By Arkansas Black Vitality Staff

BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Feb. 25, 2026 – As Crystal Bridge Museum gets ready for the summer opening of its multimillion-dollar expansion, the museum’s long-standing chief curator is moving to a new role while the state’s largest art gallery adjusts its leadership structure.

On Wednesday (Feb. 25), Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and the Momentary announced the promotion of current Chief Curator Austen Barron Bailly to deputy director of curatorial affairs. In her new role, Bailly will continue supporting the institution as it broadens access through a complete gallery transformation and a significant expansion set to open on June 6 and 7, 2026.

“It is an honor to step into this expanded role at such a transformative moment for Crystal Bridges and the Momentary, as we are preparing to unveil our full collection reinstallation and major expansion,” said Bailly. “I’m energized by this new leadership position, our talented teams, and the opportunities to extend our curatorial vision, cultivate meaningful connections and learning, and ensure that art remains accessible, relevant, and inspiring for everyone.”

Since 2019, in her role as chief curator, Bailly has provided strategic vision and executive leadership for all art functions of the museum, including acquisitions, collection development and care, exhibitions and installations, interpretation, publications, and partnerships. In her new role as deputy director of curatorial affairs, Bailly will continue to guide curatorial strategy while expanding her leadership across departments, including oversight of the Crystal Bridges Library and Archives and the research and scholarship program.

She will also help shape and implement the museum’s strategic goals, mentor leaders across departments, and promote a culture of creativity, collaboration, and excellence. Crystal Bridges has begun a nationwide search for its next chief curator. During this transition, Bailly will continue to serve as chief curator while assuming her new responsibilities.

“Since joining us in 2019, Austen has brought exceptional vision, scholarship, and collaborative leadership to the museum,” said Rod Bigelow, the museum’s executive director. “As chief curator, she has led with distinction, overseeing acquisitions, exhibitions, installations, collections, important partnerships, and publications. We look forward to Austen taking on this new role, and her deep commitment to American art and community will help shape Crystal Bridges and the Momentary’s impact regionally and nationally.”

Bailly’s curatorial career spans more than 25 years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Peabody Essex Museum. She has curated, authored, and edited numerous American art exhibitions and publications, including the award-winning American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood and Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle.

Bailly’s new role comes a year after the Crystal Museum hired a new chief marketing, communications, and development officer to support the gallery as it expands access and gains momentum ahead of the 2026 grand re-opening. Ana Echegoyen, who started working at the museum about a year ago, now leads the brand strategy and communications for the institution, which includes a full range of marketing, public relations, content, creative, and digital strategy responsibilities. Echegoyen has more than 15 years of global experience in strategic marketing, digital integration, and audience engagement.

She has also held leadership roles at Tracy Locke and Saatchi & Saatchi X, where she drove strategic planning initiatives for clients such as Kellogg’s, SC Johnson, Coca-Cola, and Procter & Gamble across North America, Latin America, and Europe.

Dr. Meredith Brunen also started leading strategic fundraising efforts at Crystal Bridges and the Momentary just over a year ago. Previously, she was Vice President for Advancement at Hendrix College, where she played a key role in boosting fundraising and engaging constituents. Her past roles include fundraising for the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock and serving as vice president for university advancement at the University of West Georgia (UWG) in Carrollton, Ga., where she guided the institution to its most successful fundraising year ever.

Four years ago, Crystal Museum announced its multi-million-dollar expansion, which officials said aimed to revolutionize the art museum experience. On June 6 and 7, 2026, Crystal Bridges will celebrate its 15th anniversary with expanded access to five centuries of American Art by adding another 114,000 square feet of new space. That expansion, officials said, will showcase a transformed way for visitors to interact with every part of the building—facilitating surprise and delight, joyful learning, and ever-broadening American stories. 

Founded by Walmart family heir and philanthropist Alice Walton, Crystal Bridges is located on a 134-acre campus that also includes the Heartland Whole Health Institute and the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine. The museum is set within 134 acres of Ozark landscape and was designed by the world-renowned Safdie Architects.  A rare house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was preserved and moved to the museum grounds in 2015.

Today, Crystal Bridges offers public programs including lectures, performances, classes, and teacher development opportunities; it is also the home of the prestigious Don Tyson Prize for the Advancement of American Art and the Tyson Scholars of American Art Program. Approximately 558,375 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.

Since opening in 2011, the museum has welcomed more than 15 million visitors across its spaces, with no admission charge. Founded in 2005 as a public 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable organization by Alice Walton, the gallery’s collection spans five centuries of American masterworks from early American to current day and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions.  

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, a smaller, less formal venue for the music, art, and food.

Additional amenities include a restaurant, gift shop, library, and five miles of art and walking trails. In February 2020, the museum opened the Momentary in downtown Bentonville, a smaller venue for music, art, and food, and a living room where the community gathers to be inspired, connected, and joyful,” officials say. An extension of Crystal Bridges, the Momentary was founded by the Walton family, based on the vision of Tom, Olivia, and Steuart Walton.

The Momentary offerings include live music by national and regional artists, visual and performing arts, an artist-in-residence program, culinary experiences such as dinners with national and local chefs, Onyx Coffee Lab, and the sky-high Tower Bar. It also features indoor and outdoor gathering spaces, an outdoor festival area, and a retail shop.

Acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns to appear at museum’s Building Bridges interview series

Separately, Crystal Bridges officials announced earlier this month that the next installment of its Building Bridges interview with showcase documentary filmmaker Ken Burns in mid-April. 

Entitled Building Bridges: An Evening with Ken Burns, the  event will feature the acclaimed filmmaker as he shares his latest documentary, “The American Revolution.” In conversation with Crystal Bridges Board Chair Olivia Walton, Burns will explore how America’s founding ideals continue to shape conversations about democracy and governance today. 

Hosted by the younger Walton, Building Bridges brings together thought leaders, thinkers, and artists to model civic dialogue. As part of Crystal Bridges’ year-long celebration of America at 250, Building Bridges honors the American spirit of meeting in the middle—with curiosity, courage, and care. From Crystal Bridges’ home in Bentonville, Arkansas, the museum invites its neighbors and the nation to gather at its bridge, a place that connects what’s divided and can carry us forward together. The inaugural Building Bridges program in December 2025 featured a conversation with President Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United States.   

The Ken Burns event and interview will be held at Heartland Whole Health Institute on the Crystal Bridges Campus on Friday, April 17, at 6 p.m. At a time of deep political polarization, this program invites a renewed civic dialogue rooted in the principles of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the enduring pursuit of a more perfect union.It will include brief clips from the documentary and conclude with the conversation.   

Tickets for the event are already sold out to Crystal Bridges members, who receive advance notification and early access to ticketed events like the Building Bridges series. The event will be recorded by Arkansas TV and made available online after the program.