Four-day festival to include meditations, workshops, culinary experiences; panel discussions with Arianna Huffington, Jewel, Tonya Lewis Lee, Alice Walton

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BENTONVILLE, Ark. — From May 2 through May 5, Crystal Bridges and the Momentary will host a new Wellness Festival to uplift art, nature, food, and community in a celebration of well-being. Set during the opening of The Portal: An Art Experience by Jewel and featuring a variety of free and ticketed talks, workshops, culinary experiences, and family-friendly engagements by community partners, the festival will showcase the profound connections between creative expression and personal health.  

The four-day experience will kick off on May 2 with a panel discussion featuring Crystal Bridges Board Chair Olivia Walton and producer, filmmaker, and advocate Tonya Lewis Lee in conversation on women and maternal health in Arkansas. Opening remarks will be provided by Grammy-nominated singer and artist Jewel, who will be in Bentonville as Crystal Bridges launches The Portal. Thursday’s conversation will be followed by an immersive sound healing experience led by singer and sound healing artist Davin Youngs.  

A day of wellness will take place at the Momentary on Friday, May 3, including myriad panels, author talks, workshops, and farm-to-table demos with James Beard Award-nominated Chef Matthew Cooper of Conifer Bentonville. On May 4, The Portal opens to the public at Crystal Bridges. The one-of-a-kind experience is fully curated by Jewel – a mental health pioneer – and will feature a 200-piece aerial drone show choreographed and scored by the artist, a meditative art walk, never-before-seen artworks by Jewel, and chef-crafted dining options as part of a complete experience for the body, mind, and spirit.  

The final day of the Wellness Festival – Sunday, May 5 – will be a free community day with wellness-focused gallery activities, partnering organizations, and workshops at Crystal Bridges. At 4 PM, Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of Thrive Global, and Alice Walton, philanthropist and founder of Crystal Bridges and the groundbreaking Heartland Whole Health Institute and Alice L. Walton School of Medicine, will discuss the intersection of art, medicine, health and well-being.  

To learn more about the inaugural Wellness Festival or reserve tickets, visit: https://crystalbridges.org/series/wellness-festival/.   

WELLNESS FESTIVAL FULL SCHEDULE 

WHAT: Four days of programming that uplift art, nature, food, and community in a celebration of well-being. 

WHEN: Thursday through Sunday, May 2-5, 2024  

Thursday, May 2 | Crystal Bridges 

• 5:30 PM | Wellness Festival Welcome Remarks by Jewel  
• 6:00 PM | Opening Conversation: Advocating for Women and Maternal Health with Tonya Lewis Lee and Olivia Walton 
• 7:00 PM | Cocktail Hour in Eleven 
• 8:00 PM | Immersive Sound Experience featuring Sound Healing Artist Davin Youngs 

Friday, May 3 | The Momentary 

• 9:30 AM | Welcome and Conversation with Art and Wellness Enterprises 
• 10:00 AM | “Your Brain on Art” Author Talk and Book Signing with Susan Magsamen 
• 11:15 AM | Jewel’s Innerworld: A Conversation on Scaling Access to Mental Health with CEO Noah Robinson 
• 12:00 PM | Farm to Table Lunch Experience with James Beard Award-nominated Chef Matthew Cooper (Conifer) 
• 2:15 PM | Food Demos with Chef Matthew Cooper 
• 4:00 PM | Downtown Bentonville Inc. First Friday with CB to You Mobile Art Lab 

Saturday, May 4 | Crystal Bridges 

• 8 AM and 10AM | Sunny Days Presents Meditation & Sound with Avery Whitmore 
• 7:30 PM | The Portal: An Art Experience by Jewel Opens at Crystal Bridges 

Sunday, May 5 | Crystal Bridges 

• ALL DAY | Free community wellness day with wellness-focused gallery activities, partnering organizations, and workshops  
• 4:00 PM | Closing Conversations: Alice Walton and Arianna Huffington 

WHERE: Crystal Bridges and the Momentary | 600 Museum Way | 507 SE E Street | Bentonville 

WHY: An opportunity to celebrate well-being.  

HOW: To learn more about the inaugural Wellness Festival or to reserve tickets, visit: https://crystalbridges.org/series/wellness-festival/.    

The Wellness Festival is sponsored by The Coca-Cola Company, Stout Executive Search, Black Hills Energy, Cynthia and Forrest Miller, and Jim Smith and Rebecca Hurst | Smith Hurst, PLC. 

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About the Momentary 

Opened in February of 2020 in Downtown Bentonville, the Momentary is a platform for the music, art, and food of our time. It is a catalyst for creativity and economic vitality, and a welcoming hub that gathers and celebrates local heroes and international stars. 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 12.2 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. Thecollection spans five centuries of American masterworks from early American to current day and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions. The museum is nestled on 120 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. Crystal Bridges offers public programs including lectures, performances, classes, and teacher development opportunities. Some 418,375 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 nearly 100,000 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. 

About Jewel  

Jewel is a 4x Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, visual artist, actress, New York Times best-selling author, and mental health pioneer. Best-known for her musical talents, Jewel’s passion and training in sculpture, drawing, and painting began before her songwriting career. Over the years, she has continued creating, working with paint and clay. In spring 2024, Jewel will make her debut in the art world at Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, Arkansas with ‘The Portal: An Art Experience by Jewel’, featuring her own painting and sculpture. Throughout her art, Jewel combines her passions for storytelling, experimentation and democratizing mental health. For the past 21 years, Jewel’s Inspiring Children Foundation and Jewel Inc. have brought specially-designed mental health programs to at-risk youth and to leading corporations. Jewel created SELLA, a language arts curriculum for schools integrating social and emotional learning and mental health practices, and recently co-founded Innerworld, an innovative virtual mental health platform. Jewel’s remarkable journey has taken her from a childhood with no running water on an Alaskan homestead to becoming a multi-platinum recording artist and mental health advocate. She has released 13 studio albums, including her latest release Freewheelin’ Woman, and will embark on a national co-headlining tour with Melissa Etheridge this summer. 

Media contact: media@crystalbridges.org.