A Sense of Place

Reader comment on: Goldberg Versus Walton

Submitted by Ted (United States), Jan 8, 2012 09:22

Those who know Northwest Arkansas with its business machines (Walmart, Tyson), the large university nearby with its college-town slant and demeanor, and the combination of Midwest/Southern easy-going nature, know that the area has a quiet, under-stated sophistication that, believe it or not, is somewhat similar to leafy enclaves between New York and Boston or gentried suburbs of Dallas and Atlanta (but with lots better local scenery). You have to visit here regularly or live here to understand. The art will (and has already been) appreciated. Attendance is above plan.

And considering there is already a lot of art (and even more 'American' pieces as well) elsewhere in big cities like Chicago and New York and nearby Kansas City, why should the museum not be built in a place like Northwest Arkansas. I beg you, dear detractors: take out a map and peruse but for a moment. Walmart aside, what better place for a new American art museum than in a city that is basically at the geographic center of the nation? That is what museum folk and Alice Walton have always said during the planning process----this site has a 'sense of place'. Nature, geography and American history (both native American, early exploration of the French and Spanish, and Civil War battlefields) abound here. And now there is a contemporary museum of American art to complement.

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