this summer my family drove to the west texas desert and back. we passed through new orleans, austin, and marfa on our way to big bend national park and loved every minute of it. our trip to marfa was the second time i had been to this strange, beautiful town in the middle of nowhere. the last time i was there was 5 years ago- a lot has changed since then, and...nothing has changed.
this rancher town has, over the years, evolved to include a handful of artistic and creative endeavors that draw in the curious. the serene, vast desert landscape is the perfect backdrop for the art of donald judd, the late artist who lived in marfa for decades. he installed his sculptures in and around the old army barracks here, and eventually he took over rows of downtown buildings for studio space. there is a thriving community of artists who live & work here now, and small flocks of tourists coming through town to see it all in this most-unlikely place.
but, the thing i love about marfa, is that you have to really want to get there; it isn’t any easy trip to make...which is one of the most appealing things about it, really. if you go, you will know.
photographs and words by rinne allen