Back to News & PressA New Arkansas Weather-Inspired Art Installation by Nathalie Miebach Opens at AMFA on August 2, 2025
The Museum Unveils Exciting New Acquisitions and Loaned Works on View Now
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts (AMFA) reveals Under A Restless Sky, a new site-specific installation by Nathalie Miebach commissioned by AMFA, opens in the Jackson T. Stephens Gallery on August 2, 2025, and is on view through April 4, 2027. The three-dimensional art installation takes over the gallery’s Art Perch, previously occupied by Spring Song and viewable by passersby through an expansive window overlooking Ninth Street. AMFA Circle Society members and corporate partners enjoy a first look at Miebach’s installation during a private tour with the artist and AMFA curator Jennifer Jankauskas on August 1, 2025. The Jackson T. Stephens Gallery will be closed from July 8 to August 1 while the work is installed.
“Nationally known Boston-based artist Nathalie Miebach has created a vibrant work of art that will capture the attention of guests both inside and outside the building,” shares Jankauskas. “For Under A Restless Sky, Miebach spoke with meteorologists, naturalists, and community members to understand Arkansas and the region’s recent and historical weather patterns and natural disasters. Combining art and science, the installation sparks an emotional reaction as you take in her translation of these events that had indelible impacts on us all.”
Under A Restless Sky is a visual wonderland created with paint, paper, wood, ropes, and other materials that explores how various species—birds and humans—move and adapt due to environmental and climate changes. Miebach is particularly interested in the idea of a refugium—a place where a species finds shelter when conditions become unfavorable, somewhere where they can survive and even thrive.
Miebach digs deep into data points such as weather conditions recorded during historic tornadoes and drone footage depicting the resulting wreckage. Translated and transformed by Miebach, the data becomes a three-dimensional woven tapestry that she builds, unravels, and recombines to reveal how the shifting environment forces new patterns.
Under A Restless Sky includes layers of colorful shapes, real and imagined animals, and hybrid forms such as winged homes atop maps. It imaginatively tells the history of Arkansas’ major weather events—ones that have shaped the way people contemplate the weather. With a dynamic sense of circular movement that mimics both storm activity and the rebuilding process, Under A Restless Sky references the past while probing questions about new future forms of shared habitat for humans and birds.
Visually stunning, the installation also functions as a multi-act musical score that will be collaboratively interpreted by the artist and a regional composer.
NEW ACQUISITIONS AND LOANS
AMFA is also thrilled to announce that several newly acquired works in the AMFA Foundation Collection are now on view in the Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries. These works include Grand March Opening Theme, an abstract painting by Perle Fine; Pacific Northwest Coastline, an oil landscape painting by Albert Bierstadt; Cave, and Untitled, a basalt sculpture by Isamu Noguchi.
“The AMFA Foundation Collection continues to grow steadily, ensuring the AMFA galleries remain vibrant, ever-evolving spaces for our guests,” states AMFA’s Executive Director, Dr. Victoria Ramirez. “We are focused on acquiring artwork that tells the stories of today, while also building a high-caliber collection for future generations of Arkansans.”
In addition, eight American Impressionist paintings by women artists—on loan from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts (PAFA) in Philadelphia and never-before-seen in Arkansas—are now on view in the Townsend Wolfe Gallery. Through colorful landscapes, busy street scenes, and intimate portraits, the paintings recall the brushwork of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Claude Monet while portraying lively subjects during the suffragette era. The paintings were generously lent by PAFA as part of the Art Bridges Partner Loan Network, an initiative dedicated to bringing American art out of museum vaults and presenting it in communities across the United States.
Admission to AMFA is always free. Visit arkmfa.org/art to learn more about current and upcoming exhibitions.
CURRENT EXHIBITIONS
The Long View: From Conservation to Sustainability | Works from the Bank of America Collection
Harriet and Warren Stephens Family Gallery
June 13 – August 31, 2025
Kwame Brathwaite: The 1970s
Berta and John Baird Gallery
April 19 – October 12, 2025
64th Young Arkansas Artists
Robyn and John Horn Gallery
May 17 – August 10, 2025
Staging Silence (3): Hans Op de Beeck
Fine Arts Club New Media Gallery
March 1 – November 30, 2025
Anne Lindberg: passage
Corridor, Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries
April 22, 2023 – July 4, 2027
AMFA Foundation Collection
Harriet and Warren Stephens Galleries
Ongoing
Nathalie Miebach: Under A Restless Sky is supported in part by The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston and Bank of America.
This exhibition is organized by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.
Natasha Bowdoin: Spring Song is supported in part by Bank of America.
The Long View: From Conservation to Sustainability: Works from the Bank of America Collection is presented by Bank of America.
Additional support is provided by Anne and Merritt Dyke.
This exhibition has been loaned through the Bank of America Art in our Communities® program.
Kwame Brathwaite: The 1970s is organized by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.
The 64th Young Arkansas Artists exhibition and awards are supported in part by the Alice L. Walton Foundation, Arkansas Children’s Hospital, and Delaware North and the Jacobs Family, with additional support from Mid-Southern Watercolorists and Blick Art Materials.
Staging Silence (3): Hans Op de Beeck is organized by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts.
Anne Lindberg: passage is presented by Terri and Chuck Erwin with additional support from the Lenore G. Tawney Foundation.
The Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts extends its gratitude to The Brown Foundation, Inc. of Houston, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Roy and Christine Sturgis Charitable and Educational Trust for grant awards supporting stewardship and conservation of the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts Foundation Collection.
About the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts
Founded in 1937, the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts is the largest cultural institution of its kind in the state, offering a unique blend of visual and performing arts experiences. AMFA is committed to featuring diverse media and artistic perspectives within its permanent collection as well as through rotating temporary exhibitions. AMFA’s international collection spans eight centuries, with strengths in works on paper and contemporary craft, and includes notable holdings by artists from Arkansas, the South, and across the United States and Europe.
With a vibrant mix of ideas, cultures, people, and places, AMFA extends this commitment to diversity through the innovative Windgate Art School, a dynamic children’s theatre and performing arts program, and community-focused educational programs for all ages. Located in Little Rock’s oldest urban green space, MacArthur Park, AMFA’s landmark building and grounds are designed by Studio Gang and SCAPE, in collaboration with Polk Stanley Wilcox Architects.