The Chinati Foundation
Arts organization · Marfa
1 Cavalry Row, Marfa, TX 79843
Highlights
Sprawling contemporary art installations by Donald Judd on 340 acres.
Sprawling contemporary art installations by Donald Judd on 340 acres.
"An iconic contemporary-art foundation known for its permanent, large-scale installations and museum-like campus; situated within walking distance of other art sites, it’s typically considered a multi-hour visit for anyone wanting a deep encounter with site-specific works." - ByRachel Monroe
"A small town with a big art scene, offering unique accommodations and desert skies." - Evie Carrick Evie Carrick Evie Carrick is a writer and editor who’s lived in five countries and visited well over 50. She now splits her time between Colorado and Paris, ensuring she doesn't have to live without skiing or L'
"The Chinati Foundation is massive by design. Fed up with the cramped galleries of New York City and the need to constantly rotate exhibits, minimalist sculptor Donald Judd decamped to this tiny former railroad stop in the Chihuahuan Desert in 1971." - Travel + Leisure Editors
"Machined aluminum boxes, fluorescent tubes, and salvaged auto bodies are just some of the sculptural media used to create the modern art housed at the Chinati Foundation, a series of modern art installations on a repurposed military base once studio to artist Donald Judd, on the desolate West Texas plains. Needing more space and wanting to establish a permanent location for the installation of his work and the work of contemporaries in which the work would be displayed appropriately and not subject to damage from being moved, Donald Judd purchased 340 acres near Marfa, TX, including the abandoned U.S. Army Fort D. A. Russell in 1979. The complex first opened to the public in 1986, originally providing a permanent home to works by Judd, John Chamberlain, and Dan Flavin. Since then, other artists’ works have followed and a vibrant artistic community has grown up around the foundation. The focus of the collection is on large-scale sculptural works which are made to be inextricable from their chosen surroundings. Marfa has lately become something of an art world destination, which has in turn revitalized the once semi derelict cattle town with the addition of new galleries, bookstores, restaurants etc., along with attracting new short and long term artist residents from the more expensive art hubs of NYC and LA, as well as a substantial population of artists from Europe. The entire collection is only available through private tours, which require good shoes and a bottle of water as they can take an entire day to cover the sprawling, arid location, winding indoors and outdoors. The permanent works have become so revered the site was recently recognized by the World Monuments Fund as one worthy of conservation and preservation. Since its founding, the Chinati Foundation has helped turn Marfa, Texas into a unlikely mix of small town Texas vistas and big city artistic pretension." - ATLAS_OBSCURA
