Marfa

New from local authors Louise S. O'Connor and Cecilia Thompson is Marfa, the pictorial history title dating back to 1883 when the city was originally established as a water stop for the Galveston, Harrisburg, and San Antonio Railroad.Marfa boasts more than 200 vintage photographs and chronicles area history from the development of the famous Highland Hereford that propelled local cattle ranching to a nationally recognized level to the area's remarkable blend of cultures due to its proximity to Mexico.

Doyle Dykes is one of the premier fingerstyle guitarists in the world. When guitar great Chet Atkins was asked a few years ago who he'd pay money to go see, his answer was, "People like Doyle Dykes, who is just an amazing fingerpicker, I think." He has thrilled secular and church audiences all over the world, from the Grand Ole Opry to Knebworth House in Hertfordshire, England (home of the some of the most famous rock concerts in history) to Shanghai, China; James' Burton's International Guitar Festival, Saddleback Community Church, and Harvest Christian Fellowship. But this book isn't just about his life as a guitar player. Infused into stories like how he was invited to be part of the Stamps Quartet (Elvis' backup band), why a white rose is on the headstock of his signature-model guitar, and how his worst night at the Opry turned out to be anything but, are accounts of the remarkable ways God has shown up in Doyle's life. His warm, engaging style will draw you into each chapter--and you'll finish the book having been inspired, feeling like Doyle is a new friend, and never viewing God the same way again. Includes DVD with music & interviews.

This inviting book explores how small-town Marfa, Texas, has become a landmark arts destination and tourist attraction, despite--and because of--its remote location in the immense Chihuahuan desert.

Authors Louise S. O'Connor and Cecilia Thompson present a simple encyclopedic study of the Trans-Pecos area of Texas with emphasis on Presidio County VICTORIA, Texas — In their quest to complete their study and to share a better knowledge and understanding of a part of Texas that is still somewhat a frontier, authors Louise S. O'Connor and Cecilia Thompson reveal the first volume of their book "Marfa and Presidio County, Texas: A Social, Economic, and Cultural Study 1937 to 2008 Volume One, 1937 - 1989." In a book that offers a closer look at the past and the present, readers will see how a place known as a tourist area and a center of contemporary art came to be. It returns to the pre-historic era of Far West Texas and bring readers up to the present with yearly reports on the region as well as extensive formal research and personal interviews with present day people who live in Presidio County. A case study worth reading, this book is an eye-opener for a better understanding of how this small yet historically rich land is what it is now. Packed with the economic, social, and cultural history of Presidio County; this book gives readers, both lay and the historians, a clear and complete picture of the events that lead to the preservation, industrialization, and the improvement of one of the frontiers of the United States of America.

A treasure trove of essays, recipes, and images exploring the people and food of Marfa and its premier restaurant, The Capri Cooking in Marfa introduces an unusual small town in the West Texas desert and, within it, a fine-dining oasis in a most unlikely place. The Capri excels at serving the spectrum of guests that Marfa draws, from locals and ranchers to artists, museum-board members, and discerning tourists. Featuring more than 80 recipes inspired by local products, this is the story of this unique community told through the lens of food, sharing the cuisine and characters that make The Capri a destination unto itself.

Twenty-one houses in and around Marfa, Texas, provide a glimpse at creative life and design in one of the art world’s most intriguing destinations. When Donald Judd began his Marfa project in the early 1970s, it was regarded as an idiosyncratic quest. Today, Judd is revered for his minimalist art and the stringent standards he applied to everything around him, including interiors, architecture, and furniture. The former water stop has become a mecca for artists, art pilgrims, and design aficionados drawn to the creative enclave, the permanent installations called “among the largest and most beautiful in the world,” and the austerely beautiful high-desert landscape. In keeping with Judd’s site-specific intentions, those who call Marfa home have made a choice to live in concert with their untamed, open surroundings. Marfa Modern features houses that represent unique responses to this setting—the sky, its light and sense of isolation—some that even predate Judd’s arrival. Here, conceptual artist Michael Phelan lives in a former Texaco service station with battery acid stains on the concrete floor and a twenty-foot dining table lining one wall. A chef’s modest house comes with the satisfaction of being handmade down to its side tables and bath, which expands into a private courtyard with an outdoor tub. Another artist uses the many rooms of her house, a former jail, to shift between different mediums—with Judd’s Fort D. A. Russell works always visible from her second-story sun porch. Extraordinary building costs mean that Marfa dwellers embrace a culture of frontier ingenuity and freedom from excess—salvaged metal signs become sliding doors and lengths of pipe become lighting fixtures, industrial warehouses are redesigned after the area’s white-cube galleries to create space for private or personally created art collections, and other materials are suggested by the land itself: walls are made of adobe bricks or rammed earth to form sculptural courtyards, or, in one remarkable instance, a mix of mud and brick plastered with local soils, cactus mucilage, horse manure, and straw.