crystal bridges

Fisk University Gets Approval To Sell A Share of Art Collection

Filed under: Art

I've been fascinated by the saga of Nashville's Fisk University's art collection and what it says about the future of art endowments. We've been following the case of the Stieglitz art collection at Fisk University since last summer. The collection was donated by painter Georgia O'Keeffe. Fisk, which has been facing financial trouble, had asked the court for permission to sell a 50 percent share in the collection saying that it could face bankruptcy without the $30 million the sale to the Crystal Bridges Museum in Arkansas and that it can no longer afford to maintain and display the collection. A brief filed by the Attorney General argued that the plan to sell a share to the museum planned by Walmart heiress Alice Walton would void the protected status of the collection and leave the art open to being seized by creditors if Fisk were to declare bankruptcy.

In an effort to keep the collection at the university, Fisk alumna Carol Creswell-Betsch created a fund that could pay the maintenance and display costs of the collection. The fund was named for Creswell-Betsch's mother, Pearl Creswell, who was the first curator of the Stieglitz collection. But this week Fisk University was given approval to sell an ownership stake to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. Per the terms of the agreement, the museum will pay $30 million for one-half interest in the collection. Fisk will have discretionary use of $10 million and the rest will go into an endowment fund to be used to maintain and display the collection. A statement on the Fisk University website from Fisk President Hazel R. O'Leary called the decision to restrict $20 million of the funds "excessive" because the income from the $20 million restricted endowment is approximately $1 million annually which "far exceeds the amount necessary to secure and maintain the Collection." O'Leary went on to mention that "Alice Walton has agreed to fund an endowment of $1,000,000 which is to be used for the support and maintenance of the Collection."

Tags: alice walton, art endowment, crystal bridges, fisk university

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Walmart Family Plans Art Hotel To Complement New Museum

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

The owners of Louisville, Kentucky's popular 21c Museum Hotel are partnering with Walmart's Walton family on a new 21c Museum Hotel in downtown Bentonville, Arkansas. The project will be a $28 million, 130-room hotel near the downtown square in Bentonville. It will have a spa, fitness center and restaurant that uses local ingredients. Construction is expected to begin this year and the project should be completed in 2012.

Business First of Louisville reports that the hotel will be owned by the Waltons, Steve Wilson and Laura Lee Brown--the owners of 21C, and and Bentonville Revitalization Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to the preservation of the city's historic structures. Poe Cos will use sustainable building materials and incorporate "green" design practices to create the hotel. The building is being designed by Deborah Berke & Partners LLP, who designed the Louisville 21c hotel in conjunction with Polk Stanley Wilcox architecture firm.

Tags: 21c, 21c museum hotel, arkansas, art hotel, bentonville, crystal bridges, museum, walmart

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Wal-Mart's Art Museum Facing Delays?

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas may not be finished as quickly as was originally planned. The museum is being designed to house one of the world's greatest collections of American art, the one amassed by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton. Walton has spent the last few years snapping up treasures by American artists including paying a record price for the 1849 Asher B. Durand work "Kindred Spirits." But the museum, which was slated to open in 2010 may not be ready for until 2011 or beyond. In his recent state of the city address, Bentonville mayor Bob McCaslin referred to the museum as opening in 2011. But the AP also quotes a subcontractor which has said that their job will run through 2011 which could mean it may be an even longer wait. The museum should have a clearer idea of when the opening date may be sometime in the coming months.

Whenever it is completed it will be an impressive destination. The museum design by architect Moshe Safdie is rendered in glass and light wood and is arranged around two ponds at the center of the compound which are spanned by bridges. The building is set on around 100 acres of Ozarks forest, donated by the Walton family. Visitors will follow a lane through the woods to a knoll that overlooks the pavilions. From the knoll, glass elevators take visitors to a courtyard with a glass lobby that has a view of the water. The museum will offer 34,000 square feet of exhibition space as well as a cafe, performance hall, library and research center. Crystal Bridges is expected to bring in 250,000 visitors a year once it opens.

Gallery: Crystal Bridges Museum

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Tags: crystal bridges, CrystalBridges, entertainment-awards, museum, wal-mart

Crystal Bridges Museum, The Home of Wal-Mart Art

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Art

Would you travel to Bentonville, Arkansas for the art? You might want to in 2010 after Crystal Bridges, the art museum being created by Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton opens. Walton is creating a national art museum that is dedicated to American artists from the Colonial period to the present. In 2005 Walton outbid a couple of East Coast museums, paying a record price for the 1849 Asher B. Durand work "Kindred Spirits." While some have expressed a certain snobbery over a museum founded by Wal-Mart others applaud the project both for the impressive nature of Walton's collection and for her decision to install the art in an area that is underserved when it comes to major art museums.

The museum design by architect Moshe Safdie is done in glass and light wood and is arranged around two ponds at the center of the compound which are spanned by bridges. The building is set on around 100 acres of Ozarks forest, donated by the Walton family. Visitors will follow a lane through the woods to a knoll that overlooks the pavilions. From the knoll, glass elevators take visitors to a courtyard with a glass lobby that has a view of the water. The museum will offer 34,000 square feet of exhibition space as well as a cafe, performance hall, library and research center. Crystal Bridges is expected to bring in 250,000 visitors a year.

Gallery: Crystal Bridges Museum

Tags: alice walton, arkanasas, art museum, crystal bridges, wal-mart