The Marfa.Org ®@ŋd¤m‡zЄ®

Auction for 1943 Real Photo Postcard of Marfa (rare)
Painted Air, Sculptor Dan Flavin Sets Color Free
Marfa: Efforts to Get Bypass to Continue
Pics of "Marfa Artists" Installation, Dunn & Brown

Capturing Marfa, The Photography of Allison V. Smith

To me, Marfa is not really about the art or the ranching or the remoteness - it is about the fact that all of that can coexist in one place at one time. The existence of all these things together takes on a life of its own. It's about walking down a quiet street with nothing on my mind - nothing at all - and not wanting to trade that experience for anything in the world. The photographs of Allison V. Smith capture that quality of Marfa better than any words ever could. You may be familiar with Smith's work which has been exhibited at Project Marfa, an annual Open House weekend show organized by the Barry Whistler Gallery. Pour yourself a drink, get comfortable, and take in the 'Marfa" album on Smith's website. [click the birds on wires when you're there.]

The Marfa.Org ®@ŋd¤m‡zЄ®

New Uploads to the Marfa.Org Photo Gallery
Owners Renovate Thunderbird Hotel in Marfa
Marfa Bypass Left Off House Funding Bill
It's Not Just Marfa Lights Luring People
Texas Mission Fades, Mission del Sagrado Corazon
Big Write-up in "Southern Living" this Month (no link)
Seeking the Poetic Potential of Neutral Signs
Dirt-cheap Land is Dust in the Wind (ebay again)
Scott Hardy's Flask Design for Judd

The Feds Searching For Build-To-Suit Site

The U.S. government is looking for a 20 acre site with direct access to Highway 67 or 90. The site's exact use has not been explicitly disclosed in the official Request For Proposals, but it will include a new 71,000 sf office building (presumably for the Border Patrol since the contact information is directed toward Texas/New Mexico Border Station Service Center.) The eventual selected site should be within the city limits, visible from one of the highways, and remote from housing. A development of this size will have significant effect on the Marfa economy. For more information, see the link above.

The Marfa.Org ®@ŋd¤m‡zЄ®

Marfa Book Company's Online Purchasing Unvieled
Hlynur Hallsson's Controversial Locker Plant Project
Miller Lite Tried to Sponsor The Marfa Lights?
Group Dog Obedience Classes, March 8 & 9
Cartoonist Fights System w/ Humor @ Marfa Studio of Arts
Marfa Blurb in Current House & Garden (no link)
Retrospectives Boost Flavin But Hurt Rauschenberg in '98
Iconoclasts in a Contemporary Cathedral
Marfa.Org Photo Album "Most Viewed" Images

Buy A Bit Of Nowhere, 14 Minutes Remaining

So you wanna live off the grid? Way off the grid? Get prime ranch land 60 minutes from Marfa to the southeast or 20 minutes from Valentine to the west - for less than 100 bucks an acre! Only one problem: good luck finding it once you've paid. The San Antonio Express News covered an interesting story about internet land sales in Presidio County on (the popular internet auction site) eBay. Auctions claim the land to be "located in desirable Presidio County,Texas. The terrain is said to be both flat and rolling... It is just across the border from Mexico, and near the Rio Grand River (5 miles away). The magnificant Big Bend Ranch State Park is found in Presidio County..." or, in another auction, "I am told that the terrain of this parcel is mountainous." I am told...niiiiice. These low-dollar land sales are typically bought and sold by people that have never actually been to the site, much less west Texas. This phenomenon isn't unique to Presidio County - it happens in remote areas of all the western states. Sandy Pridgeon, chief appraiser for both Jeff Davis and Hudspeth counties points out, “to someone back east, $100 an acre sounds like a wonderful deal. But if you can’t find your land, it’s not that wonderful. And if you can find it, you won’t be able to live on it." Truer words have never been spoken. Read full article here or at mySA.com (registration required).
[thanks to Marge for this tip]