Marfa : the transformation of a West Texas town / Kathleen Shafer.

Main entry:

Shafer, Kathleen, 1979- author.

Title & Author:

Marfa : the transformation of a West Texas town / Kathleen Shafer.

Edition:

First edition.

Publication:

Austin : University of Texas Press, 2017.
©2017

Description:

196 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Series:

Charles N. Prothro Texana series

Notes:
"First paperback reprint, 2022"--Title page verso.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Introduction -- The history of Marfa -- Encountering the landscape of Marfa -- Donald Judd in Marfa -- Marfa after Judd -- Conclusion.
Dust jacket.

Summary:

A small town in the vast desert of West Texas, Marfa attracts visitors from around the world to its art foundations and galleries, film and music festivals, and design and architecture symposiums. While newcomers sometimes see it as "another Santa Fe," long-time residents often take a bemused, even disapproving attitude toward the changes that Marfa has undergone since artist Donald Judd came to town in the 1970s and began creating spaces for his own and other artists' work. They remember when ranching and the military formed the basis of the town's economy, even as they acknowledge that tourist dollars are now essential to Marfa's sustainability. Marfa tells an engaging story of how this isolated place became a beacon in the art world, like the famous Marfa Lights that draw curious spectators into the West Texas night. As Kathleen Shafer delves into the town's early history, the impact of Donald Judd, the expansion of arts programming, and the increase in tourism, she unlocks the complex interplay between the particularities of the place, the forces of commerce and growth, the textures of local culture and tradition, and the transformative role of artists and creative work. Bookending her story between two iconic artworksthe whimsical Prada Marfa and the crass Playboy MarfaShafer illuminates the shifting cultural landscape of Marfa, showing why this place has become a mecca for so many and how the influx of newcomers has transformed its character.

ISBN:

9781477314388 (hardcover alkaline paper)
1477314385 (hardcover alkaline paper)
9781477318317 (paperback)
1477318313 (paperback)
(library electronic book)
9781477314395
(non-library electronic book)
9781477314401

Subject:

Judd, Donald, 1928-1994.
Landscape architecture Texas Marfa.
Arts Texas Marfa.
Arts Economic aspects Texas Marfa.
Architecture du paysage Texas Marfa.
HISTORY United States State & Local Southwest (AZ, NM, OK, TX)
SOCIAL SCIENCE Regional Studies.
Arts.
Arts Economic aspects.
Landscape architecture.
Marfa (Tex.) History.
Texas Marfa.

Form/genre:

History.

Added entries:

Charles N. Prothro Texana series.

Transformation of a West Texas town

Holdings:

Location: Library main 300227
Call No.: BIB 246397
Status: Available

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