BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) — The nation's most important new art museum in a generation is opening this week in an unlikely place: a wooded ravine in a small city in northwest Arkansas.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art was created using pieces acquired by Wal-Mart heir Alice Walton, who wanted to build something important in her hometown of Bentonville.
The art treasures span most of American history and offer the type of exhibits more commonly found in New York or Los Angeles. But this hall of paintings is taking shape in a community of 35,000 people best known as home of Wal-Mart headquarters.
The collection includes an iconic portrait of George Washington, romantic landscapes from the 19th century and the Norman Rockwell classic "Rosie the Riveter."
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