Crystal Bridges and the Momentary Unveil Fall Lineup of Exhibitions and Immersive Experiences
Amy Vitale, GIANT PANDA (2015). Photograph by Amy Vitale. Wolong Nature Reserve, Sichuan Province, China, 2015.
Ye Ye, a 16-year-old giant panda, appeared silently out of the mist and took the stage in front of her. She slipped her camera through the fence and clicked the shutter. Before she knew it, Ye Ye lumbered off. “The camera and lens do not make the photo," says Vitale. "The photographer does. While we may desire to have all the latest and greatest gadgets, for me, the most important thing is simplicity and empathy. Empathy is the wellspring of creativity."
Time Loop by Klip Collective: A Forest Light Experience
Derek Fordjour, Open Swim, 2021. Acrylic, charcoal, cardboard, oil pastel, and oil on newspaper mounted on canvas. 70 in. x 108 in. Courtesy Rennie Collection, Vancouver. Photo: Daniel Greer, courtesy David Kordansky Gallery.
Download high-resolution images.
BENTONVILLE, Ark. — Today, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary announced its complete list of fall exhibitions and art experiences, which invite visitors to experience a season of change, creativity, and discovery through experiences that blend art, nature, and culture. Returning for a second season, Time Loop by Klip Collective: A Forest Light Experience will transform Crystal Bridges’ North Forest into a mesmerizing journey through space and time. Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture will open at Crystal Bridges in September, presenting art that connects powerful stories of sports to everyday life.
The Momentary continues its photography-focused exhibitions with The Greatest Wildlife Photographs, which will open in November. The exhibition features National Geographic’s most iconic images that showcase rare, authentic moments in the animal kingdom. In addition, The Machine Behind the Art: Inside JR’s Printing Press continues to be on view this fall. After taking portraits in one of three individual photo booths, visitors enter the interior of an oversized, whirring printing press – turning their image into a tangible work of art while offering a glimpse into the creative process of JR.
Crystal Bridges recently marked a significant milestone in its expansion with the public opening of its first newly-transformed gallery, Foundations of American Art. The gallery is located in the former Contemporary space and features works many visitors may remember from the Early American collection, like Georgia O’Keeffe’s Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1. The installation highlights artists and stories from the 18th to early 20th centuries, connecting the past with the present.
CRYSTAL BRIDGES
Time Loop by Klip Collective: A Forest Light Experience | September 3, 2025 – January 4, 2026
On September 3, 2025, Time Loop by Klip Collective: A Forest Light Experience returns to Crystal Bridges’ North Forest. Inspired by the museum’s natural surroundings, this immersive installation blends light and sound to reflect the passage of time and changing environment. Visitors are invited to explore a uniquely crafted experience.
Designed exclusively for Crystal Bridges’ outdoor setting, the site-responsive installation marks the second season of Time Loop. Klip Collective, the studio behind the work, has reimagined the forest as a canvas for time-based art, merging technology with nature’s own rhythms to craft a journey that is both personal and communal.
Through six large-scale installations, guests will witness the earth’s patterns illuminated in motion, encounter fractured reflections with a broken time machine, and marvel together as light dances through the trees.
Additionally, starting October 15, 2025, visitors can experience the North Forest Winter Cottages. The cottages offer a cozy, private retreat perfect for date nights or festive gatherings. Guests can enjoy VIP access to Time Loop, along with panoramic views of the illuminated North Forest, seasonal drinks, and gourmet shareables. Cottages are available every evening Time Loop is open with tickets priced at $89 plus tax per person.
Time Loop is on view in the North Forest at Crystal Bridges Wednesdays through Sundays from September 3, 2025, through January 4, 2026. Tickets to the experience are timed and cost $25 for adults and $15 for youth (11-18 years old). Tickets for Crystal Bridges members are $20 for adults, $12 for youth. Children 10 and under are free. Tickets can be purchased on the museum’s website. For more information on the experience and related programming, please visit the Time Loop webpage.
Time Loop by Klip Collective: A Forest Light Experience is sponsored by Willard & Pat Walker Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture | September 13, 2025 – January 26, 2026
From September 13, 2025, to January 26, 2026, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presents Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture, an exhibition of art and design that explores sports in all their glory, highlighting the ways the brilliance, discipline, power, and sacrifice of athletes have inspired artistic and technological innovation. Organized by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Get in the Game showcases paintings, sculptures, photographs, sports equipment and apparel, videos, and interactive installations by some of today’s most important artists.
