Travelers can head ‘Home and Away’ in new art gallery at XNA

HIGHFILL — Passengers flood the busy terminal, rushing to reach their luggage, loved ones or next destination when a flight lands at Northwest Arkansas National Airport.

Leadership at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art hopes to remind travelers to pause and witness the beauty that surrounds them, even in transit.

The airport and museum held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday to celebrate the opening of the museum’s new satellite gallery.

The gallery, which sits in the airport’s terminal near the B gates and across from the Escape Lounge, is titled “Home and Away.” The art within explores themes of place and discovery.

Austen Bailly, chief curator at Crystal Bridges, said the project aims to provide more people access to American art as they travel.

“We welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature, and this is the gateway to all of that,” Bailly said. “Our mission is access. We want to find access to the greatest American art.”

One of the pieces on display is David Bates’ “Catalpa I,” a charcoal and watercolor rendition of the flowering catalpa tree. Like other works in the gallery, it has been kept in museum storage and is on display to the public for the first time.

Many of the paper-based works are light-sensitive and cannot be on display for long periods of time without fading, meaning it is a challenge to display them at Crystal Bridges’ main campus. To preserve the art, the gallery will rotate every six months for the next two years. Each rotation will focus on a new theme and include new art.

One of the largest pieces currently on display in the gallery is a photo from Cuban-American artist Abelardo Morell depicting the mountains and lakes of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The photo employs Morell’s signature technique: a tent camera, which uses a tent and a periscope-type lens so that landscapes can be projected onto the ground inside of the darkened tent, according to Morell.

This technique results in large landscapes being laid over images of grass, rocks or sand. Josie Johnson, the assistant curator of modern art for Crystal Bridges, said this piece was one of her favorites on display because of the story it tells.

“It’s really profound to me because it’s giving that idea that there’s that grand view, and then there’s the little things right around us,” Johnson said. “Blades of grass that we are trampling to whatever else we might not appreciate. Nature is all around, and it is beautiful and it is wonderful.”

The next three sets of art are expected to hone in on urban spaces; artists whose works are deeply connected to a particular place; and finally, self portraits.

Blake Woolsey, a member of the airport’s Board of Directors, said she wanted the airport to give travelers a sense of what the region offers as soon as their planes land. Whenever her friends from around the world land in Northwest Arkansas, one of the first attractions they want to visit is Crystal Bridges.

The renovation and expansion of the airport gave developers a blank canvas to work with, she said.

“In my travels, there is nothing I love more than going into an airport and really getting a sense of place,” Woolsey said. “As we began to think about the renovation of this space, particularly because of growth, we began to think of our sense of place. As we started thinking about, ‘What could people experience?’ I thought they needed to be able to experience a little bit of Crystal Bridges.”

The gallery in the airport will be open now through September 2027, and admission is free.

Johnson said she would love to see the gallery become a permanent fixture at XNA, but with ongoing renovations at the airport, nothing is certain.

“I think this is a really fantastic opportunity,” she said.

For those who do not plan to fly, but still hope to see the gallery, the airport offers free guest passes that can be picked up at a kiosk in the lobby using a REAL ID or passport. Each person is eligible for one pass every 24 hours. Visitors to the gallery do have to pass through security, according to the airport’s website.

Johnson said she hopes people visit the gallery and find their own unique connection with the art the curators chose.

“Something in there will resonate with you,” she said. “It’ll either inspire you as you head out on your travels or remind you to enjoy and not take for granted this beautiful place that we call home.”