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Guides for Marfa

Why the World Comes to Marfa

Donald Judd's decision to move from New York to Marfa in 1971 — and to use the vast, empty landscape of the Chihuahuan Desert as the setting for permanent, site-specific installations of his own work and the work of his contemporaries — changed the art world. The Chinati Foundation, which Judd established on the grounds of a former U.S. Army fort on the edge of town, contains the most significant permanent collection of minimalist art in the world: 100 untitled works in aluminum by Judd himself in two converted artillery sheds, along with permanent installations by Dan Flavin, John Chamberlain, Richard Long, Roni Horn, and others. The foundation's annual Open House weekend each October draws collectors, curators, and art world figures from around the globe. The Judd Foundation maintains Judd's personal studios, library, and living quarters as a museum of his life and working practice. Ballroom Marfa, a nonprofit contemporary art space established in 2003, presents an ongoing program of exhibitions, film, music, and public art that has made Marfa a year-round destination rather than a single-attraction pilgrimage site. The high desert light, the silence, and the vast sky of the Trans-Pecos give Marfa's art a quality of attention and presence that cannot be replicated anywhere else.