Crystal Bridges Museum
 

If you're in the northwest Arkansas area sometime this summer, be sure to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. The museum is free, at least this year, although there is a $10 charge if you want to see the traveling exhibit (currently Hudson River School painters).

The design of the museum is innovative--situated over a creek, creating two ponds. Alice Walton and the Walton Foundation have invested over $800 million in the museum. The early American art section is probably the best, as it contains both a Charles Wilson Peale and a Gilbert Stuart painting of George Washington. You can see the entire collection at the museum website: http://crystalbridges.org/

Then go to Eureka Springs for a couple of nights to one of their great B&Bs. We stayed at Arsenic and Old Lace and recommend it highly.

I really really like Crystal Bridges (I've been twice in the one year it has been open). Eureka Springs is one of my least favorites, though.

A friend visiting from Arkansas told me about this museum. I really want to go for a visit. The art is amazing, but I most want to see the rebuilt Frank Lloyd Wright house -
http://crystalbridges.org/architectu...-wilson-house/

Here's another article about the impact of Alice Walton's collection of art on the area -
http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel...lette/2466567/