists, Bertels said.

“We want to ensure that the future generation of artists don’t always feel the need to go to L.A. or San Francisco or New York,” he said. “Some of them might stay here, or we might even have somebody that was born in the big city that sees value in coming to this region.”

The Momentary is a place where such thoughts and concepts can grow to Northwest Arkansas’ benefit, Bertels said.

“If you want to plant trees, you have to have some some fertile soil,” he said. “We want to add to that sort of system.”