Sept. 3, 2025
Evening will kick off ‘Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture’ exhibition
CONWAY, Ark. (Arkansas PBS) — As part of its Arkansas Live initiative, Arkansas PBS will livestream Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art’s sold out exhibition opening lecture, “Get in the Game Featuring Mia Hamm,” Thursday, Sept. 11, 6 p.m., at myarpbs.org/arkansaslive.
This conversation, hosted in the Heartland Whole Health Institute building on the Crystal Bridges Campus will kick off Crystal Bridges’ newest exhibition “Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture” and will feature soccer icon Mia Hamm. The evening opens with an introduction by Austen Barron Bailly, Crystal Bridges and the Momentary chief curator, and Katy Knox, president of Bank of America Private Bank. The event is moderated by Steve Nelson, co-founder, founding CEO, and former chairman of Carbon, Inc.
Mia Hamm is widely recognized as the world’s best all-around women’s soccer player. In Atlanta at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games, she proved it by leading her team to Team Gold in front of 80,000 screaming fans in Athens, Georgia. Never in history had so many spectators come out to watch a women’s sporting event. The Games highlighted female athletes like no other time in modern history and Mia emerged as one of the Game’s true examples for people of all ages who have a dream and go for it. The 1999 Women’s World Cup, where the USA took home the championship in front of 40 million viewers in this country alone, sold over 650,000 tickets, including sellouts at Giants Stadium and the Rose Bowl.
Mia played collegiately at UNC and led her team to four consecutive NCAA championships. Her awards and accomplishments only tell part of the story of this remarkable athlete; she gives much of her precious free time to charitable causes and strives, in anything she does, to promote women’s athletics, the sport of soccer, and a feeling of confidence and sense of purpose in young people.
In the years since her dominant run on the global stage as a player, Mia has continued to serve as an inspiration to young girls looking to rise to the pinnacle of the sporting world. Indeed, she has maintained an active presence within the soccer community and has served as an outspoken advocate for Title IX and gender equality across sporting lines, all the while cementing her status as the face of not merely a sport but rather of an entire generation of female athletes through her Foundation. Mia is also a part owner of the MLS’ Los Angeles Football Club and the expansion franchise, Angel FC of the NWSL.
Learn more about ‘Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture’ exhibition and event here.
Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture is organized by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The exhibition is curated by Jennifer Dunlop Fletcher, Helen Hilton Raiser Curator of Architecture and Design SFMOMA; Seph Rodney, independent curator and writer; and Katy Siegel, Curator-at-Large, Research & Special Program Initiatives, SFMOMA. The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art presentation is curated by Austen Barron Bailly, Chief Curator, and Laura Pratt, Manager, Curatorial Affairs.
The exhibition’s National Tour Sponsor is Bank of America. Additional support is provided by The Coca-Cola Company, Shelby and Frederick Gans, Scholastic, Stout Executive, Blakeman’s Fine Jewelry, Willie and Brenda Godwin, Donna and Mack McLarty, Northwest Arkansas Naturals, Sue and Charles Redfield, Jim Smith and Rebecca Hurst | Smith Hurst, PLC, Jim and Susan Von Gremp, Tony Waller, Deborah Wright, and Hunter and Jennifer Yuracheck.
About Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
The mission of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art is to welcome all to celebrate the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art with the beauty of nature. Since opening in 2011, the museum has welcomed more than 12.2 million visitors across its spaces, with no cost for admission. Crystal Bridges was founded in 2005 as a nonprofit charitable organization by arts patron and philanthropist Alice Walton. The collection spans five centuries of American masterworks from early American to current day and is enhanced by temporary exhibitions. The museum is nestled on 120 acres of Ozark landscape and was designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Safdie. A rare Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house was preserved and relocated to the museum grounds in 2015. Crystal Bridges offers public programs including lectures, performances, classes and teacher development opportunities. Some 418,375 school children have participated in the Willard and Pat Walker School Visit program, which provides educational experiences for school groups at no cost to the schools. Additional museum amenities include a restaurant, gift store, library, and five miles of art and walking trails. In February 2020, the museum opened the Momentary in Downtown Bentonville (507 SE E Street), conceived as a platform for the art, food and music of our time. In 2026, Crystal Bridges will complete a nearly 100,000 square foot expansion that will allow the museum to expand access for all. For more information, visit CrystalBridges.org. The museum is located at 600 Museum Way, Bentonville, Arkansas 72712.
About Arkansas PBS
Arkansas PBS, Arkansas’s only statewide public media network, empowers learners of all ages by educating, informing, entertaining and inspiring communities. Arkansas PBS serves as a daily and essential resource for Arkansans by creating, sharing, celebrating and driving conversation around Arkansas stories and classic, trusted PBS programs through multiple digital platforms, including livestreaming at myarpbs.org/live, on-demand services and YouTube TV, and the distinct channels Arkansas PBS, Arkansas PBS Create, Arkansas PBS KIDS, Arkansas PBS WORLD and Arkansas PBS AIRS on SAP. Members with Arkansas PBS Passport have extended on-demand access to a rich library of public television programming. Arkansas PBS depends on the generosity of Arkansans and the State of Arkansas to continue offering quality programming. Additional information is available at myarkansaspbs.org. Arkansas PBS is broadcast on KETS (Little Rock), KEMV (Mountain View), KETG (Arkadelphia), KAFT (Fayetteville), KTEJ (Jonesboro), KETZ (El Dorado), KETS (Russellville), KETS (Forrest City), KETS (Gaither) and KETS (Yancy).
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