Located on the site of the former D.A. Russell Fort in Marfa, Texas is the Chinati Foundation/La Fundación Chinati. Founded by Donald Judd in 1986, the museum's mission is to preserve the permanent relationship between a work of art and the landscape or architecture which it was designed around. This concept originally centered on Judd's own works but also extended to the art of his contemporaries, Dan Flavin and John Chamberlain. As Judd explained, "It takes a great deal of time and thought to install work carefully. This should not always be thrown away. Most art is fragile and some should be placed and never moved again. Somewhere a portion of contemporary art has to exist as an example of what the art and its context were meant to be. Somewhere, just as the platinum-iridium meter guarantees the tape measure, a strict measure must exist for the art of this time and place." Since its opening to the public in 1987, the museum's permanent collection, which resides in sprawling exhibition spaces located throughout the property, has grown to include works by Claes Oldenburg, Roni Horn, Richard Long, Carl Andre, John Wesley and Robert Irwin. Today, the Chinati Foundation offers various programs and publications and plays a vital role in Marfa's art scene.
