marfa

Hours from a major city, Marfa sits alone on a grassy plateau 5,000 feet high and surounded by desert mountains. It's a faraway place legendary for great ranches, strange lights in the sky, Buffulo Soldiers, Mescalero Apaches and outlaws gone to the badlands "West of the Pecos."

In contemporary times travelers have come for Marfa's world class film productions and phenomanal art (thanks to George Stevens and Donald Judd, and more recently, the Coen brothers and P.T Anderson). That's not to mention the amazingly talented arrray of artists, patrons and foundations who have made Marfa their home, investing their future in this one stop light town while creating and attracting some of the best art and music in the world.
Like the Prada store built as an installation on a lonely highway up the road, Marfa occupies a distinct point on the cultural frontier, being both totally modern and perfectly rural. Just two minutes south of town is a border station on the way to Mexico. And less than an hour away is Big Bend National Park, one of the great undiscovered places in America.

Where else can you experience the unexpected magic of riding a bicycle in the moonlight through a desert town's only (blinking) stoplight, find a hidden garden party through maps projected on the town's 1800's-era walls, take a school bus excursion to ancient sites and expansive western vistas, or watch movies under stars so close you can touch them?

directions

Getting to Marfa by Car
From the East: Take Interstate 10 West to Ft. Stockton. Exit onto Highway 67 South. Travel 47 miles. Highway 67 South will then connect with Highway 90 West. Continue on Highway 67/90 for 34 miles.Until you reach Marfa. Driving time: approximately 7 hours from San Antonio or Austin; 10 hours from Houston or Dallas.

From the West: Take Interstate 10 East to Van Horn. Exit onto Highway 90 East. Travel 74 miles into Marfa. Driving time: approximately 3 hours from El Paso, Texas. Please note that El Paso is in Mountain Time Zone, Marfa in Central Time Zone.

From the North: From Midland/Odessa, take Interstate 20 West to Pecos. In Pecos, turn left onto Highway 17 South. Take Highway 17 South through Balmorrhea, Ft. Davis and into Marfa. Driving time: approximately 3 hours from Midland/Odessa.

From the South: Take Highway 67 North from Presidio to Marfa

Getting to Marfa by Air, Rail, or Bus:
The closest major airports are located in El Paso and Midland/Odessa. Marfa is approximately 200 miles from both cities. El Paso is serviced by American, Continental, Delta, and Southwest Airlines. Midland/Odessa is serviced by Southwest Airlines, American Eagle and Continental Airlines. Major car rental agencies are located at both airports.

http://www.elpasointernationalairport.com/ (El Paso)

http://www.flymaf.com/ (Midland Airport)

http://www.airnav.com/airport/KMRF (Marfa Municipal)

The Marfa airport is located three miles north of town and can service most small jets and jet-prop aircraft.
There are a few charter companies that service Marfa:
Aircraft Charter Services: 1.888.ALL.JETS
Air Transport, El Paso: 432.772.1448
Airway: 815.235.3256
American Jet International, Houston: 713.644.4359
Jet Aviation, Dallas: 214.350.8523

Amtrak offers regular rail service to Alpine, which is approximately 26 miles east of Marfa. Greyhound offers daily connections from El Paso and Midland/Odessa to Van Horn (74 miles Northwest of Marfa.)

nature

Those interested in nature and scenery are in for a wonderful time. All around Marfa is a varied and pristine high desert landscape full of grassy plateaus rolling off to the horizon or set against gorgeous purple mountains. And just an hour to the south is Big Bend National Park, one of the most unseen and exotic destinations in the US. For anyone who's been to parks like Zion and Bryce Canyon, Big Bend rivals them for drama and inspiration. Many prefer it to other parks because its so incredibly remote and unspoiled.

links

http://www.marfa.org/blog/2007_01_01_marfaorg_archive.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa,_Texas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marfa_lights

http://www.texasescapes.com/TOWNS/Marfa_Texas/Marfa.htm

http://www.marfapublicradio.org/

http://www.acfnewsource.org/art/art_in_marfa.html

http://www.chinati.org/

http://www.juddfoundation.org/

http://www.marfabookco.com/marfabk_store.html

http://www.nps.gov/bibe/

http://www.visitbigbend.com/

http://www.texasescapes.com/WestTexasTowns/TerlinguaTexas/TerlinguaTx.htm

http://www.as.utexas.edu/mcdonald/mcdonald.html

http://www.nps.gov/foda/

http://journal.davidbyrne.com/2006/07/7406.html

http://cigarettesandredvines.com/film.php?id=OL2

http://www.marfa.org/photos.marfa.org/thumbnails.php?album=7

http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A273382