Wister GEAR UP students visit Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art

Wister’s eleventh-grade GEAR UP students recently visited Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. Students were greeted by Sarah Foster School and Community Programs Coordinator upon arrival. Students were given a guided tour of the “This is US (United States),” art exhibit. Students viewed works of art and explored their interpretation of each piece of art through discussion. Students spent the remainder of their visit touring the art museum independently. Crystal Bridges gets its name from a nearby natural spring and the bridge construction was incorporated into the building. Wister students found the 30-foot bronze, stainless steel, and marble spider fascinating as they walked under it to visit the museum gift shop. The piece of outdoor art known as Maman is like an umbrella against a storm; Maman shelters the space, looming over us in a protective yet mysterious way. The artist Louise Bourgeois made the sculpture. “Maman” is the French word for “Mommy.” For the artist, the image refers to her mother, whom she has described as her closest friend. Though spiders can inspire fear in some people, Bourgeois thought of the spider as caring, helpful, and hard-working- the way she remembered her mother.

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