Marfa, Texas

The Full Guide to an adventure there

This week 36 hours in the NYT covered Marfa, but I have my own version too.

A city that perfectly blends art, history, culture and creativity all in the high desert of the Trans-Pecos in Far West Texas. From cowboy chic to contemporary art, this quirky city of just 2000 people has a little something for everyone. 

An introduction

Founded in the early 1880s as a railroad water spot, today the tiny city of Marfa is a hedonist’s oasis. It has only grown to a mere 2000 people with one blinking traffic light, but international seekers of art and imagination make it bloom all year round. Known for its celebration of minimalist art, historical architecture and the Marfa ghost lights, the city is eccentric in all the best ways. 

Marfa’s remoteness and mystifying cool factor is what has brought people here ever since the artist Donald Judd set up camp here in the early 1970’s. Today the world’s avant-gardists, lovers of the tumbleweed besprinkled high desert, and all the chic folk come to mingle,…