Kanye West to donate $10 million to volcano crater art project
The funds will support James Turrell, who has been embedding art pieces into an extinct volcano in northern Arizona for more than four decades
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Your support makes all the difference.Kanye West has said he will donate $10m to the Turrell Art Foundation.
The funds will aid the Roden Crater Project, which supports the work of James Turrell, who has been embedding art pieces into an extinct volcano in northern Arizona for more than four decades, according to the Wall Street Journal.
West visited Roden Crater on 11 December, tweeting two days later that he found the experience to be “life-changing”, adding that one day “we will all live in Turrell spaces”. He returned a few days later with his team.
Since 1977, Turrell has been carving an open-air observatory into the volcano crater northeast of Flagstaff, creating tunnels that lead into huge, temple-like rooms.
Slits and openings in the ceilings of the rooms allow in light that changes the hue of the room depending on the time of day.
So far, the foundation has raised $40m, with hopes to turn the area into a creative campus with an amphitheatre and residencies. The goal is to open in five years.
The musician has championed several contemporary artists in the past, including Takashi Murakami and Vanessa Beecroft.
Turrell said he is “thrilled” by the gift at a “critical juncture of the project”.
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