Dallas - September 26, 2007

Bright Lights, Small City

Road Trip to Marfa

Looking for a temporary home on the range? We’ve got a few tips, tricks, and more to make a road trip to tiny Marfa seem like a grand idea.

Big Time
Located on a former military base, the massive Chinati Foundation (1 Cavalry Row; 432-729-4362) is a contemporary art museum dedicated to preserving large-scale permanent works by artists like David Rabinowitch, Donald Judd (its founder), and Richard Long.

Sky Walkers
Alien ships? Otherworldly spirits? Headlights from U.S. Route 67? You be the judge at the Texas Department of Transportation’s Marfa Lights Viewing Center, located about nine miles east of the city on U.S. Highway 90.

Eat, Sleep, and Be Nostalgic
Stay a night in The Hotel Paisano (207 North Highland Avenue; 432-729-3669) and relive the glory days of Giant, George Stevens’s epic homage to Texas. Check into rooms once inhabited by James Dean, Elizabeth Taylor, and Rock Hudson. Or just check out its memorabilia room dedicated to the film.

Field of Dreams
Head 40 miles west on U.S. Highway 90, and you’ll see Prada Marfa. (Trust us, you won’t miss it.) This biodegradable installation work by artists Michael Elmgreen and Ingar Dragset is a miniature store in the middle of, well, nowhere, that includes shoes and bags from the fall 2005 collection. Too bad it’s never open.

See? Nothing wrong with a little small town talk.

  Artsy