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OKLAHOMA CITY — 3 hours, 30 minutes Oklahoma Contemporary, OKCMOA Begin in OKC with the Arts District's prime institution, Oklahoma City Museum of Art. OKCMOA's dazzling Donald W. Reynolds Visual Arts Center, unveiled 2002, boasts a collection encompassing American, European, post-war and contemporary, photography, prints and drawings, decorative arts and design. Up as Anila Quayyum Agha and Jim Hodges, as well as Felix Gonzalez-Torres' stack of paper prints (which visitors may take), photog Julie Blackmon, and the Pop Art Nun, aka Corita Kent (through September 10). arkmfa.org. Consider our 42nd President. With its dramatic view of the Arkansas River, the William J. Clinton Presidential Library & Museum boasts an insider view of American LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS — 4 hours, 30 minutes Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts One of America's newest museum expansions, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts' eagerly watched addition ups the art game for the state's capital. The architect — Chicago-based Studio Gang, directed by principal Jeanne Gang — is everywhere in the news this year for the extraordinary Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation at Manhattan's century-old American Museum of Natural History. While Studio Gang's new museum in Arkansas lacks the earth-centric drama of the Gilder, it makes up for it in a sculptural, light-filled structure that appears to levitate. Like the Gilder, an innovative use of concrete comes into play. The roofline appears to billow, while the expansive glass façade, supported by V-shaped concrete pillars, introduces geometric notes that harken back to temples of modernism. For art seekers, the inaugural exhibition, "Together," meditates on family, community, and connections to nature, with works from Little Rock artists as well as those with a global imprint, such See how it all began. For fans of Americana, visit The Walmart Museum Heritage Lab to delve into the history of the behemoth that arose from modest dime-store beginnings to forever alter retail around the world. Rest and recharge after your art trek at the 21c Museum Hotel Bentonville. walmartmuseum.com, 21cmuseumhotels.com. history culling documents, ephemera, and recreations of the Oval Office and Cabinet Room. Wrap your visit with lunch, weekend brunch, or dinner at the on-site farm-to-market 42 Bar and Table, with al fresco seating looking out upon the Clinton Presidential Park Bridge. clintonfoundation.org, clintonlibrary.gov. now is a traveling blockbuster organized by LACMA, "True Nature: Rodin and the Age of Impressionism," culling 100 sculptures, paintings, prints, and photographs (through October 22). After basking in Rodin, check out the museum's design exhibition, "Chihuly Then and Now: The Collection at Twenty," spanning the glass maestro's five decades of innovation (through June 2024). An art crawl through Oklahoma wouldn't be complete without a stop at Oklahoma Contemporary, situated on a 4.6-acre campus in the heart of Oklahoma City. The stunning building, designed by architect Rand Elliott, is devoted to the celebration of living artists. "Patterns of Knowing," currently on view, explores how patterns from Indigenous cultures are embraced and reinterpreted, with works by three Native A m e r i c a n a r t i s t s , Benjamin Harjo Jr., Jeri Redcorn, and Jordan Ann Craig (through October 23). Catch a dynamic mural informed by Mesoamerican iconography, "Eduardo Sarabia: Green Vines," with L.A./Guadalajara/Berlin-based Sarabia in collaboration with OKC street talent TANK (through August 2024). okcmoa. com, oklahoma contemporary.org. For sustenance. OKC insiders head to the chef-driven and hip Frida Southwest, with toque Quinn Carroll in the kitchen. End your journey by checking into the 21c Museum Hotel Oklahoma City. fridasouthwest.com, 21cmuseumhotels.com. Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas Diego Rivera's Dos Mujeres (Two Women), 1914, at Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts, Little Rock, Arkansas Auguste Rodin's Monumental Head of Pierre de Wissant, first modeled circa 1884-1885, cast 1971, at Oklahoma City Museum of Art © MUSEUM ASSOCIATES/LACMA Jordan Ann Craig's Untitled, 2019, and Sharp Tongue II, 2022, at Oklahoma Contemporary ANN SHERMAN Eduardo Sarabia's Green Vines, 2022, at Oklahoma Contemporary, Oklahoma City ALEX MARKS 30