Buckyball and Compton Gardens

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We visited the Buckyball at The Momentary on our only evening in Bentonville. There were not many people around; we enjoyed reclining on the wooden seats and taking pictures/videos….until we realized how many mosquitoes there were!

It was a Sunday evening, so the eating places were closed…we walked around the nearby garden area. The lights were still on the sculptures. If I return the area, I’ll plan to be there on an evening when businesses are open!

The next morning we walked in Compton Gardens. A few weeks previously when my daughter was there, she had seen lots of butterflies and goldfinches. We didn’t see any goldfinches but there were a few skippers (one was a tawny edged skipper) and a great spangled fritillary butterfly around.

The gardens had been damaged by a tornado recently and some trails were still closed. Some critical cleanups had been done. I took a picture of a recently cut stump and counted the rings in the image. The tree was more than 70 years old!

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (2)

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There is also a lot to see in the outdoor area of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  There were some parts that were closed because of recent storm damage (downed trees…at least one piece of art: R. Buckminster Fuller’s Fly’s Eye Dome).

The first sculpture we saw was near the entrance – a silver tree.

Some areas are relatively wild: horse nettles, thistles, shelf-fungus, mallows and grasses.

I was thrilled to photograph a butterfly since I’ve seen so few larger ones this year.

The design on the upper level of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman-Wilson House was attractive. We got tickets (free) when we first got to the museum, and entered the house less than 2 hours after our arrival (enough time to do a broad look at the art on display inside the museum). Pictures are not allowed on the inside of the house. I liked the main living room but felt the rest of the house was claustrophobic (low ceilings and narrow hallways).

There were two installations of Chihuly glass.

There was a giant spider sculpture. It was a good place to take a little rest.

There were several animal sculptures along the trails. I photographed a bear with a fish, a smiling pig, and arabbit with an itching ear.

Water features are near most of the trails. I appreciated the structures in one of the streams to ‘slow the flow.’

There was a turn out from one trail to view quartz crystals in boulders that often contain imprints organisms from long ago in parts that are not crystals.

We probably spent at least as much time outdoors at Crystal Bridges as we did inside! It would be interesting to go again in a different season…maybe next spring.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (1)

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There is a lot to see at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. My daughter had visited previously and had suggested it as a great start to our ‘end of summer’ road trip. The art is from various time periods often with links to American history: “We the People” with shoe strings, some favorite artists (Audubon, Chihuly, O’Keeffe, Norman Rockwell’s Rosie the Riveter), a dandelion made in metal originally made for a hotel, the red tinted lens looking out to a water feature, a river in silver on an otherwise blank wall…so much to see…these were just a few of my favorites.

One of the most thought-provoking pieces was a picture of the border wall….as a scar on the landscape. This stretch was a natural area not so long ago.

There were quite a few pieces from Yayoi Kusama (Japanese artist). The infinity room is a dark mirrored space where two people enter at a time (controlled at the door where there is almost always a short line) filled with polka dot orbs lit from within. The minder allows each couple 2 minutes in the space.

Outside there are flower sculptures with polka dots done by the same artist.

There is also a water feature that is partially covered with mirrored orbs made by Kusama …mostly in one group but some seemed to have escaped into the nearby reeds.

More tomorrow about the gardens and art outside the buildings.