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Austen Bailey

Austen Bailey

Austen Barron Bailly is Deputy Director of Curatorial Affairs at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, where she leads curatorial and collection initiatives.

Aug 28, 2026

11:15
Could you tell us a story or maybe something about one of your favorite pieces, why you chose it and what story it tells?
11:24
Yes.
11:25
There is, in our contemporary gallery, an 8-foot wide and 15-foot high weaving by a Navajo weaver named Lola Cody hanging next to Louise Nevelson, Fred Wilson, Mickalene Thomas in a section all about color and form.
11:46
It's called Two Gray Hills, and it's got these two double diamonds vertically stacked.
11:52
And it is a representation of several of our efforts to highlight artists' families, women artists.
12:02
And Lola Cody happens to be the mother of Melissa Cody, whose work is on view in Visions of America, which we had acquired as part of our Crafting America exhibition a few years ago.
12:13
And so not only is she a living artist and a mother of an artist in our collection, but we had the opportunity to go to the preeminent art fair for indigenous artists in Santa Fe last August, where this work won Best in Show and we were able to acquire it from her on the spot directly in Santa Fe.
14:14
Is there a pairing or a placement in the new galleries that makes you see some old favorites in a different light? Yeah.

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