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Crystal Bridges’ August Programs:
Warhol’s Nature, live performances, Short Film Festival and more

During the month of August, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art invites visitors to experience the temporary exhibitions, Jamie Wyeth and Warhol’s Nature , as well as programs that explore different facets of artists’ life and career.

 

On Friday, August 14, the Museum celebrates a full night of Andy Warhol with a free, pre-show conversation about  the artist as a filmmaker and manager of The Velvet Underground, followed by a live, multi-media concert on Walker Landing, 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests, There is even time between the events to enjoy a Warhol-themed tasting menu and live music in the Museum restaurant, Eleven.

 

Crystal Bridges Short Film Festival, inspired by Warhol’s Nature, will be held on August 19. The deadline for film submissions is July 24.  On August 21, Art History Professor Michael McClure presents Andy Warhol’s love of animals, while Director of The Andy Warhol Museum Eric Shiner discusses Andy Warhol: Nature vs. Culture on August 28. Crystal Bridges continues to explore themes of conservation and preservation from Warhol’s Nature with the Illinois Watershed Partnership for Discover the Grounds: Water Conservation on August 8. On August 9, author William Souder presents a Spotlight Lecture examining the influence of author Rachel Carson on the environmental movement of the 1960s.

 

Continuing the Architecture Speaker Series, Executive Director of Preserve Arkansas, Vanessa McKuin will explore several of the state’s most significant architectural and cultural landmarks for her August 12 lecture, This Place Matters.

 

A full listing of August programs is below.  Information and registration are also available on Crystal Bridges’ calendar of events.

 

Events and Programs

Monday, August 3 & 17, 1 to 3 pm              

Figure Drawing                         

Join us on the first and third Mondays of each month for this adult Figure Drawing class to draw from a clothed model. Whether you’ve always had a love for figure drawing or are trying it for the first time, you’ll enjoy an afternoon drawing with other guests at the Museum.  Participants must be 14 and older.  A variety of drawing materials will be provided, and model poses will include both shorter warm-up poses, and longer poses. All materials are provided. $10 (Free for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Monday, August 3, 6 to 7 pm                     

Yoga and Art 

Yoga Story’s Cindee Joslin leads an uplifting group class uniting the power of art with the beauty of nature. Enjoy this mind/body experience in the Museum’s public spaces, complemented by views of Crystal Bridges’ ponds, forest, and architecture. Participants should bring their own yoga mat and dress appropriately. $5 (Free for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Sunday, August 5, 8 to 9 pm

Poetry Liftoff Series Finale

As the grand finale to the Poetry Liftoff series, Houston Hughes will bring his full vaudeville and poetry show to Crystal Bridges! The night will feature the best performance poets in Northwest Arkansas, interspersed with variety acts and music, including performances by The Institute of Jugglology and Cabaret Fayetteville! Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Thursday, August 6, 8 to 9 pm       

Skyspace Art Talk with Educator Sara Segerlin                    

Enjoy an orientation to artist James Turrell’s Skyspace, The Way of Color, and learn more about this LED light experience timed to coincide with the sunset. Already familiar with the Skyspace?  Bring a friend who has never before experienced it! Free, drop in, no registration required.

 

Friday, August 7, 8 to 10:30 pm                 

First Friday Encore Concert » Basement Brew and Groovement

Join us at the Skyspace Amphitheater on First Friday to enjoy the music of local Fayetteville bands, Basement Brew and Groovement, presented by Encore with Downtown Bentonville, Inc. Free, no registration required.

