About the Exhibition

Looking at Our Landscape is an exhibition of photographs taken by the residents of Benton, Carroll, Madison, and Washington counties in Arkansas. These four counties, often referred to as Northwest Arkansas, are undergoing rapid transformation caused by a number of economic and environmental factors. Regardless of whether change comes as improvements or destruction to land and structures, the need exists to document our changing landscape.

Looking at Our Landscape is a regional response to Heroes of Horticulture, an exhibition featuring 12 celebrated photographers’ documentation of threatened heritage landscapes located throughout the United States. On display at the Massey earlier this year, Heroes of Horticulture was organized by the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in collaboration with The Cultural Landscape Foundation of Washington, D.C.

From this inspiration, residents of Northwest Arkansas community were invited to look at the landscape in this corner of our state and send photographs that illustrate what is important to them – the public and private places worthy of a second look. The photographs tell stories and share memories; each is more than ordinary documentation of a place. Together they offer an identification of our regional character through the subjects and moments presented.

Community Jurors

RuAnn Ewing is an accomplished artist who creates bead and iron sculptures in her Madison County studio on the War Eagle River. She is also an educator who has found applications for the visual arts for people in all walks of life. Together with her husband Ken, Ms. Ewing led the effort to establish the Ozark Natural Science Center. 

Noted for both his pottery and his paintings, Terry Russell owns and operates Blue Moon Studio in Eureka Springs. For many years Russell taught art at Eureka Springs High School, retiring in 2008. Through his dedication to arts education, he received a grant from the Smithsonian Institute to enable his students to study the effigy pots of the ancient Indian tribes of Northwest Arkansas. Currently he is an instructor at Eureka Springs School of the Arts.

Photographer Don House’s images are found in publications as diverse as The Wall Street Journal and Backpacker Magazine, and have been exhibited in numerous solo and group exhibitions around the country. House’s photographs have been featured in two books, Buffalo Creek Chronicles and Not a Good Sign. He also has taught photography and curated exhibitions.

From 1974 – 2005 Dr. Gerald Klingaman taught horticulture at the University of Arkansas, where his research, teaching and extension duties revolved around nursery and greenhouse growing. Now a professor emeritus of horticulture, Dr. Klingaman also writes for newspapers, web-based gardening sites and gardening magazines and speaks to groups around the state and region. Since 2003 he has been an active volunteer at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, where he designed and built most of the Tyson Children's Garden. He currently serves as the Botanical Garden’s director of operations.

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Jurors

Chris Crosman, chief curator; Scott Eccleston, manager of parks and grounds; Ben Edwards, exhibitions coordinator; Kate Loague, head of communities programs; Janelle Redlaczyk, youth and families program coordinator; Manuela Well-Off-Man, assistant curator.