Rain cascaded down the glass walls of the museum, the downpour intensifying while we walked through the galleries.  Outside, all was blurred.  I crave coffee even more than usual when the weather is wet and grey.  And we were not averse to sampling the fare in the museum's restaurant, yclept Eleven.

          The setting was far more distinctive than the cuisine.  The menu was similar to that of other museum cafés, with eccentric combinations of ingredients meant to denote culinary sophistication.  The plates were presented attractively, with regional delicacies like collard greens covered in melted cheese joining the obligatory multi-hued chard, cream soups, and artisanal breads.  The portions were meager and the prices were high, especially for Arkansas, but no more inflated than I had anticipated.  Only inexperience would induce a truly hungry person to dine in a museum restaurant. Your Fond Correspondent was content to watch the rain dissolve the landscape as I sipped excellent coffee from a mug.  

  Jeff Koons' Hanging Heart, suspended above the tables at Eleven

          Part of the permanent collection was a mirror room installation by Yayoi Kusama.  She entitled it Infinity Mirror: My Heart is Dancing into the Universe.  The artist completed it in 2018, when she was nearly ninety.  HL and I were enchanted by our brief enclosure in the chamber with the glowing, polka-dotted spheres.  We lined up again in order to immerse ourselves in Kusama's projected imagination a second time.  Our hearts were dancing, too. 

          I took this picture of HL as he photographed Kusama's installation.