Artist Michael Heizer’s ‘City’ will open in the Nevada desert after 50 years

City, the massive complex of outdoor structures and grounds that artist Michael Heizer began building in the Nevada desert in 1970, will finally begin welcoming public visitors next month. The opening of the site on September 2, more than 50 years after work began on the site, marks the achievement of Heizer’s most ambitious and career-defining project.

For the first year of public access, only a limited number of visitors will be accepted, with advanced registration mandatory.

The creation of “City” was initially funded by Heizer himself, and eventually received the support of several influential collectors, foundations, and merchants by forming the Triple Aught Foundation in 1998, which will operate and maintain the site for years to come. The Foundation—whose board of directors includes Heiser himself, Los Angeles County Museum of Art director and CEO Michael Govan, and Museum of Modern Art director Glenn D. Created a city grant of approximately $30 million in seed funding.

“Over the years, I have sometimes compared Michael Heiser’s ‘City’ project to some of the most important landmarks and ancient cities,” Jovan says in a statement. “But now I am only comparing it to itself. It is a work of art that recognizes our fundamental motives for building and organizing space, but integrates our modernity, our perception and reasoning into the subjectivity of our human experience of time and space as well as the many histories of the civilizations we have built.”

Heiser’s quest to build a “city” has a complex history spanning five decades. The artist, 77, believes it will last for centuries. attributed to him: Mary Converse

Perhaps in response to such threats, Heiser envisioned The City as a project that would continue beyond a lifetime of even the most prized and challenging contemporary art.