In the Arts: Wal-Mart Grant Pays for Free Admission to New Ark. Museum

Wal-Mart Stores on Thursday announced a $20-million grant to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to allow the planned Bentonville, Ark., institution to admit visitors free, Arkansas Business writes.

The museum, a project of the Wal-Mart heiress Alice Walton and the Walton Family Foundation that is set to open in November, had been mulling a $10 admission fee for adults.

The grant, to be paid out over five years, is the first contribution to the museum’s Next Generation Fund, which focuses on the economic, social, and cultural barriers that limit public participation in the arts. Don Bacigalupi, executive director of Crystal Bridges, said the gift “will allow the museum to become a daily resource in our community.”

In other arts news, The Wall Street Journal profiles the Grand Teton Music Festival, an annual nonprofit event that brings some of the best orchestral musicians from across America to perform in the mountains of western Wyoming.

The festival, marking its 50th anniversary this year, serves not just to bring classical music to the remote region but also to provide a bucolic retreat for musicians, many of whom return year after year for a welcome changes from the rigors of their regular seasons, The Journal writes.