                               

Saturday, August 8, 9 to 10:30 am

Discover the Grounds » Water Conservation

Water is an important feature of the Crystal Bridges experience.  Join Museum educator Samantha Hutchison and Horticulturist Cody George as they explore the springs and creeks on the Museum grounds. Sponsored by The Coleman Company. Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

                               

Sunday, August 9, 4 to 5 pm          

Spotlight Lecture » William Souder: Rachel Carson’s Environmental Movement                        

Author William Souder will discuss the life story of author Rachel Carson and her influential book,  Silent Spring, which started the environmental movement in the late 1960s and sparked awareness of radioactive contamination. The book paved the way toward establishment of the Environmental Protection Agency and tighter controls on the use of chemicals. Carson was considered the nation’s pre-eminent nature writer, and her great themes included the biological forces that link all life through the ages, the interdependence of living organisms, and the continual cycling of nutrients and genetic material through species and over time. The presentation will include special opening remarks by Curator Chad Alligood on Andy Warhol’s environmental activism.  Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Monday, August 10, 11 to 12:30 pm

Journaling Group » Wyeth’s Realism         

Find inspiration in the dramatic realism and psychological symbols represented in the paintings of Jamie Wyeth in this session led by Jacob Stratman. Jacob is an Associate Professor of English at John Brown University, currently teaching writing and literature for social change, as well as the Young Adult Literature course. Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Wednesday, August 12 & 26, 6:30 to 8:30 pm

Figure Drawing from the Nude Model                         

Join us on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month for this adult figure drawing class with a nude model.  A variety of drawing materials will be provided, and model poses will include both shorter warm-up poses, and longer poses. Participants must be 18 or older. (Note:  Figure Drawing sessions with a clothed model are offered on the first and third Mondays of each month, and are open to participants ages 14 and up; please check the calendar for dates and time.) $10 (Free for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Wednesday, August 12, 7 to 8 pm  

Architecture Speaker Series » This Place Matters: Preserving Arkansas’s Architectural and Cultural Heritage

Vanessa McKuin, Executive Director of Preserve Arkansas, the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas, will explore several of Arkansas’s most significant architectural and cultural landmarks. McKuin will discuss the challenges faced in saving them, as well as some key losses to the state. Sponsored by Chip and Susan Chambers. $10 (Free for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Thursday, August 13, 11:30 am to 2 pm

Preschool Playdate » Pups!

Join us for a live performance at 11:30, followed by art-making, creative play, stories, and more.  Our activities are inspired by the pups you’ll see in our Wyeth and Warhol exhibitions!  Activities are geared for ages 2 to 5 with adults. Sponsored by The Hershey Company. Free, no registration required.

 

Friday, August 14, 6:30 to 8:30 pm            

Photo Salon » Kat Wilson on Andy Warhol’s Street Life

Explore photography through Andy Warhol’s experiments with the camera, guided by local artist Kat Wilson. Warhol documented much of his life in Polaroids, which served as the basis for his portraits, silkscreen paintings, drawings, and prints. The black-and-white images provide a glimpse of the artist’s obsessive recording of his life outside the studio, including his nightlife, travel, and activities on the street.  This session explores life outside the studio. $10 (Free for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.   

 

Friday, August 14, 6:30 to 7:30 pm

Pre-Show Conversation » Ben Harrison: From the Velvet Underground to 13 Most Beautiful, Discussing Andy Warhol’s Merging of Film and Music

Often considered the icon of Pop Art and one of the most famous and influential American artists of the second half of the twentieth century, Andy Warhol was also an innovative and prolific filmmaker and manager of the ground-breaking rock band The Velvet Underground. This discussion will reflect on how Warhol incorporated film in the band’s live performances and their collective influence from the perspective of Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, commissioned artists who created the soundtracks for 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Test. Wareham and Phillips bring the unique perspective as members of Luna, a New York-based rock/pop band who were strongly influenced by, and who have direct connections with, the Velvets and who sit aptly within the trajectory of their unwavering influence in modern rock history. The discussion will be moderated by Ben Harrison, curator of performing arts at The Andy Warhol Museum, and will also serve to map that trajectory as an inspiration for the development of the live music program at The Warhol, along with commissioned music and film projects produced by the museum in recent years, including 13 Most Beautiful and Exposed: Songs for Unseen Warhol Films. Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

In between the pre-show conversation and the live performance, explore Warhol’s Nature in the galleries and enjoy a Warhol-themed tasting menu with live music in Eleven.  

