Marfa is a small West Texas town — population around 1,700 — that has become, improbably, one of the most important addresses in the international contemporary art world. The credit belongs almost entirely to one person: Donald Judd, the minimalist sculptor who moved here in 1971 and spent the next two decades transforming the landscape and buildings of Marfa into a permanent installation of his and his contemporaries' work. What he created is unlike anything else in the world.
The Chinati Foundation
The Chinati Foundation is Judd's ultimate statement — a former U.S. Army fort converted into a permanent installation site for large-scale work. The centerpiece is 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, housed in two renovated artillery sheds, the scale and light calibration of which is unlike anything you'll encounter in a conventional museum. Also on the grounds: permanent installations by Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, and others. Visiting requires advance reservation; allow a full day.
The Judd Foundation
Separate from Chinati, the Judd Foundation maintains Judd's personal spaces in Marfa — his home, his studios, his library — as well as related properties in New York. The Marfa properties include the Block, a complex of downtown buildings where Judd lived and worked, preserved with his furniture, books, and art in situ. The experience is intimate in a way that Chinati, for all its grandeur, is not.
Ballroom Marfa
Ballroom Marfa is the contemporary counterpart to the Judd legacy — a nonprofit arts organization that commissions new work by international artists and presents it in a converted dance hall and surrounding outdoor spaces. The programming consistently takes risks that larger institutions can't or won't, and the Prada Marfa installation (technically in Valentine, Texas, 37 miles away) is one of Ballroom's most famous commissions.
The Town Itself
Marfa's art ecology extends beyond its institutions. The Marfa Book Company doubles as a gallery and cultural gathering place. Studios and artist residencies are scattered through the surrounding desert. Several restaurants and bars have become informal gathering places for the artists, writers, and curators who cycle through.
Getting There
Marfa is 200 miles from El Paso and 60 miles from the nearest commercial airport (in Midland-Odessa). Most visitors drive. The nearest real city is Alpine, 26 miles east. The remoteness is part of the experience — arriving requires commitment, and the isolation amplifies the work's effect. Stay at least two nights; the drive is not worth less.