From the dilapidated back road barn to the backyard oak scarred by last winter’s ice storm but still standing, Northwest Arkansas is rich with landscapes at risk of being lost. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is inviting residents of Northwest Arkansas to grab their cameras, get outdoors and capture the landscapes that are most meaningful to them – especially those threatened by development, disease and the ravages of age.

Photos of treasured sites in Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties may be submitted for inclusion in ‘Looking at Our Landscape’, a juried community photography exhibition planned for spring 2010. Special consideration will be given to landscapes with historic or cultural significance that are accessible to the public and at risk of being lost. Selected entries will be presented in an online gallery, and forty works will be displayed April 1 – May 31, 2010 in an exhibition at the Massey, Crystal Bridges’ temporary gallery in downtown Bentonville.

‘Looking at Our Landscape’ is a regional response to “Heroes of Horticulture”, an exhibition featuring 12 celebrated photographers’ documentation of threatened heritage landscapes located throughout the United States. On display at the Massey January 14 – March 21, “Heroes of Horticulture” was organized by the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film in collaboration with The Cultural Landscape Foundation of Washington, D.C.

Given Northwest Arkansas’ rapid growth and development (the region’s population has nearly doubled since 1990, according to the University of Arkansas Center for Business and Economic Research), both exhibitions are timely in calling attention to historic and otherwise significant landscapes and the need to preserve them.

“Even as a relative newcomer to the area, I can see the rapid changes taking place,” said Chris Crosman, Crystal Bridges’ chief curator. “With Heroes and the follow up regional response, ‘Looking at Our Landscape’, we hope to raise awareness of the visual, historic, and cultural value of our own natural environment. Engaging community members in the creative process is also a goal for the exhibition,” Crosman said.

The deadline for submissions is February 5, 2010.

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