Nov 10, 2021 Art & Collection Exhibitions When Crystal Bridges opened in 2011, I was a faculty member in the Department of Culture and Society at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. I had been following the progress of the museum’s building during occasional trips to visit my parents, who live in Fayetteville. I was born and raised in the region, and I remember feeling very excited about the opening of an art museum in Northwest Arkansas. I first visited Crystal Bridges during the holiday season that year, and I vividly remember the experience of seeing Wonder World, the inaugural temporary exhibition highlighting some key contemporary works from the collection. I was familiar with a few of the artists–Nick Cave, Chuck Close, and Andrew Wyeth, for example—but most of the artists and their works were a revelation. Nam June Paik, John Cage Robot II, 1995, vintage wood television cabinets, color television receivers, DVD players, multi-channel video, piano keys, piano hammers, piano wire, acrylic paint, basket, books, wood mushrooms, and chessmen, 108 x 80 x 31 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2011.17. I’m not steeped in art history or practice, per se, but I love a good art museum, and this one took my breath away. Wow, this gorgeous building is in Arkansas, in Bentonville! Little did I know then that four years later, I would get a job at Crystal Bridges as an Interpretation Manager in our Exhibitions department, working closely with curators and the objects I encountered for the first time that day back in December 2011. I visited the museum three times during that holiday visit, and now I’m here nearly every day of the week, helping to create these exhibitions for our guests. Pretty cool, I must say. In celebration of our tenth anniversary, enjoy a list (or “checklist” as we say in the museum biz) of the artworks featured in our very first temporary exhibition Wonder World. I hope it offers the thousands of other first-time visitors in 2011 a nice walk down memory lane. And if you didn’t get a chance to see Wonder World, don’t worry–you’ll probably see featured artworks from the exhibition in our collection galleries or temporary exhibitions whenever you visit. They’re still around, ready to delight for another decade and beyond! Written by Stace Treat, head of interpretation, Crystal Bridges.
