The Roden Crater, as seen from the air, is a cinder cone, a quiescent mound of volcanic debris in northeast Arizona at the edge of the Painted Desert. It is also an environmental art and land management project by artist James Turrell, who is creating from the Roden Crater a new kind of observatory for viewing the sky--sunset, full moon, clouds, the midday sun, light itself--in an intensified, altered way. Turrell is subtly changing the crater in several ways to compel visitors visitors to see the magic in a sky we normally take for granted. He is reshaping the bowl, constructing walkways for viewing the surrounding panorama, and carving several small chambers, or spaces, out of the surface to capture the elusive properties of the sky's light as it interacts with the earth and changes according to the hour of the day and time of year. The project, which has received support from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, also seeks to restore the integrity of the surrounding landscape, with attention to its capacities to support human life and nature. Massive in scale and in its ambitions, this work is a reminder of the possibilities of profound, contemplative human engagements with the natural world.

The Roden Crater, as seen from the air, is a cinder cone, a quiescent mound of volcanic debris in northeast Arizona at the edge of the Painted Desert. It is also an environmental art and land management project by artist James Turrell, who is creating from the Roden Crater a new kind of observatory for viewing the sky--sunset, full moon, clouds, the midday sun, light itself--in an intensified, altered way. Turrell is subtly changing the crater in several ways to compel visitors visitors to see the magic in a sky we normally take for granted. He is reshaping the bowl, constructing walkways for viewing the surrounding panorama, and carving several small chambers, or spaces, out of the surface to capture the elusive properties of the sky's light as it interacts with the earth and changes according to the hour of the day and time of year. The project, which has received support from the Nathan Cummings Foundation, also seeks to restore the integrity of the surrounding landscape, with attention to its capacities to support human life and nature. Massive in scale and in its ambitions, this work is a reminder of the possibilities of profound, contemplative human engagements with the natural world.