Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will unveil its long-awaited expansion this weekend, opening the new addition to the public on June 6 and 7. Designed by Safdie Architects, the 114,000-square-foot project completes the museum’s original circulation plan while significantly expanding its exhibition, education, and community spaces.
The addition establishes a figure-eight layout across two stream-fed ponds and introduces a new north entrance. Moreover, the structure wraps around the surrounding landscape with exposed southern yellow pine, copper cladding, and expansive glass walls overlooking 134 acres of Ozark woodland. Consequently, the architecture strengthens the institution’s longstanding relationship between art and nature.
New Galleries Debut With Landmark Keith Haring Exhibition
The expanded temporary exhibition galleries open with Keith Haring in 3D, the first exhibition devoted exclusively to the three-dimensional work of Keith Haring. Opening on June 6, the exhibition brings together sculptures, masks, totems, paintings, clothing, skateboards, boomboxes, drawings, and a 1963 Buick Special from the collection of Larry Warsh.
The new galleries also enable the museum to host multiple temporary exhibitions simultaneously, a capability previously unavailable.
Meanwhile, the Contemporary American Art Gallery introduces works by leading contemporary artists. Among the highlights are Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room and Manigua (Mirror) by Teresita Fernández. A connecting bridge doubles as a display area for sculpture, pottery, and glass, while the new Quartz + Honey café overlooks the museum’s ponds, trails, and gardens.
Reimagined Collection and Expanded Learning Facilities
Nearly every work of art in the museum was relocated and reinstalled during the transformation. Visitors can now experience close to 600 works selected from the institution’s collection of more than 4,100 objects, with approximately 200 works appearing on view for the first time.
Furthermore, Indigenous art and craft pieces now anchor each gallery, led by Kent Monkman’s Saving the Newcomers. The museum has also commissioned dozens of new works over the past two years.
In addition, the Creative Learning Hub introduces artist-in-residence studios, ceramics facilities, digital art spaces, and community gathering areas. Through July, visitors can also experience America 250: Common Threads, an exhibition spanning from 1776 to the present and featuring Apollo 11 Moon Landing memorabilia, including the American flag carried by Neil Armstrong.
“The inauguration of this second phase marks the culmination of a two-decade collaboration and an evolving dialogue between architect, patron, and institution that has shaped not only a building, but a shared vision for what a museum can be. Beyond broadening its program, the expansion extends and deepens the museum’s connection to nature, embedding new spaces for community, learning, and the display of art within an architectural language shaped by the region’s terrain,” said Moshe Safdie, founding partner of Safdie Architects. “We have been delighted by the public’s response to the integration of art and nature and look forward to visitors experiencing the expanded museum.”