*Kanye West was so inspired by the light-infused installations of artist James Turrell at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, that on Monday, the rap star announced plans to gift $10 million to the Turrell Art Foundation to help fund Roden Crater Project in an extinct volcano in Arizona.
Turrell has been transforming the land into a series of rooms and tunnels since the ’70s. Kanye visited Roden Crater on Dec. 11. Days later he tweeted that the experience was “life-changing,” adding that one day “we will all live in Turrell spaces.”
Went to visit the James Turrell crater two days ago. This is life changing. We all will live in Turrell spaces
— ye (@kanyewest) December 13, 2018
Turrell’s website describes the project as: “Organised as a distinct set of changing experiences of light, Turrell’s intervention in the natural form of Roden Crater consists of a series of chambers, pathways, tunnels, and openings onto the sky from within and around the crater’s surface.”
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, West said he wants the Roden Crater Project to be “experienced and enjoyed for eternity.”
Kanye and team visiting the Roden Crater by James Turrell in Flagstaff, Arizona earlier this week.
Kanye also visited the location on December 11. pic.twitter.com/4rySiP5Ujs
— TeamKanyeDaily (@TeamKanyeDaily) December 21, 2018
Per WSJ:
Turrell, who is 75 years old, is under pressure to finish his project after years of off-and-on funding. He recently teamed up with Arizona State University to raise $200 million to help complete his artistic projects at the site and also turn the 2.5-mile-wide crater into a creative campus with an amphitheater and residencies. Thus far $40 million has been raised. The goal is to open to the public in five years, the foundation said.
Turrell was reportedly “thrilled” with West’s donation at a “critical juncture of the project.”
Meanwhile, in related news, Kim Kardashian has confirmed that her fourth child with Kanye will be a baby boy via surrogate.
