Why Aesthetes Should Consider a Trip to Bentonville, Arkansas, and the Ozarks

Two decades ago, Bentonville, Arkansas, was not a tourist destination. The sleepy town in the Ozark Mountains was primarily known as a hub for Walmart—and a rest stop for those seeking out the rugged nature provided in this hamlet of America. The Ozarks—a swath of the mid-South that sits right below the Mason-Dixon line—comprises the southern region of Missouri, the northern corridor of Arkansas, and a tinge of Illinois, Oklahoma, and even Kansas. But it’s northwest Arkansas that’s bursting at the seams.

A 2017 study conducted by Randy Cohen with Americans for the Arts concluded that the arts and culture industry in the region generated $131.2 million in economic activity in 2015, an impressive increase from the $45 million in activity just five years earlier.

Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the Northwest Arkansas Council, tells AD, “We have nearly doubled in population over the past 20 years, and Bentonville was the fastest growing city in the state last year. The latest census data shows northwest Arkansas as the 14th-fastest-growing region in the nation.”

Three Fortune 500 companies—Walmart, Tyson Foods, and J.B. Hunt—are the largest employers in the area and have continued to make vast contributions to northwest Arkansas’s growth. Peacock says that 60 percent of the fastest-growing industries employ mostly high-wage professionals, and nearly 50 percent of job growth has come in the form of high-wage, professional careers. In fact, 60 percent of the people living in northwest Arkansas were not born in the region. And he’s one of them. “Many professionals are drawn here because of the availability of high-paying jobs, low cost of living, and access to world-class cultural and culinary options. When I moved my family here from the San Francisco Bay area, which we loved, I did it because of affordability and the availability of an easier way of life. My two daughters, five and seven, have already seen more live musicals than I did by the time I turned 30. And, if we need our big-city fix, the regional airport has direct flights to cities like Los Angeles, New York, and many others.”

Much of the attention can be attributed to the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art, bankrolled by Walmart heiress Alice Walton, a stalwart member of the community, who’s helping to make her hometown of Bentonville a world-class tourist destination.

And while Bentonville has delivered as a cultural hub in middle America, it’s also managed to stay humble—marrying a big-city feel with down-home roots. You’ll find stylish boutiques, a handful of tony hotels, and a museum that anchors the corridor; combine that with a charming drawl and plenty of Southern cooking—often punctuated with a sophisticated flair—and you have the new Bentonville, Arkansas. Here, our design lovers' guide.

First, the Art

One can’t mention Bentonville without gushing about Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art—it’s what the Louvre is to Paris or the Met is to New York City. Walton hired architect Moshe Safdie to design the museum, a building with a series of gently curving pavilions, nestled around two spring-fed ponds that house galleries. A permanent collection includes American art masterworks from John Singer Sargent, Norman Rockwell, James Turrell and Andy Warhol. But possibly the most unique—and truly Ozark-ish thing (if it were such a thing at all) about the museum is that it’s set among 120 acres of verdant forest in the foothills of the Ozarks. It’s certainly not uncommon to spend a few hours hiking the trails before touring the galleries and visiting the Usonian marvel—a reconstructed Frank Lloyd Wright Bachman-Wilson House that was relocated from the flood-prone Millstone River area in New Jersey to the grounds of Crystal Bridges in 2015.

On display until September 3, "The Beyond: Georgia O’Keeffe and Contemporary Art" builds on the museum’s own collection of O’Keeffe work with more than 30 iconic pieces that span her career, including Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 and Radiator Building—Night, New York, as well as lesser-known works such as the 1972 painting The Beyond, which was one of the last works she could complete unassisted as her eyesight began to fail. O’Keeffe’s art is on display alongside the work of 20 emerging artists. Developed by Crystal Bridges, the exhibition features magnificent flowers, city and desert scenes, feminine forms, and still ifes—all familiar elements of O’Keeffe’s paintings.

A Place to Stay

Book a guestroom at the 21c Museum Hotel Bentonville: a 104-room property boasting a collection solid enough to bill itself as a contemporary art museum. The 12,000-square-foot museum space is free of charge, with weekly docent-led tours of installations and rotating exhibitions—including Labor and Materials that runs through November 2018.

On-site restaurant the Hive has truly set the standard for highlighting the Ozarks’ bounty, which is what Arkansas native and James Beard Award finalist chef Matthew McClure has coined High-South cuisine. BuzzKill, the site-specific instillation, imagined and executed by artist Johnston Foster at the Hive, has transformed the space into a work of art, referencing the fauna and folklore of Bentonville and northwest Arkansas, while exploring the environmental crisis currently facing the honeybee and other species worldwide.

More Marvelous Eats

Tuck into a meal at the Preacher’s Son, set in the former First Christian church in downtown Bentonville. The space was restored by architect Chip Chambers using John Ruskin’s Seven Lamps manifesto with art glass by George Dombek; the restaurant is a splendid structure. Chef Matt Copper, son of a Methodist preacher, partners with the area’s farmers, creameries, and orchards to deliver a terrific menu. (And pssst: The basement is home to Undercroft, an almost-unknown speakeasy.)

Then there’s MOD Restaurant and Social, which stands for Modern Ozark Dining. Here, a multicourse dinner might feature fancied-up local flavors like a pickled beet and egg salad, Ozark poutine, coddled butternut squash barley risotto, or perhaps a Serrano ham and pimento cheese salad.

And a fine dinner can be had at Oven & Tap, where Chez Panisse alum and Arkansas native Luke Wetzel is the chef and co-owner of the handsome space that’s feels like a marriage of Tuscany and Arkansas. The menu is seasonal and local, with a wood-fired oven that turns out perfect pizza. And because it’s Arkansas, you’ll find a fried chicken sandwich and skillet mac and cheese. It’s what you’ve come here to eat, after all.

And While You’re There

At the opposite bookend of the northwest Arkansas corridor lies Fayetteville—just a short drive south from Bentonville, and especially worth a trip for touring Art Ventures, a multistudio gallery. Make time for a spin around painter-sculptor George Dombek’s gallery, too.

And one would be remiss to come to the Ozarks and not cruise over to the Missouri side—it’s a bit less bustling but embodies all that’s treasured about this slice of America. Big Cedar Lodge, nestled between the limestone bluffs of the Ozark woodlands, is worth staying overnight for two reasons: It sits atop the crystal blue-green waters of Table Rock Lake, and the spa is one of the finest in the region. With the rustic-chic vibe that permeates the property, the Cedar Creek Spa at Big Cedar is pure bliss. Every space has been created with nature and luxury in mind—"Ozarks Chic," if it were to be coined. Think cozy furnishings, a fireplace around each corner (each treatment room houses one, as well as outdoor spaces and pools), all with pinch-me views of the beautiful wilderness.

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