Supporting Equitable Access to Art
Based on the success of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in providing access to art in a rural part of the country, Alice Walton created Art Bridges Foundation in 2017 to increase access to art nationally.
projects
organizations
states
people served
Supporting
Equitable Access
to Art
Based on the success of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in providing access to art in a rural part of the country, Alice Walton created Art Bridges Foundation in 2017 to increase access to art nationally.
886+
projects
232+
organizations
49
states
5.3 Million
people served
Expanding Access to American Art
Art is hope, it’s opportunity, it’s education. It’s all of the things we all want. But if you don’t have access, it can’t influence your life.
Alice
Expanding Access to American Art
Alice Walton established the Art Bridges Foundation in 2017 to expand access to American art across the nation, especially in regions where there is currently limited or no access.
As a child, Alice developed a love for watercolors, painting with her mother on family camping trips. She would also save her allowance to buy prints of famous art at her father’s five-and-dime store. But like so many families in rural communities who didn’t have access to museums, this was the extent of art’s impact on her early life.
Art Bridges’ goal is to get art out of vaults and in front of people across the country. In addition to its own art collection, it also partners with museums with vast collections to share art with institutions throughout the U.S. As Alice notes, “Outstanding artworks are in museum vaults and private collections; let’s make that art available to everyone.”
Art Bridges provides financial and strategic support for exhibitions, loans and collection sharing, as well as for programming, audience engagement and evaluation.
The foundation is also building a collection of great American art and sharing it with regional museums through long-term loans. These loans have activated existing collections and inspired larger institutions to open their vaults and share important works across the country. By connecting institutions of varying sizes and scopes in collaborative partnerships, Art Bridges provides partners with a wealth of opportunities for professional development.
The Art Bridges Foundation is also creating diverse museum leadership through its Fellows Program, which is establishing deep career pathways for historically underrepresented groups in the arts and offering new models for fellowship roles within museums across the country.
