of culture is, after all, often, also, a brainchild of commerce. I
told Alice that I had never seen a Wal-Mart, so after dinner, she
drove me to one. I jumped out, rushed over and looked into an
absolutely empty space.
���But Alice,��� I said, ���there���s nothing there!��� ���Oops!��� she replied,
���that���s the one we outgrew.���
���There���s the museum,��� I said.
In the two decades since my visit to Alice and her warmly inviting
mother, Helen, Fayetteville has prospered mightily, becoming
what another Arkansas friend and Clinton mentor, the late Carl
Whillock, predicted, a great American city. At its heart, alongside
a water feature, architect Moshe Safdie has realized a museum
which Fay Jones would admire. Alice Walton, benefactor and
patron, founded the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in
2005, located fittingly at the crossroads of America���s three great
topographies. It opened in 2011.
After eight years of planning and construction, in November
1998, President Clinton inaugurated XNA, Northwest Arkansas
Regional Airport.
A museum, like an airport, is at once crossroads and destination,
an emphatically cultural hub. Alice Walton embodies the American
quest for a deep and expansive culture.
Crystal Bridges
Museum of American Art
600 Museum Way
Bentonville, Arkansas 72712
Tel. 479-418-5700
HYLAND
Christopher
Hyland