Sports hold a powerful place in our communities and society because athletes are not just performers, but often bold agents of change. Many artists and designers work to express this influence. Through a series of more than 150 thought-provoking pieces, Get in the Game invites visitors to experience moments of joy, connection, and personal resonance, encouraging reflection on well-being, mindful action, physical activity, and mental health awareness. Celebrating the rich creative expression shared by artists and athletes alike, the exhibition ultimately calls on guests to “get in the game” and discover interconnections between sports, art, and contemporary culture.
Tickets to Get in the Game are $15 for adults. Museum members, SNAP participants, Veterans, and youth 18 and under are free. Exhibition tickets can be purchased on the museum’s website.
Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture is organized by San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition is curated by Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design SFMOMA; Seph Rodney, independent curator and writer; and Katy Siegel, Curator-at-Large, Research & Special Program Initiatives, SFMOMA. The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presentation is curated by Austen Barron Bailly, Chief Curator, and Laura Pratt, Manager, Curatorial Affairs.
The exhibition’s National Tour Sponsor is Bank of America. Additional support is provided by The Coca-Cola Company, Shelby and Frederick Gans, Scholastic, Stout Executive, Blakeman’s Fine Jewelry, Willie and Brenda Godwin, Donna and Mack McLarty, Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Sue and Charles Redfield, Marshall and Beth Saviers, Jim Smith and Rebecca Hurst | Smith Hurst, PLC, Jim and Susan von Gremp, Tony Waller, Deborah Wright, and Jennifer and Hunter Yuracheck.
Foundations of American Art Gallery | Permanent Gallery Installation
Crystal Bridges reached a major milestone in its expansion with the public opening of the Foundations of American Art Gallery, the first newly-transformed gallery. The installation highlights artists and stories from the 18th to early 20th centuries, connecting the past with the present.
Designed to spark curiosity and conversation, the updated space follows a loose timeline, moving from Modern art to early American works, including works by women, Craft, and Indigenous artists. The experience is enhanced through interactive elements like large-scale graphics, touchable objects, digital features, library books in English and Spanish, immersive soundscapes, impressive frames, and newly displayed rare books from the Crystal Bridges Library collection. Outside, a new garden courtyard inspired by the landscapes of Martin Johnson Heade invites reflection and discovery, featuring a vibrant mix of tropical and native plants alongside sculpture.
As part of the Crystal Bridges collection, Foundations of American Art is free to all during Crystal Bridges’ regular museum hours. No ticket is required.
THE MOMENTARY
The Greatest Wildlife Photographs | November 22, 2025 – June 7, 2026
The Momentary visitors will witness some of the most surprising animal behavior in the new National Geographic exhibition, The Greatest Wildlife Photographs. The very best wildlife pictures from the pages of National Geographic Magazine have been chosen to be displayed in this exhibition. Curated by renowned nature picture editor, Kathy Moran, this exhibition is a celebratory look at wildlife with images taken by National Geographic’s most iconic photographers such as, Michael “Nick” Nichols, Steve Winter, Paul Nicklen, Beverly Joubert, David Doubilet and more. Showcasing the evolution of photography, the images convey how innovations such as camera traps, remote imaging, and underwater technology have granted photographers access to wildlife in their natural habitat. The Greatest Wildlife Photographs will remain open at the Momentary through June 7, 2026.
For 115 years, National Geographic has pioneered and championed the art of wildlife photography, and captivated generations of engaged audiences with a steady stream of extraordinary images of animals in nature. From the very first such image to appear – a white-tailed deer in 1903 – National Geographic Society’s publications have broken new ground and push the bar higher again and again, establishing an unmatched legacy of artistic, scientific, and technical achievement. These are the Greatest Wildlife Photographs.
The Greatest Wildlife Photographs is organized and traveled by the National Geographic Society.
The Machine Behind the Art: Inside JR’s Printing Press | May 24, 2025 – June 7, 2026
The Machine Behind the Art: Inside JR’s Printing Press is on display at the Momentary through June of 2026. The Machine Behind the Art is one of JR’s most extensive immersive and experiential works to date. After taking portraits in one of three individual photo booths, visitors enter the interior of an oversized, whirring printing press – turning their image into a tangible work of art while offering a glimpse into the creative process of JR. After the experience, visitors leave with their own, one-of-a-kind print.
