Teardrop Trail Log: March 27, 2016

Marfa was founded as a railroad water stop in the 1880’s. The Marfa Plateau on the edge of far West Texas was known for the high grass and ranching. That is until minimalist sculptor Donald Judd fell in love with Marfa and in 1971 moved to Texas to escape the New York art scene. He bought two large hangars that had been a training facility during WWII and eventually acquired dozens of buildings. His vision was to create a new kind of museum where large collections of individual artists’ work would be on permanent display in harmony with landscape and architecture, often referred to as an anti-museum. This resulted in permanent installations of contemporary art that are among the largest and most beautiful in the world.

Marker of Marfa

Marfa has become an unlikely arts mecca. The Chinati and Judd Foundations were created after Judd’s death in 1994. Other foundations, art collectives, theaters, performance spaces and nonprofit organizations have come to town. One source describes downtown as overrun by galleries.

Art tourism soars. The artsy population grows as new waves of artists move to Marfa to live and work. Celebrities continue to make pilgrimages. Marfa is a thriving international arts destination that is about as far removed from the pretentious art scenes like New York or Amsterdam.