Raouf Halaby, professor of English and visual arts, will present his paper on Crystal Bridges Museum in Denmark. Photo Abbey Jamieson, The Signal.
By Samuel Cushman
Dr. Raouf Halaby, professor of English and visual arts at Ouachita, has been invited to present a scholarly paper at the Sixth International Conference on the Inclusive Museum in Copenhagen, Denmark, at the Statens Museum for Kunst, the National Gallery of Denmark, on April 22-23.
According to the Inclusive Museum’s website, Halaby’s paper “explains the important role the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art plays in providing museum goers the opportunity to view a rich concentration of American art.”
The paper, under the title “The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Silences Snobbish Critics,” defends the Crystal Bridges museum from criticism that harshly attacks it and that Halaby believes to be “chauvinistic and ethnocentric, if not downright biased.” The paper also praises the museum’s architecture and its art collection; it also praises the role Alice Walton has played in helping place a great collection of American art in the heart of America. In the paper, Halaby writes:
“I would like to state that what the Medici’s were to Florence and to the Renaissance, Alice Walton is to the United States and American art. And just as the Medici’s were criticized for their vast wealth and the power they wielded in Tuscany and Italy, the Waltons continue to be criticized for a myriad of things.”
According to Halaby, many of the critics would not delineate between the Crystal bridges museum, Alice Walton, the Walmart Corporation and the Walmart Foundation.
“I wish that they had refrained from conflating Walmart and its practices with the museum itself,” he said. “Although, I might add, that one or two critics were justified. For example, one critic pointed out that there is not a good representation of folk art or naïve art. In that regard, I fully agree because folk art is not only a very legitimate artistic expression, but it is also an integral part of a rich genre in American art.”
According to Halaby, the criticism of Walton started back in 2005 when she bought the painting “Kindred Spirits” by Asher Brown Durand. The painting was hanging in a New York public library and Walton wanted to buy the work. When the transaction became public, she was criticized harshly. There were two subsequent controversial events when Alice Walton wanted to purchase “The Gross Clinic” by Thomas Akins and the Georgia O’Keefe collection from Fisk University.
Halaby also said that some criticism ensued shortly before and right after the opening of the museum.
“Some critics questioned whether ‘a world class museum in such a remote area of the country’” made sense,” he said. “The attitude of a lot of the critics from the Northeast was that if you are going to have a world class museum, then it should either be in New York, Boston, Philadelphia or maybe Chicago. In fact, one critic referred to Arkansas as ‘a fly-over state.’ I took issue with this and felt that this was an elitist attitude and that this criticism was unjustified.”
This research, Halaby said, consisted of four years’ worth of gathering information from a variety of sources, including newspaper clippings, professional journals, magazines, radio interviews and the Internet. He would find and read these articles, clip them, print and Xerox all relevant information and file them by content.
In addition to this, Halaby joined his three art colleagues and a group of 12 art majors on a trip to Bentonville for the museum’s 11-11-11 opening back in November 2011. Halaby said that the trip proved to be a historic and fruitful experience for art majors and for the art faculty. Halaby said that he was very impressed with the museum and has subsequently made other trips.
“I think it’s a great museum that exhibits a great and rich collection of American art in a chronological manner and in one location,” he said. “The other thing that impressed me was the beautiful architectural design. It blends in with the environment. It’s a modern architectural design; the inside is very inviting.”
“Besides,” Halaby added, “This museum affords folks who live in the American heartland the opportunity to view great art that delights and instructs. My highest praise for Alice Walton’s efforts to bring culture to rural America.”
The name of the museum Crystal Bridges comes from the name Crystal Creek, which runs through the land on which the museum rests. When they built the museum, they dammed the creek and created two pools on which the major structures rest. The museum’s architecture gives it the appearance of bridges. Halaby says that from a distance the impression he gets of the museum is of giant turtles perched in a creek.
“For me there is something symbolic about that,” he said. “A turtle carries all of its vitals on the inside and so you have this beautiful structure with a lot of beautiful artwork in the interior space.”
While studying Art History, Halaby took two courses on museum studies and he said his interest in museums comes from a professional perspective.
“Once a year the International Inclusive Museum organization brings together museum staff, scholars, artists, art educators, UNESCO officials and government officials from across the globe to present new research findings that deal with all aspects pertaining to museums, large or small,” he said. “You wouldn’t believe the wide range of papers that will be presented.”
Halaby said that after a brief introductory narrative on the Waltons, Walmart, the structure and the museum’s collection, the concentration of his presentation will be on the caustic criticism that the museum received by “ethnocentric, effete and downright pompous” critics.
While at the conference, Halaby will attend two receptions, a tour of the Statens Museum for Kunst and a tour of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art in Copenhagen. Coincidentally, scholars have indicated that the latter Danish museum’s design influenced Moshe Safdie, the architect of Crystal Bridges. Halaby also plans to visit Tivoli Gardens, the second oldest amusement park in the world. He also said that while he is there, he plans to “immerse himself in Danish culture.”
Samuel Cushman 