City, 1970 - 2022 |
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City is a monumental sculpture by Michael Heizer located in Central Eastern Nevada. A mile and a half long and a half mile wide, it is a vast complex of shaped mounds and depressions made of compacted dirt, rock, and concrete. The City is apparently reminiscent of many ancient ceremonial constructions through its complexity and size, but its form is suggestive of the central hub or nucleus of a modern city. The City has been developed and built by the artist since 1970 until today.
The project is located in an isolated valley within the high desert of the Great Basin that has been grazing land for cattle and sheep for at least a century. Surrounded by primitive wilderness, it is near the bases of several mountain ranges of nearly 12,000 feet in elevation and near the White River, which was active during the post-Pleistocene era. The Heizer family has inhabited Nevada since the 1800s, and the City location was partly chosen by the artist because of its remoteness. Almost all elements within the City are made from basic materials—clay, sand, and rock—collected with minimally invasive means, so that the native plants and wildlife may remain undisturbed. In June of 2015, the City and the area surrounding it, 704,000 acres in total, were proclaimed the Basin and Range National Monument to safeguard the area’s unique environment for the enjoyment of future generations.
City is owned and operated by the Triple Aught Foundation, a nonprofit institution based in Nevada. Work on the City has been aided over the last fifty years by organizational and financial support from institutions around the country, including the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas; Glenstone Museum, Potomac, Maryland; Lannan Foundation, New Mexico; the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, California; and the Museum of Modern Art, New York. Many private individuals have also contributed their money and time.
Submissions for the 2023 visitation season have officially closed. The Triple Aught Foundation will open requests for the 2024 season via an online form, available January 2, 2024 at 12:01pm ET. Visitors will be accommodated on a first come, first serve basis and reservation requests will close January 31st, 2024. Only short day-trips will be possible for a maximum of six visitors ages 16 and over, with prior reservations only, and only in favorable weather. City is on private property in rural terrain, and it has no habitable structures. Visiting without a pre-arranged visit is thus potentially dangerous, and it is strictly prohibited and is trespassing. The price of a visit is $150/adult, $100/student, and is free (but with reservations still required) for residents of Lincoln, Nye, and White Pine, Nevada, counties.
To make a donation to the Triple Aught Foundation, please contact: heather@tripleaughtfoundation.org. or click here. For the press please download here or reach out to: press@
The Triple Aught Foundation thanks its generous supporters, listed alphabetically: David C. Bohnett, David Booth, Brown Foundation, Cashman Family Foundation, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Mrs. Nancy Daly, Dia Art Foundation, Suzanne Deal Booth, Virginia Dwan, Peter Freeman, Larry Gagosian, Rachel and Ephraim Gildor, Glenstone, Michael Heizer, Jill and Peter Kraus, Lannan Foundation, Dana and Gregory Lee Family Foundation, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Lowry Family, The Maurice and Paul Marciano Art Foundation, Paul Marciano Foundation, The Menil Foundation, Inc., Jarl and Pamela Mohn, The Mohn Family Trust, Miuccia Prada and Patrizio Bertelli, Presidents of the Prada Fondazione Prada, Milan, Katherine Ross and Michael Govan, Louise and Leonard Riggio, SOM, Ann G. Tenenbaum, Alice and Thomas Tisch, Barbara and Charlie Wright, Elaine P. Wynn Family Foundation and those who wish to remain anonymous.
Triple Aught Foundation respectfully acknowledges that City has been created within the ancestral territories of the Nuwu (Southern Paiute) and Newe (Western Shoshoni), who lived in and around the vicinity and call this land home, as their ancestors did before them.
A book about City project is in preparation by the artist in collaboration with Gagosian Gallery. For more information about Michael Heizer’s artwork, please contact Gagosian at info@gagosian.com or visit the artist’s webpage at https://gagosian.com/