2023 Road Trip: The Momentary (5/11/2023)

Thursday, May 11, 2023

The Momentary is a decommissioned cheese factory converted into a contemporary art space for visual and peforming arts, culinary experiences, festivals, artists-in-residence, and more. It is a satellite of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, in Bentonville, AR. Thanks to the Walton Family Foundation, endowments cover admission fees to both of these museums, which are also on the list of reciprocal museums covered by our Tyler Arboretum membership.

The Momentary (2020, redesign by Wheeler Kearns Architects)

The Momentary entrance

Gallery 2: To breathe full and free: a declaration, a re-visioning, a correction (19°36'16.9"N72°13'07.0"W, 42° 21'48.762" N 71°1'59.628" W, 36° 22' 0.1848'' N94° 12' 8.64'' W)

(2021, by Firelei Báez)

The Firelei Báez art installation reimagines the
archeological ruins of the Sans-Souci Palace in Haiti,
as if it were emerging from the Atlantic Ocean

The coordinates in the title signify where the ruins are located,
the venue in Boston where the work was first presented,
and the location of the Momentary

Details on the walls of the ruins include symbols
of healing and resistance, patterning drawn from
West African indigo printing traditions, and
sea creatures native to Caribbean waters

Gallery 3: [siccer] (by Will Rawls)

[siccer] is a stop-motion video installation of a
dance performance using Black gestures

Gallery 1 and Lobby Gallery: Yvette Mayorga: What a Time to Be

Run Run, Quién Tiene las Llaves/
Room Room Whose Got the Keys (2022) (KSS)

Descansando al navegar en internet/Resting Scrolling
(2022) After Madame de Pompadour (1856, by 
François Boucher); the subject is the sister of the artist

La recámara al estilo de los XV/Bedroom After the 15th
(2022) is better translated as Bedroom in the style of [Louis] XV

Until We Meet Again (2022) After The Setting of the Sun
(1752, by François Boucher); Yvette Mayorga's pink
and frosted signature style is termed Latinx Rococo

Well! The "birthplace of Walmart" is covered in scaffolding,
being the first Walton's 5&10 (after Sam Walton lost
his Ben Franklin variety store franchise in Newport, AR)
and soon-to-be renovated Walmart Museum
(a Roadside America attraction)

Sam's brother, Bud, continued with his own Ben Franklin store, and together the brothers expanded to other towns with both Ben Franklin and Walton's stores. Sam Walton decided that a deep discount store was needed, and opened the first Walmart in Rogers, AR in 1962. Walmart expanded into Missouri and Oklahoma, bringing low prices to underserved rural communities. The "Every Day Low Prices" strategy and going public on the stock market resulted in the billion-dollar company we know today.

Peel House (1874-1875, in Italianate style)

Next: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.