 

Friday, August 14, 9 to 10:15 pm    

Live Arts » The 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests

The Andy Warhol Museum presents 13 Most Beautiful…Songs for Andy Warhol’s Screen Tests. The performance features a selection of Warhol’s four-minute silent film portraits with commissioned accompaniment by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips (formerly of Luna and Galaxie 500). Taking the form of a multi-media concert, the project has been consistently touring internationally since January, 2009. Tour highlights include the Allen Room at Lincoln Center, the Los Angeles Film Festival, Sydney Opera House, and Teatro Versace in Milan. The project was jointly commissioned by The Andy Warhol Museum and The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust for the 2008 Pittsburgh International Festival of Firsts.  $10 ($8 for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Monday, August 17, 1 to 2 pm         

Art Talk » Mark Tansey & Charles Willson Peale                  

School and Community Program Manager Zev Slurzberg invites you to a conversation about history and the people and events we remember. The discussion will focus on two works: Mark Tansey’s Landscape (1994) and Charles Willson Peale’s George Washington (ca. 1780-1782). Free, no registration required.

 

Wednesday, August 19, 6 to 7 pm

Boundless Book Club » A Summons to Memphis by Peter Taylor

When Phillip Carver receives, on a lonely Sunday evening, two successive telephone calls from his sisters begging him to leave his home in Manhattan and return immediately to Memphis, he is slow to agree. His sisters, middle-aged and unmarried, want his help in averting the remarriage of their father, an elderly widower, to a younger woman. Although Phillip wants no part in such manipulations, he finds himself unable to refuse to make the trip south, and into his own past.   Peter Taylor is one of the masters of Southern literature, whose work stands in the company of Eudora Welty, James Agee, and Walker Percy. In A Summons to Memphis, he composed a richly evocative story of revenge, resolution, and redemption, and gave us a classic work of American literature. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Wednesday, August 19, 6 to 7 pm

WOW » The Sensory Iconoclasts Project

Please join Crystal Bridges Culinary Director Case Dighero along with Eve Smith, Visual Director at Arts Center of the Ozarks, as they discuss the Sensory Iconoclasts Project, showcasing the collaboration of regional chefs and artists to produce one-of-a-kind art and cuisine. Open to guests ages 21 and above. Sponsored by Premier Dermatology and Riedel Glassware. $30 ($24 for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335

 

Wednesday, August 19, 26, and September 2, 9, 16, 23, 6 to 8:30 pm 

Studio Studies Series » Botanical Art and Illustration with Kate Nessler                          

Botanical artist Kate Nessler will teach this introduction to botanical drawing and painting. Nessler will guide you through the basics of observing live flowers and plants, and instruct you in how to capture their beauty through drawing and painting techniques. Classes will include drawing and studying plants in the field as well as in the studios.  All materials provided. Sponsored by Demara Titzer. $200/6 classes ($160 for Members), register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Wednesday, August 19, 9 to 10:30 pm

Crystal Bridges Short Film Festival » Pop Art vs. Nature                                

This year’s festival theme is inspired by the exhibition Warhol’s Nature, which will be on view at the Museum until October 5. View the judges’ choice of short films in four categories: artistic, animation, narrative, and documentary. A post-screening filmmaker discussion with the audience will follow the screenings. Sponsored by Demara Titzer and The Legacy Fayetteville Condominiums. Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Thursday, August 20, 7 to 8 pm     

Art Ride » From Buckyball to Ozark Topography

Enjoy an art bike ride along the Crystal Bridges Trail. We’ll make sculpture stops along the way at Buckyball by Leo Villareal and Vaquero by Luis Alfonso Jimenez, as well as the recently installed Pac-Man sculpture by Craig Gray and Ozark Topography by Ed Pennebaker presented by the Bentonville Public Art Advisory Committee on the North Bentonville Trail. Dayton Castleman, Museum Manager of 21c Museum Hotel and member of the Public Art Committee, will lead the ride and give a short talk at each sculpture. The bike ride starts at Compton Gardens, leaving at 6:00 p.m. After the ride finishes (around 9:30 p.m.), please feel free to join Castleman for post-ride drinks at 21c’s The Hive Restaurant Lounge. Free, no registration required.