Timed portrait tickets are $20 and include admission for up to three people, one oversized photo portrait, and digital copies of the photo. If visitors do not plan to take a portrait during their visit, no purchase is required to attend. Guests can reserve their timeslots online or with the Box Office at (479) 657-2335. The Machine Behind the Art is free for Momentary members, who receive two free photo prints per visit.
The Momentary’s 2025 exhibitions are supported in part by The Coca-Cola Company, Sue and Charles Redfield, and Deborah Wright.
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About the National Geographic Society
The National Geographic Society is a global nonprofit organization that uses the power of science, exploration, education, and storytelling to illuminate and protect the wonders of our world. Since 1888, National Geographic has pushed the boundaries of exploration, investing in bold people and transformative ideas, providing more than 15,000 grants for work across all seven continents, reaching 3 million students each year through education offerings, and engaging audiences around the globe through signature experiences, stories and content. To learn more, visit www.nationalgeographic.org or follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook (@InsideNatGeo).
About Klip Collective
Klip Collective uses a unique synthesis of projection mapping, lighting, and sound design to create site-specific, immersive sensory experiences.
Klip formed in 2003 seeing the potential in projection mapping as a means to animate our mundane built environments with large-scale random acts of art and shared public performances, drawing inspiration from the Street art, Situationist and Surrealist movements. Klip became an experiential partner sought by many brands, agencies and cultural institutions; most notably for the invention, innovation and early adaptation of projection mapping. After a decade of practice, Klip focused on creating longform, multi-installation, meditative, articulated light, video and sound art experiences.
Led by self-taught artist and projection pioneer Ricardo Rivera, Klip is an adhocracy of creative professionals. Our collective includes digital artists, sound designers, composers, creative producers, fabricators and technologists creating together under a unified vision to produce a multi-tiered immersive experience. Klip’s studio fosters artistic experimentation, technological innovation and collaboration to keep the collective exploring new ideas, evolving light as an art form, and building creative partnerships.
About the Momentary
Opened in February of 2020 in Downtown Bentonville, the Momentary is a venue for the music, art, and food of our time; and a catalyst for creativity and economic vitality. An extension to Crystal Bridges, the Momentary is ‘a living room’ where community gathers to be inspired, connected, and joyful. The Momentary was founded by the Walton family, based on the vision of Tom, Olivia, and Steuart Walton. Its commitment to cultivating arts and cultural experiences provides more opportunities for education, engagement, and enjoyment in our region. The Momentary is an extension of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, founded by Alice Walton. The Momentary welcomes all with free general admission. Additional offerings include live music, visual and performing arts, an artist-in-residence program, culinary experiences such as Onyx Coffee Lab and the sky-high Tower Bar, indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, an outdoor festival space, and a retail shop. For more information, visit theMomentary.org. The Momentary is located at 507 SE E Street, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712. The Momentary’s Founding Funders are Walton Family Foundation, Walmart, RØDE Microphones, The Coca-Cola Company, Tyson Family Foundation, and Willard and Pat Walker Charitable Foundation.
About Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Since opening in 2011, the museum has welcomed more than 14 million visitors across its spaces, with no cost for admission. Crystal Bridges was founded in 2005 as a non-profit charitable organization by arts patron and philanthropist, Alice Walton. The collection spans five centuries of American masterworks from early American to current day and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions. The museum is nestled on 134 acres of Ozark landscape and was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. A rare Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house was preserved and relocated to the museum grounds in 2015. Home of the prestigious Don Tyson Prize for the Advancement of American Art and Tyson Scholars of American Art Program, Crystal Bridges offers public programs including lectures, performances, classes, and teacher development opportunities. Some 478,375 school children have participated in the Willard and Pat Walker School Visit program, which provides educational experiences for school groups at no cost to the schools. Additional museum amenities include a restaurant, gift store, library, and five miles of art and walking trails. In February 2020, the museum opened the Momentary in Downtown Bentonville (507 SE E Street), conceived as a platform for the art, food, and music of our time. In 2026, Crystal Bridges will complete a 114,000 square foot expansion that will allow the museum to expand access for all. For more information, visit CrystalBridges.org. The museum is located at 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712.
Media Contact
media@crystalbridges.org