2015 Inductee
Alice Walton is the founder of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and now serves as Chairwoman of the Museum’s Board of Directors. Ms.Walton is the youngest of four children born to the late Helen Walton and the late Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton.
An avid horsewoman, nature lover and art collector, Ms. Walton envisioned creating a significant art museum in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, so that people of the region would have ready access to great works of art. She conceived Crystal Bridges as a celebration not only of American art and history, but of the Ozark landscape she loved and explored as a child, and planned to build the museum on land that had belonged to the Walton family for years. In 2005, Alice involved her family in her dream for Crystal Bridges, and the Walton Family Foundation agreed to fund the project.
Nestled in 120-acres of Ozark woodlands—a gift from the Walton family to Crystal Bridges— the museum opened on 11-11-11 with the mission of welcoming all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. The establishment of the museum and its impact within the region has prompted numerous accolades for Ms. Walton, including Headliner of the Year by the Arkansas Press Association, inclusion on the 2012 "TIME 100" list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and the Smithsonian Institution’s Archives of American Art Medal.
Ms. Walton serves as a member of the board of the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, and is a member of the Trustees' Council of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. She currently lives in central Texas, where she raises cutting horses and operates the Rocking W Ranch.