 

Friday, August 21, 7 to 9 pm                       

Spotlight Lecture » Michael McClure: Andy Warhol’s Love of Animals! 

Michael McClure is an Associate Professor of Art History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and one of the writers who contributed essays for Warhol’s Nature Catalog. McClure will disuccs Warhol’s Vanishing Animals and Endangered Species series Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Monday, August 24, 1:30 to 2:30 pm

The Great Reveal » Andy Warhol Artist Books

Enjoy a selection of Andy Warhol’s artist books from the Crystal Bridges Library collection, including Andy Warhol’s Index (Book), 1967, as well as A Gold Book, 1957, and several other creative art books designed and signed by the famous Pop artist.  Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Artinfusion @ Culture Hour + Art Insight

Wednesday, August 26, 5 to 9 pm

Artinfusion Members and friends are invited to come together on the fourth Wednesday of each month to meet and mingle during Culture Hour in Eleven. Enjoy networking, complimentary nosh, and $6 drink specials in Eleven, then stroll the galleries while they are open late. Culture Hour special pricing typically ends at 7 pm, but on these fourth Wednesdays we extend the deals for artinfusion Members (with proof of membership) until 9 pm. This special session will include an Art Insight to delight guests with work by local artists. Bring a friend!  Artinfusion is especially for Crystal Bridges Members ages 21 to 40s. Sponsored by Arvest Bank, Blue Moon Brewing Company, RopeSwing, and Saatchi & Saatchi X. Free, no registration required.

 

Friday, August 28, 6 to 6:30 pm.

Member Meet and Greet with The Andy Warhol Museum Director Eric Shiner

Crystal Bridges Members are invited to a Meet and Greet with Andy Warhol Museum Director Eric Shiner in the Great Hall prior to a public lecture at 7 p.m. Separate registration is required for the lecture.  Free, register online or by calling the Member Priority Line.

 

Friday, August 28, 6:30 to 8:30 pm                       

Art by the Glass » Seven Deadly Sins

Through Jamie Wyeth’s series, The Seven Deadly Sins, ponder the visual depiction of the Seven Deadly Sins in art over a glass of wine in this fun and social studio class!  We’ll talk briefly about the history of iconography in art, Wyeth’s process and technique, and then combine watercolor and charcoal to create an artwork based on your favorite sin.., All the materials plus two glasses of wine provided. $45 ($36 for members), register online or with Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Friday, August 28, 7 to 8 pm

Spotlight Lecture » Eric Shiner: Andy Warhol, Nature vs. Culture                         

Eric Shiner, Director of The Andy Warhol Museum, will preset this lecture in conjunction with the temporary exhibition Warhol’s Nature. Throughout his lifetime, Warhol created a mythic identity that took him and his persona as an artist far away from his humble roots in Pittsburgh. By the end of his life, he had become one of the most famous people in the world through his carefully constructed appearance and his instantly recognizable Pop aesthetic. Warhol plugged into the overarching American culture with surgical precision, appropriating and rethinking images known to all. In doing so, he played with culture and took it, like himself, to a place far from its base roots.  Free, register online or by calling Guest Services at 479.657.2335.

 

Saturday, August 29, 1 to 4 pm

Drop-In Art Making » Endangered Species Masks

Drop in to our studios any time between 1 and 4 p.m. to create a mask of your favorite endangered animal using markers, feathers, yarn, and more—inspired by the Vanishing Animals series by Andy Warhol, Free, drop-in. no registration required.

 

Saturday, August 29, 1 to 2 pm      

Art Talk » Cars as Sculpture                                           

Get to know the 1940s to Now gallery, and join a discussion with Senior Museum Educator Sara Segerlin exploring John Chamberlain’s sculpture Swannanoa/Swannanoa II (1959), assembled from crushed car parts. Free, no registration required.

 

Sunday, August 30, 1 to 4 pm                    

Drop-In Drawing

Drop in anytime between 1 and 4 p.m. for a free, informal drawing session. Materials are provided and an art instructor will be on hand to get you started. Check at Guest Services for the specific location. All ages are welcome! Free, no registration required.