The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, will open a satellite dedicated to contemporary creativity beyond the visual arts in 2020. The Momentary takes over a 63,000 sq. ft former Kraft Foods plant around 1.5 miles south of the museum founded by the Walmart heiress Alice Walton.
The new venue is a “younger sibling in the same family” as Crystal Bridges, says Lieven Bertels, the Belgian musicologist appointed as its director last month. Like the museum, it will be supported by the Walton Family Foundation. The Momentary will have curatorial independence, but will share Crystal Bridges’ emphasis on US artists and “international artists inspired by American art”, a museum spokeswoman says.
The Momentary is planning to host works from the Crystal Bridges collection and travelling shows as well as theatrical, musical and other performances. Designed by the Chicago-based Wheeler Kearns Architects, it will also be a “maker space”, Bertels says, with artists’ studios and a residency programme.
Residences will go largely, but not exclusively, to US artists from a range of disciplines, from musicians to chefs. Visitors will be able to interact with the artists-in-residence and see their works in progress, says Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges’ executive director.
