Every so often, part of the Street Level Studio team hits the road for a brief getaway. One might guess that their journey would lead them to a beach or ski resort, but co-founders Wendy and Joe Davis insist, it’s all about a tiny town in the middle of the West Texan desert called Marfa. It can’t be classified as a typical travel hot spot, but Marfa isn’t just a magnet for the Davises; a rough estimation puts the town’s yearly tourist population at over 11,000. What is it about Marfa that people can’t resist?
 

A BRIEF HISTORY

Located atop a plateau in the Chihuahuan desert and surrounded by three mountain ranges, Marfa was established in 1883 as a stop on the San Antonio Railroad. Nearly 90 years later, Donald Judd, a well-known Minimalist artist—designated as such by the critical eye only; he personally disavowed the term—moved to Marfa from New York City. He began acquiring property, including portions of the decommissioned military base Fort D. A. Russell, to serve as a home for permanent, large-scale installations of his work.

It’s no surprise that a leader in Minimalist aesthetics, which focuses on expression through uncluttered and reductive imagery, would choose Marfa. The town sits in isolation, 26 miles from the next town with neither a hospital nor a police force. However, this rugged outpost is surrounded by jaw-dropping vistas and stunning desert views that have provided an expansive backdrop for Judd and his colleagues’ unconventional artwork.

Exhibit by Donald Judd, 100 untitled works in mill aluminum, 1982-1986

MARFA TODAY

In the four decades since Judd’s arrival, Marfa has evolved into an artistic mecca, attracting artists of all specialties and ages. For the visual art enthusiasts, the Judd Foundation and the Chinati Foundation have maintained Judd’s properties since his passing in 1994 and keep many of them open as public galleries. Additional galleries and exhibition spaces pepper the town and the surrounding area. Perhaps most notably, art piece and faux storefront Prada Marfa sits along a lonely desert highway 35 miles from town. For film buffs, the town hosts two annual film festivals, CineMarfa and the Marfa Film Festival, and boasts a surprising cinematic history. Marfa was the backdrop for several major films, including the 1956 Western Giant and the more recent There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men. Finally, visiting music fans can find well-known acts at cultural art space Ballroom Marfa and at the three-day Trans-Pecos Festival.

Art installation Prada Marfa by Elmgreen and Dragset

The artistic transplants share the town with a large number of native residents and ranchers for a total permanent population of about 2,000 people. Together, they pair the spirit of a wild frontier tradition with a wave of forward thinking and innovation, while at the same time sharing the values of hospitality and collaboration.
 

WHY MARFA

The culture and the community aren’t the only draws to this outlying locale. If we look deeper, Marfa appeals to two longstanding romantic notions. First, Marfa provides an ideal destination for the artist-philosopher’s pursuit of inspiration in nature and seclusion. Three hours from the nearest airport, Marfa allows visitors to slow down and cultivate creative thought in a supportive environment of fellow artists and quiet desert nights.

Secondly, Marfa provides a tangible goal for the classic American aspiration of traveling westward to seek opportunity. Creative opportunity abounds in town, specifically through education and artistic patronage. Children and teens can participate in classes and camps for everything from pinhole photography to learning to DJ. El Cosmico, a nomadic, tent and trailer hotel and campground, administers workshops for adults in areas such as building, cooking, art, and songwriting. Internships are available with the Chinati Foundation, and the Lannan Foundation offers residency programs, fellowships, and grants for writers and poets.

Downtown Marfa

KINDRED SPIRITS

After we take a peek into Marfa, it becomes clear what brings our colleagues to this unlikely oasis. Its focus on collaborative work and allowing free thinking to inform creative production, as well as its identity as a unique town with a rich history, make it a home away from home for our Street Level Studio family. Even the repurposing of outmoded, vacant buildings into sanctuaries for creative thought harkens back to an earlier era in SLS history. Our current office resides in a building whose legacy was shaped by several other industries, and we’ve been thrilled to incorporate the odds and ends they’ve left behind into our studio’s style. These traits and values we share with Marfa make it a perfect retreat, and its status as a tourist hot spot isn’t so surprising after all.