New arts venue opens doors in Bentonville
Waltons say space to be gathering spot
BENTONVILLE — More than two years in the making, Northwest Arkansas’ new contemporary arts space, the Momentary, opens to the public today. The opening coincides with the debut of an exhibition, “State of the Art 2020,” that shares display space at the nearby Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
At a media preview Friday, co-founder Olivia Walton said she and her husband, Tom Walton, and brother-inlaw Steuart Walton were inspired to create the venue by the brothers’ aunt, Alice Walton, the Walmart heiress who founded Crystal Bridges.
Olivia Walton said the three wanted to build on the impact Crystal Bridges has had on the region by creating a satellite space showcasing visual, performing and culinary arts — “a grittier, multidisciplinary art space, the rebellious younger sister, if you will,” to the nearby art museum.
Tom and Steuart Walton are grandsons of Walmart Inc. founder Sam Walton. Olivia Walton serves as founding chairwoman of the Momentary, which is largely funded by the Walton Family Foundation.
The 63,000-square-foot venue, with gallery, performing arts and artist-in-residence spaces plus outdoor festival grounds at 507 S.E. E St., is intended to be a gathering spot. “The Momentary will allow people across the community, and from across the country, to engage in cultural experiences together,
in a space that welcomes all to come try something new,” Olivia Walton said.
One site-specific sculpture by Tavares Strachan conveys this sense of welcome and inclusion to visitors. Mounted outdoors on the east side of the building, the 78-foot by 25-foot sculpture announces in bright red neon “You Belong Here.”
The Momentary’s amenities also encourage visitors to relax and spend time there. An Onyx Coffee Lab is in the building, and a space called The Breakroom provides conversational areas and computer work space, with coffee and pastries available for purchase. Free Wi-Fi is available in all public areas in the building.
One of the highlights of the space, a converted Kraft cheese factory, is the Tower. At 70 feet tall, the Tower contains mezzanines for visual arts, performances and social events. The top floor houses a cozy bar area, where floor-to-ceiling windows on all four walls offer a bird’s-eye view of Bentonville.
Lieven Bertels, the Momentary’s director, said the venue welcomes “all to engage with art in a whole new way.”
“Artists are at the center of everything you see here,” Bertels said. “They create the work, they influence our design, they make the Momentary what it is.”
The “State of the Art 2020” exhibit features the work of 61 contemporary artists from around the country. It continues the exploration into contemporary art that began in 2014 when Crystal Bridges presented “State of the Art: Discovering American Art Now.” The exhibition will be displayed at the Momentary and Crystal Bridges through May 24, after which it will tour the country.
Lauren Haynes, curator of visual arts at the Momentary and curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges, co-curated the exhibition with Allison Glenn and Alejo Benedetti, associate curators of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges. At Friday’s preview, Haynes led visitors through the Momentary’s various galleries, pointing out the paintings, sculptures, photographs, videos and mixed-media works that make up the exhibition.
Haynes said the curatorial team worked for more than a year on the project, meeting with both new and established artists throughout the U.S.
“We wanted themes and ideas to develop organically,” Haynes said. Conversations with the artists and the artwork itself led them to arrange the exhibition into four interconnected themes: Sense of Place, Mapping, World Building and Temporality.
At the Momentary, exhibit artwork is installed throughout the 24,000 square feet of gallery space. At Crystal Bridges, the exhibition includes works in the permanent collection galleries as well as a dedicated gallery. It also spills over into the outdoors, with a sculpture near Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye
Dome on the North Lawn and an installation inside Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman-Wilson House on the south side of the grounds.
Fayetteville artist Anthony Sonnenberg is among those whose works were selected for the exhibition. Sixteen of his porcelain ceramic sculptures are on display at the Momentary. Sonnenberg will conduct a free gallery conversation at the Momentary on March 14, and lead a workshop on wearable ceramics at Crystal Bridges on March 15.
Also, Tulsa-based artist Elisa Harkins draws on her Cherokee and Muscogee heritage for her video installation
Wampum. On view at Crystal Bridges, it blends indigenous music and dance with electronic dance to create a unique artistic expression.
Admission to the “State of the Art 2020” exhibition is free at both Crystal Bridges and the Momentary, although tickets are required at the Momentary. General admission is always free at both venues.
This weekend’s events at the Momentary include a festival titled “Time Being.” A full slate of music, dance and performing art is scheduled today and Sunday, beginning at 11 a.m. both days. Tickets and more information can be found at themomentary.org.
A host of lectures, film screenings, concerts and other events is set at both locations in conjunction with the exhibition. The full calendar of programs is posted at www.crystalbridges.org.