Much is touted as unique, or nonsensically, very unique, and the description seldom is accurate.  Several of the works at Crystal Bridges, however, were notable for their originality.  One was included in Fashioning America.   It was an interactive digital display that allowed museum visitors to vary the costume of a rotating winged figure on a screen.  It might have been the portrayal of an archangel.  We could move our hands over a cylindrical control panel to produce minute alterations to the avatar of the artist.     

The futurist Viktoria Modesta was named as a collaborator rather than the sole designer of the digital piece.

Teri Greeves' Converse Red added tribal motifs to the high-heeled sneakers sung about in early rock 'n' roll lyrics.  

          One of the reasons that I had postponed a trip to Crystal Bridges was my ambivalence towards contemporary art.  Nor was I  an aficionada of American art.  Abstract Expressionism left me unmoved, though not for lack of exposure to it during my formative years.  I am an unabashed Europhile who, since childhood, has favored paintings and sculptures from previous centuries over those of living artists.  Every time that I consulted the Crystal Bridges website, its offerings were unexciting.  So I was rewarded doubly for overcoming my reluctance to go to Bentonville, Arkansas.  Not only did I experience the scope and quality of Crystal Bridges' collection, but also the disappearance of my bias.