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Wellness Festival Opening Conversation: Advocating for Women and Maternal Health with Tonya Lewis Lee and Olivia Walton

Talk/Lecture
Great Hall
$25 ($20/members)
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 Watch via livestream below.

The stream will begin 15-20 minutes before the scheduled start of the event. Please allow for small delays as we work to provide the best virtual experience possible.

Woman standing in front of a window with a partially opened blazer

We invite you to join us for the opening conversation of our Wellness Festival, featuring Chairperson of Crystal Bridges Olivia Walton in conversation with producer, filmmaker, and advocate Tonya Lewis Lee.

Joined onstage for opening remarks by Grammy award-winning artist and mental health pioneer Jewel, Ms. Lee and Ms. Walton will discuss women and maternal health, with a special focus on maternal health in Arkansas.

Following the keynote talk, you’re invited to a cocktail hour in our restaurant Eleven to continue the conversation with your fellow art and wellness lovers.

Tickets are $25 ($20 for members),  reserve your spot online or with Guest Services at (479) 657-2335 today.
Ticket includes admission to the event. Please arrive no later than 5:30 p.m. Cash bar available.

Sound Healing + Talk Bundle: Complete your evening with tickets to a restorative, immersive sound experience in the Great Hall by artist Davin Youngs—FREE when purchased together with Opening Conversation tickets. Follow the prompts during checkout to reserve yours today.

 

About the Speakers

A woman stands with crossed arms in a sweater next to a window

Tonya Lewis Lee

Tonya Lewis Lee is an award-winning filmmaker, author and entrepreneur whose work often explores the personal impact of social justice issues.

Most recently, the film she co-directed and co-produced, exploring the US maternal mortality crisis, AFTERSHOCK (Hulu) has received numerous awards including a 2024 DuPont-Columbia Award, a 2023 Peabody Award, a 2022 Sundance Special Jury Impact for Change Award, and a 2023 Emmy Award nomination. As a television producer, Tonya served as Executive Producer on the episodic series She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix) and wrote and produced The Watsons Go to Birmingham (Amazon). As a film producer, Lee produced Monster (Netflix) which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. As an author, Tonya’s children’s books, co-written with her husband Spike Lee, Please Baby Please, Please Puppy Please, and Giant Steps to Change the World have sold over one million copies.

As an entrepreneur Tonya founded Movita Organics, an organic vitamin supplement company to provide a premium vitamin supplement to the marketplace and to continue the conversation with women about how to access and achieve one’s optimum health.

Tonya has received numerous awards and recognition for her work including being named the 2023 Forbes 50 Over 50 list.

Tonya is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, The University of Virginia School of Law, and is a member of the Writer’s Guild of America, the Producers Guild of America, the Television Academy, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the March of Dimes and a Board Emeritus of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

She has two adult children and lives in New York with her husband.

 

Olivia Walton
Photography by Beth Hall

Olivia Walton

Olivia Walton lends her voice and leadership to advocacy for the arts, childhood wellbeing, and economic empowerment in America’s Heartland. In November 2021, she was named board chairperson for Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Olivia also serves as executive board chair of the Momentary, principal of Ingeborg Investments, and is a co-founder of the Heartland Summit.

In her personal philanthropy, Olivia focuses on promoting the arts as an economic driver; improving the wellbeing of children in Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas/Mississippi Delta; and women’s empowerment. Olivia leads the vision for OZ Art NWA, which supports the regional arts scene with its own collection on view throughout Bentonville and collaborates with regional and national artists to bring outdoor art to parks and trails. She also serves on the national board of directors for Teach for America.

Olivia’s curiosity, interest in big ideas, and desire to make a difference come from her years of experience as a national journalist for NBC News and MSNBC, and as an anchor for Bloomberg Television in New York and London. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and her master’s degree from the London School of Economics. Olivia lives in Bentonville, Arkansas with her husband, Tom, and their two daughters and son.

 

Headshot of singer Jewel wearing a western hat and embroidered jacket in the Crystal Bridges gallery

Jewel

Jewel is a four-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, visual artist, actress, New York Times best-selling author, and mental health pioneer. Best-known for her musical talents, Jewel’s passion and training in sculpture, drawing, and painting began before her songwriting career. Over the years, she has continued creating, working with paint and clay.

In spring 2024, Jewel will make her debut in the art world at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas with The Portal: An Art Experience by Jewel, featuring her own painting and sculpture. Throughout her art, Jewel combines her passions for storytelling, experimentation and democratizing mental health. For the past 21 years, Jewel’s Inspiring Children Foundation and Jewel Inc. have brought specially-designed mental health programs to at-risk youth and to leading corporations. Jewel created SELLA, a language arts curriculum for schools integrating social and emotional learning and mental health practices, and recently co-founded Innerworld, an innovative virtual mental health platform.

Jewel’s remarkable journey has taken her from a childhood with no running water on an Alaskan homestead to becoming a multi-platinum recording artist and mental health advocate. She has released 13 studio albums, including her latest release Freewheelin’ Woman, and will embark on a national co-headlining tour with Melissa Etheridge this summer.

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