ARE WE THERE YET?

Art museum's trails exercise body and mind

Robert Indiana’s LOVE is on display near the start of the Art Trail at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
Robert Indiana’s LOVE is on display near the start of the Art Trail at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.

BENTONVILLE -- Art museums aim to exercise the creative imaginations of visitors via the paintings, sculptures and other works on display. That's certainly true at the celebrated Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

Another kind of exercise -- physical exertion -- can add even more pleasure to Crystal Bridges. A half-dozen wooded trails stretch to the four points of the compass amid the landscaped 120 acres of this world-class museum conceived and financed by billionaire Alice Walton.

The trails, three of them open to biking as well as hiking, testify to Crystal Bridges' credo "that art and nature are both vital to the human spirit." The pathways are "designed to spark the imagination" and "help guests form connections to the land and its history, as well as enjoy outdoor artworks."

A trail brochure with detailed map and descriptions is available at the check-in desk. Visitors are reminded that none of the trails loops back to its starting point. So hikers have to return from the far end back to where they began.

A personal favorite is the Art Trail. Half the museum's 18 outdoor sculptures are arrayed along this hard-surfaced route, which runs for a moderately sloping half-mile along Town Branch Creek -- a round-trip mile.

The best-known sculptor displayed on the Art Trail is Robert Indiana. His trademark LOVE, created in 1966 and cast in Cor-Ten steel, greets visitors near the start of the walk.

Five of the trail's pieces feature animals, in keeping with the museum's aim of blending art and nature. Dan Ostermiller's Shore Lunch shows a bear catching a fish. Andrae Harvey's Stella is a smiling pig -- not a razorback but a future pork chop.

Luis Alfonso's Vaquero portrays a rearing horse ridden by a Hispanic cowboy. Nancy Schoen's Tortoise and Hare features those creatures posed separately in a tribute to Aesop's famous fable. Near the trail's end, Paul Manship's Group of Bears presents an ursine threesome rearing on hind legs.

The trail's largest work of art, about three-fourths of the way along, is Skyspace: The Way of Color. It was created by James Turrell, who calls himself a "sculptor of light."

Crystal Bridges' website describes Skyspace as "a naked-eye viewing chamber that allows guests to view the sky through a round oculus in the roof."

"During daylight hours, the Skyspace offers a place of quiet contemplation. Each morning and evening, in conjunction with sunrise and sunset, a programmed LED light display occurs inside the Skyspace. Changing colors against the Skyspace ceiling cause changes in our perception of the color of the sky viewed through the oculus."

Today from 8 to 9 p.m., Skyspace will be the site of "Poetry Lift Off!," themed to the sky's changing hues. Seating is first-come, first-served, so visitors are advised to arrive a half-hour before the 8:35 p.m. sunset.

The Art Trail will be the venue Friday, Monday and Wednesday for "Summer Bloom Experience." It's an 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. staff-guided walk focusing on the seasonal flowers that complement the sculptures along the way.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, 600 Museum Way off Northeast J Street, Bentonville, is open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday and Thursday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Wednesday and Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday. Admission is free under a subsidy from Wal-Mart.

For more information, call (479) 418-5700 or visit CrystalBridges.org.

Weekend on 06/11/2015

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