Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts

SCAPE, in collaboration with Studio Gang, is transforming the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) to redefine how arts can bolster local communities and the regional identity of Little Rock. This local institution is a hybrid of a renowned art museum and an active center for the visual and performing arts, located in an opportune site bridging a renewed connection between downtown Little Rock and MacArthur Park.

Planted groves along the west side of the building will create a forested edge that blends into the park. A framework of new trees will, over time, merge with the existing canopy. SCAPE designed over 11 acres of new public landscapes surrounding the Museum, including 2,200 linear feet of new walking paths and trails, as well as pre-cast concrete seatwalls and petal-shaped gardens iterating the form of the Museum’s roof. A series of lush rain gardens will absorb stormwater runoff from the roof’s folded edge. Over 50 species of perennials, shrubs, native trees and ornamental grasses will be planted across the grounds, inspired by the native ecosystems of rural Arkansas.

AMFA is a catalytic project to physically realize the institution as a cultural beacon for Arkansas—not only as an art museum, but as a dynamic center for arts, outreach, and education. The Museum is scheduled to open to the public on April 22, 2023.

Learn more:

• Visit the AMFA website.