The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts in Little Rock will open 'Material Nature: Gifts from the John and Robyn Horn Collection' on August 15, presenting more than 70 sculptural works drawn from a craft collection assembled by John and Robyn Horn. The exhibition runs through April 25, 2027, in the Robyn & John Horn Gallery and is organized by the museum in collaboration with Craft in America.
According to the museum’s announcement, the show highlights how materials are “pushed and reimagined” into forms that embody mass, movement and sophistication. It is framed as a celebration of the Horns’ collection, which the museum says was built through artistic curiosity, close ties to the craft community and friendships with makers. The exhibition is supported in part by the Alan DuBois Fund for Contemporary Craft and Cindy and Greg Feltus.
The project also places the museum within Craft in America’s 'Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026'. The institution’s newsletter notes that the exhibition is part of that larger initiative, while making clear that the installation itself is organized by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. In practical terms, the show will give visitors a concentrated look at contemporary craft across a broad range of materials and processes rather than a survey of a single medium.
The email previewed several works included in the exhibition images, underscoring the breadth of approaches represented in the collection. Among them are David Nash’s 'Crack & Warp Column' (2003), a chainsaw-carved white oak work; Stoney Lamar’s 'All Dressed Up' (circa 2003), made of multi-axis lathe-turned madrone burl, steel and milk paint; Todd Hoyer’s 'Untitled (Suspended Series)' (2021), formed from Mexican blue oak and steel; and Michael Peterson’s 'Arbutus' (2004), made from chainsawn, sandblasted, bleached and pigmented madrone burl.
The museum is also offering a free gallery tour on Saturday, August 15, at 10:00 a.m., giving visitors an early opportunity to see the exhibition in person. The announcement places the opening in the museum’s Horn Gallery, with the run extending almost eight months into 2027.
'Material Nature' arrives as part of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts’ broader public programming, but the exhibition itself stands on its own as a focused presentation of sculptural craft. The emphasis in the museum’s material centers on transformation: wood, steel, milk paint and burl are reworked into objects that the institution describes as combining mass, movement and sophistication. The exhibition opens August 15, 2026, and remains on view through April 25, 2027.
