Classes, Lectures, Workshops, School Field Trips

Workshops, classes, lectures, special open viewings of the collection, and other events allow area residents and visitors alike a first-hand experience of the artistic vision, culture, history, and landscape that make Chinati and Marfa a unique place.

The Chinati Foundation offers programs and events throughout the year for both students and adults, many of them free of charge. Museum tours for school groups through Grade 12 are also offered free of charge. To schedule a visit to the museum, attend classes or lectures or to find out more about upcoming events, please see listings below, or contact the museum at 432 729 4362 or information@chinati.org.

Recent education events : 2012

Sunday, February 26
Bookbinding Workshop, All ages

Chinati Foundation and Marfa Book Company invite everyone to a free bookbinding workshop Sunday, February 26 from 1 - 4:00 PM at Marfa Book Company in downtown Marfa. The workshop is designed for all ages (children 8 and under should have an adult along to assist them.)

Participants will be introduced to a number of bookbinding techniques and produce their own books and journals during the workshop. No previous experience is necessary and all materials will be supplied.

Recent education events : 2011

Tuesday, December 27 - Friday, December 30
Free Holiday Workshops Ages Pre-School through Grade 8 FREE

Chinati invites area students ages Pre-School through Grade 8 to our fourth annual holiday workshops. All classes will take place on the museum grounds, with visits to exhibition spaces and related hands-on activities and projects. A special student art exhibition, free and open to the public, will be held on the last day of class, Friday, December 30.

Friday, December 30, 5 - 6:00 PM, FREE
Holiday Workshop Student Exhibition

The Chinati Foundation will host a public exhibition of student artwork made during the Annual Holiday workshops, with festivities and refreshments for everyone to enjoy. The event is free and everyone is invited.

November 20
Lawrence Weschler
6:00 PM Community Potluck. Bring a covered dish or drink to share. 7:00 PM Uncanny Valley: On the Digital Animation of the Face, a talk by Lawrence Weschler Crowley Theatre FREE

November 25
Chinati at Sunset
5:30 - 6:30 PM $10 admission, free for museum members and local residents. Reserve a ticket now.

Everyone is invited to a special, evening viewing of Donald Judd's 100 untitled works in mill aluminum and 15 untitled works in concrete on Friday, November 25, from 5:30 - 6:30 PM.

November 25
Vera Lutter, Artist Talk 7:30 PM, Marfa Book Company FREE

September 4
Sunrise at Chinati & Desert Nature Walk

7 - 8:30 AM A special open viewing of Donald Judd's 100 works in mill aluminum and 15 works in concrete during daybreak. 9 - 10:30 AM A desert nature walk on the museum grounds led by the Presidio County and Marfa 4-H Club Intermediate Grass Identification Team and the Tierra Grande chapter of Texas Master Naturalists with assistance from Chinati education staff. Participants will explore the open grassland located on the museum grounds. All ages are welcome.

July 9
Summer Art Class Student Exhibition and Ice Cream Social, The Arena

May 1
Community Day: free brunch by Marfa's Miniature Rooster, open viewing of the collection, hands-on art projects in the Arena, and lectures by Thomas Kellein, Director; Rob Weiner, Curator-at-Large; and special guest historian Lonn Taylor.

April 2
Sunset at Chinati

March 20
"I am a Painter", slide lecture by artist Rackstraw Downes and community potluck, Crowley Theatre

Recent education events : 2010

December 20 - 24
Holiday Workshops: Five festive days of free art workshops for ages Pre-School through adult. Kite-making, sound and light projects, found object collage, and film screening.

October 30
Transfer!Transfer! Free Printmaking Workshop with printmaker and Chinati intern, Natalie Good, Ice Plant, downtown Marfa. All ages. This printmaking technique uses ordinary, non-toxic materials to transfer any photocopied image to another surface like paper, wood or fabric.

June 20
Special Exhibitions closing. Marianne Stockebrand, Director. A free talk on Chinati's 2009 - 2010 special exhibitions: Donald Judd's untitled "Progressions" and preparatory drawings for his 15 untitled works in concrete.

June 14 - July 2
Free Summer Art Classes, ages Kindergarten through Grade 8. Ice Plant, downtown Marfa. Exhibition Opening Friday, July 2

May 23
Community Day; free brunch, open viewing of the collection, hands-on art activities led by Chinati staff and local artists. 10 AM - 3 PM

March 8 - 12
Free Spring Break Workshop, for students 2nd - 6th grade. Special performance for parents and families Friday, March 12.

February 8 - May 4
Poetry and Bookmaking Workshop, a collaboration with Marfa High School, Friends of the Marfa Public Library and Ballroom Marfa. An eight -week, in-school poetry workshop for Marfa High students, taught by Emma Perry during her internship at Chinati. Students produced new poems and created a small edition of hand-bound books, sold to benefit Marfa Jr/Sr High student fund. Students presented their work at a public reading at the Marfa Book Company.

Educational and public programming is supported with generous grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, Elke and Wilhelm Hoppe Endowment, Texas Commission on the Arts, the George & Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation, the Carl B. & Florence E. King Foundation, Union Pacific Foundation, and the Trull Foundation. Chinati also acknowledges the generous financial and in-kind contributions of the people of Marfa.