Outside that entrance you’ll find Henry Moore’s bronze sculpture Large Standing Figure: Knife Edge. Unifying the original building and eight subsequent additions, the redesign from MacArthur Foundation “genius award” winner Jeanne Gang of Studio Gang Architects and Kate Orff of SCAPE Landscape Architecture, herself a “genius” grant winner, the first for a landscape architect, increases indoor space almost 50 percent and adds 10 acres of new outdoor grounds.Īs part of the architectural project, which began in 2016, the original Art Deco façade from 1937 bearing the name “Museum of Fine Arts” has been revealed once again, part of the north entrance of the new building. It became the Arkansas Arts Center in 1959. The Fine Arts Club planted the seeds for the Museum of Fine Arts, which was built by the Works Progress Administration and opened in 1937. In 1914, a group of Little Rock women formed the Fine Arts Club with a mission of bringing the arts to Arkansas. A New Old MuseumĪrkansas Museum of Fine Arts north entrance with Henry Moore sculpture. I am unaware of any other art museum in the country with that many extended nighttime hours, AMFA recognizing working people should be afforded the opportunity to see art as well, and not just on the weekend. The museum is open from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM Tuesday through Saturday and noon to 5:00 PM on Sundays. The museum front and back intentionally open onto shaded park space, welcoming passersby to pop in, or giving youngsters a quick exit to run around and play outside. Supporting this invitation, admission to the AMFA is free. The building and installation fostered that. There are no ropes or alarms or barriers placed in front of the art. The entire presentation seems to say, “Come on in. On the day of my visit, AMFA galleries were filled by a racially diverse audience the likes of which is rarely seen in these spaces. Ryan RedCorn’s (Osage) monumental photograph of a Plains Cree mother and daughter just inside the gallery door makes a dramatic statement.įor every white face represented staring back from the walls, there’s a Black face. Native American, Asian American, Latin American artists receive more than token representation. Black artists share equal footing with white artists. The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts achieves a level of diversity in work on view for an historic museum that could only result from a complete reboot, which the renovation provided for. Essential figures in the genre.Įach of them is African American, except for Watt, a Native American. Kerry James Marshall, Derek Adams, Robert Colescott, Marie Watt (Seneca), Titus Kaphar, Bisa Butler, Howardina Pindell. The 4-year-old showing off his floss dance to the security guard–who showed the good sense to let him do so–on the day visited for this review was having a ball at the art museum with his mom and sister.ĪMFA’s choice of contemporary artworks are equally suitable for making a great first impression. Dare it be described as “fun?” In the right hands, art can be that too, and it is here. The install is heavy on figurative paintings and landscapes, not so much pure abstraction.īig artwork from major figures that are vibrant, lively and approachable. On the walls are names people have heard of. But everyone can like and recognize a Monet. Curators aren’t trying to put over their thesis work by highlighting obscure artists unfairly left out of the canon or niche movements, instead, they’ve brought familiarity and accessibility to what, for many, can be unfamiliar and intimidating spaces.
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