The Ledger Chicken Coop — Bentonville, AR

Hello friends!

Last year our studio was honored with a commission to create two Chicken Footstools to reside in the Ledger building in Bentonville, Arkansas. The 230,000 sqft building opened in the fall of 2022 as a place “to work, play and gather in the heart of downtown Bentonville.” Ledger is the first-ever bikeable building with six stories of exterior switchbacks and incredible city views. The City Girl Farm studio was one of 37 local, regional, and heartland-based artists chosen to fill the common spaces and bookable conference rooms with artwork, allowing the public to become familiar with our work as they interact with the building.

Inspired by the natural beauty and colors of the Northwest Arkansas landscape, we entered into our design process and started creating feathers. We decided to name the chickens, Bridges (a nod to the wonderful Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art) and Little Oz (short for Ozark).

All of the artists were invited to the opening celebration at the Ledger on December 8th for a ribbon cutting and meet-and-greet with the public. Four of us from the studio were able to road-trip together to join in the fun! We were delighted to find our footstools placed adjacent to the main communal lounge/kitchen space in a conference room appropriately and playfully named, “The Chicken Coop.”

We recently checked in with Mary Best, Director of Operations and Community at the Ledger, on how the community has responded to the presence of the Chicken Footstools in their coop. Here was her response:

“They are incredibly popular and are in the most booked room on the 2nd floor. They love to leave the blinds up and watch all the folks on the ramp. In all seriousness they are show-stoppers, folks are loving them. Thank you so much.”

We are truly delighted to be a part of this community-oriented project that interlaces buildings, people, and the environment in Bentonville. Thank you for adding our Chicken Footstools into your mix!