School of Art Offers Free Tickets for U of A Campus to See America 250: Common Threads Exhibition at Crystal Bridges

The School of Art at the U of A, housed in the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, is partnering with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art to offer all U of A faculty, staff and students free admission to the exhibition America 250: Common Threads. 

Campus members can receive up to two free tickets by using the promotional code HOGS when reserving tickets through the museum's website. The promotion is valid now until June 1, 2026, but tickets may be reserved for any date during the exhibition's run, which is happening until July 27, 2026. A U of A email address must be used to access the offer. Individuals should enter the promotional code before checking out. Tickets can be reserved here.

America 250: Common Threads commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence while reflecting on 250 years of American art and civic participation. Through paintings, textiles, historic documents, photographs and quilts, the exhibition explores how artists and makers have documented and shaped the evolving story of the United States. 

Visitors can look forward to experiencing how people have celebrated national and personal moments in history, from a display of hundreds of 20th-century patriotic snapshots to souvenirs collected from America's Centennial in 1876. When the exhibition is open to the public, visitors can also observe live quilting in the galleries as local quilters and Northwest Arkansas quilting guilds stitch together squares created by K-12 students across Arkansas using an art kit designed by artist Basil Kincaid. 

This promotional offer is the second collaboration of its kind between the museum and the School of Art. A similar promotion launched last semester for the exhibition Get in the Game: Sports, Art, Culture offered free admission to the campus community and brought a strong turnout of U of A faculty, staff and students to the museum. 

The School of Art is also continuing to cover transportation costs to and from Crystal Bridges and the Momentary. The shuttle program offers an accessible way for campus members to visit world-class museums. Interested groups can request for travel support through the School of Art's request form. Support is provided on a first-come, first-served basis, while resources are available. 

"The School of Art's partnership with Crystal Bridges is rooted in our mutual commitment to access to the arts," said Rachel Debuque, director of the School of Art. "Offering free tickets to America 250: Common Threads, including transportation funding for campus members, extends learning beyond the classroom and empowers U of A faculty, staff and students to make new connections between art and history." Debuque encourages students, faculty and staff to take advantage of the free tickets, and for instructors to consider coordinating a visit for any classes that are studying related subjects.

America 250: Common Threads is organized by Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in partnership with the American Folk Art Museum and is part of Handwork: Celebrating American Craft 2026, presented by Craft in America. Tickets are available here and can be reserved for free with a U of A email address and the code HOGS. More information about the exhibition is available on the Crystal Bridges website. Please reach out to Crystal Bridges at 479-418-5700 with questions or issues reserving tickets online.