ArkAnsAs MuseuM

OnApril 22, 2023, the doors will open to the $155 million Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, an expansion of the former Arkansas Arts Center that adds gallery space and “cultural living room” for socializing and special events, and updates the theaters, museum school and restaurant.

The building, under construction since 2019, was designed by the internationally known Chicago architectural firm Studio Gang. Its remit was to welcome the community with a new Ninth Street-facing entrance and enhanced landscaping of the site in MacArthur Park. The Silver LEED-certified, 133,000-square-foot building improves the flow of the old, segmented Arts Center by creating a sinuous central passageway lit by high clerestory windows. The main design attractions include the chevron entryway roof over the original 1937 art nouveau façade and a folded roofline — the “flower” — over the central passageway. The south entrance includes an open-air terrace and gardens. Studio Gang’s design for AMFA was hailed by ICON architecture magazine in 2021.

AMFA has set a diverse lineup, both in medium and artist, for its inaugural exhibitions: The lead show “Together” will celebrate “connectedness to each other and the natural world,” AMFA says, with collages by Elias Sime, photographs by

Ryan Redcorn, new works by Arkansas native LaToya Hobbs and more. Pieces from the permanent collection, including impressionist paintings, will be on view in the Harriett and Warren Stephens galleries. Works on paper by Anne Lindberg and an installation by Natasha Bowden were commissioned for the inaugural, and animated video by Beijing-based artist Sun Xun in the new Media Gallery and a special show of sculptural drawings by Chakaia Booker will celebrate the opening.

AMFA Director Victoria Ramirez, who took the helm of the museum shortly after work began on the art centers’ renovation, told the Arkansas Times’ Stephanie Smittle that AMFA will complement the acclaimed Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville with a collection that includes more than American art. “Our collection is global, and we look to tell multicultural and global stories with our collections. I also think we have areas of strength in craft and in works on paper, and that includes