Alice Walton: Patron of the Arts

Philanthropist and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art board chair Alice Walton, at Crystal Bridges with the painting “No. 210/No. 211 (Orange)” by Abstract Expressionist Mark Rothko (part of the museum’s permanent collection).

Alice Walton’s career had humble beginnings.

“I was the chief Christmas wrapper. In the summers and every Saturday I sold popcorn in front of the store,” Walton said.

She worked for the Ben Franklin five- and 10-cent store in Bentonville, a chain that her father Sam worked for prior to the founding of Wal-Mart.

And rather than being paid how most of us would expect (with money), Walton was paid in china horse dolls, a collection she loved adding to.

But this was not her only job as a child — Walton helped build her family’s house.

“I remember carrying rocks to help build the family home,” Walton said. “We were always encouraged to work and loved getting to be a part of the process. Building the house, I was very proud of that and I was proud of getting to work at the store.”

As the daughter the founder of Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club, Alice Walton was well immersed in the business world, but not pressured to follow her father’s footsteps. Walton said that her mom would remind her that she had made straight A’s in high school, while her father would say that making B’s was OK, too.

“He was kind of always encouraging us but trying not to set the bar too high,” Walton said. “He always encouraged us to explore and to try things out.”

As a kid, Walton always had an interest in art. She enjoyed drawing and watercolors growing up, but never had any sort of formal instruction and says she “wasn’t very good at it.”

Her family did not visit museums often either, so she did not have much exposure to that world, partly because there were not many museums available nearby.

“I have three older brothers and getting the family to a museum was a major miracle, let’s say, so museums weren’t really part of our lives much growing up, although mom tried,” Walton said. “And I was really pretty uncomfortable in museums until after I graduated from college just because it wasn’t part of our lives. We didn’t have much access.”

But despite this, Walton’s interest in art continued, and she found a way to develop it further through a passion for statistics, creating a unique path from art to the business world.

“I didn’t like math that much but I fell with statistics because it was all about relativity,” Walton said. “And that’s when I made the connection because I’d always drawn and done watercolors growing up and I loved to paint and I made the connection that numbers really create pictures. And that’s what sent me down the path in finance and economics.”

That statistics class where Walton discovered this passion was at Trinity University, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts.

So art created her passion for numbers. And now Walton can also be identified by a lot of numbers — according to Forbes her net worth was $34.8 billion as of July 16. But her education didn’t stop with just art and statistics. In fact, Walton says that her entire career has “been a learn-as-you-go process,” and her “real education has come from some of the projects and efforts” that she’s been involved in.

From an airport to a museum, Walton dipped her toes in all sorts of ventures.

“One of the things that, I guess looking back, I love, is that I’ve never taken on anything I knew how to do,” Walton said. “I think that’s part of what has helped make my life so interesting and challenging. And it means that you make mistakes along the way, it means that you have to recoup from your mistakes and get back on the treadmill and go get smarter and figure things out. And so I think the various projects that I’ve been involved in have just been an amazing education.”

Walton began her career as an equity analyst and money manager for First Commerce Corporation, and in 1988 she founded an investment bank engaged in corporate finance called Llama Company. She had a number of business successes and climbed the corporate ladder, but her proudest accomplishment is her role as Museum Founder and Board Chair of Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

“Crystal Bridges is my passion and it’s the love of my life,” Walton said. “And I want kids and other people to have the chance to learn the way I have through art.”

Walton is conscious of the negative stereotypes that have affected Arkansas, and through Crystal Bridges is working to offset that. Walton says she is striving to change the image Arkansans have of themselves and that the museum has garnered more interest and visitors than she had ever hoped for.

“I’ve long thought that one of Arkansas’ biggest challenges was to think higher of ourselves. So I think it’s been a very positive influence in that perspective,” Walton said. “It’s also helping to change the perspective of coastal people and people from outside the region or the area just because they haven’t really had access or reason to come here.”

Walton went from being uncomfortable in museums to founding her own, helping to make northwest Arkansas a cultural destination. She says she hopes that people remember her for giving more than she has received.

She will also likely be remembered for her accomplishments in a male-dominated industry, and working to give women opportunities in management.

“I remember when I went into the finance industry I was the only woman amongst 40 brokers initially when I was in retail,” Walton said. “I was the only woman analyst when I started. That has changed radically today and I’m really glad to see it.”

However, she thinks there is still a long ways to go before there is equality. Crystal Bridges’ management is made up of 75 percent women, but Walton says that it was not intentional. She said she only tried to hire the best candidates, and many of those have happened to be women.

Despite her many accomplishments and impressive work history, Walton still values what many people do the most: her family.

“My family is the most important thing in my life,” Walton said. “They’ve always been there for me through thick and thin. I’m so proud of the love and the sharing and the caring and the unity we have as a family.”