The Donald Judd Historic District in Marfa, Texas, is now on the US’s National Register of Historic Places. The district, incorporating 15 buildings Judd modified and one of his works of art (15 untitled works in concrete), honours the artist’s work from when he moved to the area in the early 1970s until his death in 1994.
“This important recognition provides a context through which to understand Don’s work,” Flavin Judd, the artist’s son and the artistic director of the Judd Foundation, said in a statement. “Few people make their own world of art, design and architecture. Even fewer leave that behind to be experienced by the public.”
The artist’s building modifications included designing and constructing new doors and furniture for the spaces, as well as refurbishing their plumbing, roofs and windows. In his lifetime, Donald Judd largely used the buildings for the creation, storage and display of his large-scale sculptures.
La Mansana de Chinati (The Block) in Marfa, Texas Photo: Alex Marks, © Judd Foundation
Nine of the buildings and the work of art are overseen by the Chinati Foundation, founded by the artist in 1986. Judd Foundation takes care of the remaining six structures. All of these are located on the grounds of Fort D.A. Russell, an active military site between 1911 and 1946 that itself was added to the National Register in 2006.
“Context is central to visitors’ experience of Chinati and Judd’s living and working spaces in Marfa,” Caitlin Murray, the director of the Chinati Foundation, said in a statement. “This recognition heightens our shared awareness of the conditions, histories and environments that he considered when imagining the permanent installation of large-scale works of art.”
The Donald Judd Historic District had been nominated for inclusion on the register in September 2024 by the Texas Historical Commission. Last month, it became the second Marfa district associated with the artist on the register—the Central Marfa Historic District, with 11 of its 183 buildings rehabilitated by Donald Judd, was added in 2022.
