BALLROOM MARFA UPCOMING EVENTS:




Dominic Welhouse: In My Room
March 26 - April 4, 2004

In late March, Ballroom Marfa will host Austin record collector Dominic Welhouse for a two-week residency and workshop entitled "In My Room: Listening to Records in Marfa, Texas". Welhouse will occupy the Ballrooms South gallery space, playing records and talking about music in a truer-than-life living room, complete with sofa, La-Z Boy, beer-fridge, stereo, and his own sizeable record collection.






Friday, April 23
Opening reception: 6 - 8 PM, at the Ballroom

Saturday, April 24
Ballroom open all day: 10AM - 7PM
Artists Discussions: 3:30 - 5PM,
at the Marfa Theatre Building
Music Performance:
Stereo Total & Virgin Tears: 10PM

OPTIMO Artists:
Polly Apfelbaum
Martin Creed
Karen Finley
Forcefield
Emily Jacir
Beatriz Milhazes
Takashi Murakami
Adam Pendleton
Leo Villareal

To celebrate the official opening of Ballroom Marfa, a new cultural center in Marfa, Texas, independent curator Alexander Gray and the Ballroom staff have organized the group exhibition, OPTIMO: Manifestations of Optimism in Contemporary Art.

Mirroring the vision of the Ballroom itself, a non profit cultural space founded on the belief that art can impact the human spirit positively, OPTIMO brings together nine artists whose work celebrates life, incorporating visual pleasure, humor, interactivity, color, technology, industrial design, politics, landscape, spirituality and popular culture. The exhibition includes site-specific installations, performance-based work, painting, video, photography, and sculpture.

The exhibition is composed of works by leading artists from around the globe. New York-based Polly Apfelbaum presents her signature fabric floor sculptures, which morph nature and culture into bold abstract forms. Martin Creed, the London-based conceptualist who was awarded the prestigious Turner Prize in 2001, exhibits his piece: Work No. 200 (half the air in a given space), an interactive, room-sized installation of balloons. Karen Finley contributes Psychic Portraits, a collection of drawings produced by this performance artist during psychic readings (sessions) with Ballroom audience members (readings will be available by appointment during the opening weekend). Providence, Rhode Island is home to the collective Forcefield, whose experimental music, performance and fashion design come together in a series of irreverent and playful music videos. Palestinian Emily Jacir’s hypnotic video installation takes a meditative gaze at the daily ritual of border crossing in Surdna. Brazilian painter Beatriz Milhazes’s brightly colored, baroque abstractions balance the micro and marco with dizzying surfaces and patterns. Japanese pop artist Takashi Murakami reinstalls his gigantic eyeball balloons, last seen in Rockefeller Center, having the balloons suspended above the Ballroom will be a humorous and quirky addition to the West Texas landscape. Adam Pendleton, a New York-based installation artist, takes a cue from the writer Reinaldo Arenas in an audio installation that invites written participation from the viewer. Native Texan Leo Villareal exhibits a site-specific, digital light installation that shimmers and glows, referencing the endless sunrises and sunsets of the West Texas sky.

The festivities of this opening weekend will include a performance by Stereo Total, a Berlin based duo, followed by a DJ performance by the Virgin Tears whose energetic opulent style will echo the essence of this exhibition.

OPTIMO brings together artists whose work celebrates the complexities and wonders of contemporary life. These works, these artists bravely envision a future with ever-expanding possibilities.

The Ballroom, co-founded by Virginia Lebermann and Fairfax Dorn in the spring of 2003, is a non-profit space in Marfa, TX dedicated to contemporary art and culture. It is a place in which to experience varied cultural perspectives through art, music and film.

Ballroom Marfa is located at 108 E. San Antonio St./Highway 90 West. The Ballroom is open from 12pm to 7pm, Wednesday through Sunday. Admission is free, however, a $5 donation is suggested to help fund Ballroom’s programs. For more information, the public may call 432.729.360.

For more information on the April23/24 weekend in Marfa, please contact us at fairfax@ballroommarfa.org


CLICK HERE FOR PAST EVENTS . . .

CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM THE BALLROOM . . .


Making the voyage to Marfa...

Transportation:
El Paso and Midland/Odessa are the closet major airports to Marfa. It is a beautiful and painless 200 mile drive from both cities. All major car rental agencies are located at both airports.

From El Paso (approx. 3hrs): Take Interstate 10 East to Van Horn. Exit onto Highway 90 East. You will pass through lovely Valentine which is approximately 25 miles from Marfa. Once you have reached Marfa, continue East on Highway 90 through the main intersection and the Ballroom will be on your right, directly across from Town & Country gas station on E. San Antonio Street.

From Midland (approx. 3hrs): Take Interstate 10 West to Ft. Stockton. Exit onto Highway 67 South. Highway 67 South will then connect with Highway 90 West. Continue on Highway 90 and you will pass through cowboy country, Alpine. Marfa is approximately 26 miles from Alpine. Once you have reached Marfa, continue West on Highway 90 and the Ballroom will be on your left, directly across from the Town & Country gas station on E. San Antonio Street.

There is a municipal airport in Marfa (3 miles from Marfa) and one in Alpine (26 miles from Marfa) which can service most all private jets. For Marfa, call (432) 729-3700 and for Alpine, call (432) 837-1848 for further information.

Accommodations:

In Marfa:
Arcon Inn Bed & Breakfast, 432.729.4826
Hotel Paisano (www.hotelpaisano.com), 432.729.3669
Colomo's (www.colomo.org), 432.729.4023
Holiday Capri Inn, 432.729.4326
Riata Inn, 432.729.3800

Fort Davis, 21 miles north:
Butterfield Inn, 432.426.3252
Ft. Davis Motor Inn, 432.426.2112,800.803.2847
Hotel Limpia, 432.426.3237
Indian Lodge, 432.426.3254
Old Schoolhouse Bed & Breakfast 432.426.2050
Stone Village Motel, 432.426.3941, 800.649.8487
The Veranda Bed & Breakfast, 432.426.2233, 888.383.2847
Victorian Rose Bed & Breakfast, 432.426.2164
Wayside Inn Bed & Breakfast, 432.426.3535

Alpine, 26 miles east:
Antelope Lodge, 432.837.2451
Bien Venido, 432.837.3454
Best Western - Alpine Classic Inn, 432.837.1530, 800.528.1234
Days Inn Motel, 432.837.3417
Highland Inn, 432.837.5811
Holland Hotel Bed & Breakfast, 432.837.3844, 800.535.8040
Ramada Limited, 432.837.1100, 800.272.6232
Siesta County Inn, 432.837.2503
Sunday House Motor Inn, 432.837.3363, 800.510.3363

Shafter, 40 miles south:
Cibolo Creek Ranch, 432.229.3737

Marathon, 56 miles east:
The Gage Hotel, 432.386.4205, 800.884.4243


Natural Attractions:
Big Bend National Park

Cultural Attractions:
Chinati Foundation
Judd Foundation