BENTONVILLE, ARK.- This summer, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art explores art, nature, color, and more with two exhibitions—Color Field in the forest and Nature’s Nation in the galleries—new Chihuly acquisitions, the return of the Forest Concert Series, a new artmaking studio space, a traveling replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, and more.

Nature’s Nation
May 25 to September 9, 2019
Nature’s Nation: American Art and Environment is a new exhibition developed by Princeton University Art Museum that examines American artists’ impact on shaping environmental understanding and stewardship. Featuring 100 artworks from 70 eminent US collections, this exhibition traces 300 years of evolving ideas about the natural world and our place within it. The paintings, photographs, and sculptures in this exhibition compel us to consider our relationship to the environment and the human impact on the planet.

“The breadth of this exhibition makes for a compelling way to see nature from the perspective of artists and art history,” said Mindy Besaw, curator at Crystal Bridges. “This exhibition is coming to us at a time when conversations about the environment are more important than ever. We hope that visitors will walk away from this exhibition with a deeper understanding of their relationship with nature and a desire to be stewards of our world.”

Artists featured in this exhibition include Albert Bierstadt, Frank Lloyd Wright, Charles Willson Peale, Thomas Moran, Dorothea Lange, John James Audubon, Ansel Adams, Alexis Rockman, Mierle Laderman Ukeles, Valerie Hegarty, Walton Ford, Ana Mendieta, Postcommodity, and more. Several Indigenous artists who were featured in Crystal Bridges’ 2018 exhibition Art for a New Understanding: Native Voices, 1950s to Now are also featured in Nature’s Nation, including Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, Kent Monkman, and Cannupa Hanska Luger.

Color Field
June 1 to September 30, 2019
Color Field is an outdoor sculpture exhibition developed by Crystal Bridges associate curator of contemporary art Allison Glenn featuring artists that employ lush colors and enlarged forms against the backdrop of the museum’s North Forest and select locations in the museum. Artists featured in the exhibition include Claire Helen Ashley, Sarah Braman, Jeffie Brewer, Assaf Evron, Sam Falls, Spencer Finch, Typoe Gran, Odili Donald Odita, Amanda Ross-Ho, and Jessica Stockholder.

Color Field invites visitors to interact with several of the sculptures. Sam Falls’s Untitled (Wind Chimes) consists of large, colorful chimes that visitors can move to activate sound. Odili Donald Odita is debuting a new work created specifically for this exhibition, called Negative Space, which consists of an installation of thirteen flags on twenty-foot flag poles, installed over a path so that visitors can walk underneath them. The design of the flags includes colors of the American flag, juxtaposed with the complementary colors of green, orange, and black. Claire Helen Ashley’s large, inflatable sculptures that invite viewers to lightly touch them will be located in the Contemporary Art Gallery Courtyard and a corresponding corridor.

The exhibition’s title is a play on the color field style of painting, a form of abstraction that relies heavily on color and surfaces devoid of representation. There are several examples of this painting style that can be found in Crystal Bridges’ permanent collection including artworks by Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Mark Rothko, Alma Thomas, James Turrell, Sam Gilliam, Donald Judd, and more.

“Color Field embraces the intersection of art, architecture, and nature, inviting visitors to engage with outdoor sculpture in a new and exciting ways,” said Allison Glenn, Crystal Bridges associate curator of contemporary art. “This exhibition will also connect with works in our permanent collection, allowing visitors to dynamically learn about color field painting and color theory across the museum campus”

2019 Forest Concert Series
Crystal Bridges is excited to announce the 2019 Forest Concert Series lineup. This summer, the North Forest will be host to a concert every Saturday at 7 p.m. between June 1 and July 27 on the Coca-Cola Stage.

New Chihuly Acquisitions
Crystal Bridges has acquired five Chihuly artworks that were seen in the popular 2017 exhibition Chihuly: In the Gallery and In the Forest, including Azure Icicle Chandelier, Sole d’Oro, Fiori Boat, Nijima Floats, and Turquoise Reeds and Ozark Fiori. All five artworks will be on display throughout the museum and grounds this summer for visitors to enjoy.

“I am honored that my work will be included in the permanent collection of this important American institution,” said artist, Dale Chihuly. “The museum, designed by architect Moshe Safdie, and the surrounding natural environment are wonderful settings in which to experience the work of American artists, and I am proud to be featured among them.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Chihuly back to the museum on a permanent basis, as the 2017 exhibition was visited by over 200,000 people,” said Lauren Haynes, curator of contemporary art at Crystal Bridges. “We anticipate that these artworks will be popular with our visitors as they only serve to enhance the quality and wide range of offerings of our sculpture collection at Crystal Bridges.”