By Charlie LaMountainOver fall break, a few students from the St. Mary’s crew took a road trip to the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.  From left to right: Kate Prilliman (9), Lily Becker (9), Charlie LaMountain (9), Reece Suddarth (9), Abigail Apple (12), Lily Cloud (11), Mr. Nichols (High School Chemistry teacher) The St. Mary’s trip to Crystal Bridges was a weekend outing to Arkansas to see a one-of-a-kind art museum. The group of students who went on the trip consisted of four freshmen, a junior, and a senior, and they were led by science teacher and Global Education Director Mr. Nichols and art history teacher Mrs. Prillaman.
The six students and two teachers kicked the trip off by driving a straight five hours from Memphis to Arkansas in the school’s brand new shuttle bus. A brief but harsh rain storm at the beginning was no roadblock to the group. Saturday was a day of solid museum touring, spent walking the well-kept grounds and wandering the halls of paintings and sculptures; they also visited beautiful exhibits such as Yayoi Kusama’s infinity mirror room and a brand new “Crystals through History” exhibit. Kusama’s mesmerizing rooms of mirrors and brightly colored lanterns were among the highlights of the museum. The Japenese artist is world-renowned for these rooms, displaying her work at the likes of The Broad Art Museum in Los Angeles and WNDR Museum in Chicago, as well as museums in Tokyo, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Lily Cloud (11) said, “It was like experiencing art in an entirely new light. I actually really wanted to be there, and I enjoyed every moment at the museum and on the trip with my teachers and friends.” This feeling expressed by Cloud and the other students is partly due to the museum’s unique architecture. Crystal Bridges was built on an artificial pond with constantly flowing water; the building itself has entire walls of glass that give the whole place an ethereal feeling. For many, it wasn’t just experiencing the art that made the trip so special. This random arrangement of upper and lower classmen had a great time together. Senior Abigail Apple said, “My favorite part of the trip was getting to know a group of really cool people through art that I otherwise may have never gotten to know … and of course the mirror room was unbelievably beautiful.” The students headed home early Sunday morning, and the drive was an especially quiet one. Everyone seemed to dwell on their memories of the museum, or maybe sleepiness had just overtaken the group.
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