From the Desk of Pat Greene
Who Do You Think Designed This ?
by Patrick Greene
... think about how to articulate the message of how the arts not only makes our quality of life better , but also helps the economy .
The bus driver asked me where I was getting off . I said Marfa . He said , “ I ’ ve only dropped off Germans and Japanese there in the past .” It was 1999 . Marfa , Texas didn ’ t have a bus station . The bus driver said , “ The bus station isn ’ t really a station , it ’ s a gas station with a Western Union . Is that where you want to go ? There ’ s a motel on the main highway ; it ’ s close to everything .” He dropped me off across the street from the motel . I didn ’ t have reservations . I ended up getting a room . It was around 4AM when I checked in .
untitled works in concrete by Donald Judd in Marfa , Texas
I had planned on getting up in a few hours and checking out the town , and staying one more night before heading to Mexico . I think I woke up around 9AM and headed over to the Chamber of Commerce , because I really didn ’ t have any information about where anything was in the town . I had read a couple of articles about how Donald Judd had come to the area in the ’ 60s and bought a bunch of land , and how it had become a sort of quiet , contemporary art mecca .
The guy at the Chamber told me about the Chinati Foundation tours , and he showed me where the bookstore was located . It was a really nice bookstore . I ended up meeting Michael Kaufmann , who was an intern at the time for the foundation . Michael went on to be a founder of the record label most well known for Sufjan Stevens albums , Asthmatic Kitty . Michael talked me into staying the whole weekend . It was the fi rst weekend in October . That weekend has become a big thing . At the time , it felt like a small town gathering of barbecues , art shows , music , and lots of socializing . It was rumored that some well-known artists were there . The town also had old airplane hangars that housed great exhibitions of work by Judd and many of his friends , who also happened to be major artists , like Dan Flavin , Carl Andre , John Chamberlain , Roni Horn , Claes Oldenburg and more . Art is seemingly everywhere , and in the surrounding areas . I saw an Oldenburg sculpture in the middle of town . Judd ’ s untitled , very large , minimalist structures dot the landscape .
Marfa has been on 60 Minutes , and in many publications — many that don ’ t normally write about art . It sits about a mile up , about hour ’ s drive north of the Mexican border . The population is only about 2000 people . The sunsets and sunrises are hypnotic . The Marfa Lights are mysterious . The Coen brothers and several other major and minor directors have made fi lms here . The economy is most-
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