Tysons Give Crystal Bridges $5 Million for Study, Prize

A $5 million endowment from the Tyson family and Tyson Foods Inc. will establish a research and residency program at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, museum officials said Wednesday.

At a news conference in the museum’s Great Hall, executive director Don Bacigalupi said the gift will also fund the Don Tyson Prize, an award of $65,000 to recognize an individual’s lifetime achievement in American art.

John Tyson, chairman of Springdale-based Tyson Foods, said his late father, for whom the prize is named, loved traditional American Western art and amassed a collection housed at the meat processing company’s headquarters.

“My appreciation for art has been nurtured over the years,” he said, “and our donation to Crystal Bridges reflects that love of art.”

The selection process for the first winner of the Don Tyson Prize has begun, a news release from the museum stated.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. heiress Alice Walton, who founded and largely funded the $800 million museum, said Don Tyson was a close friend and mentor to her.

“He was absolutely a brilliant man and a visionary,” she said. “It makes me proud that his love of art will be carried on through this award for art historians for the study and interpretation of American art.”

The Tyson Scholars of American Art program will allow selected museum and academic professionals to pursue onsite research on the history of American art through Crystal Bridges’ permanent collection and library.

Kevin Murphy, the museum’s curator of American art, introduced the first class of Tyson Scholars.

Matthew Bailey, a doctoral candidate in the department of art history and archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis, will continue work on his dissertation.

Jason Weems, an assistant professor of art history at the University of California at Riverside, and Susan Rather, an associate professor of art history at the University of Texas in Austin, will be completing book manuscripts.