Goldwell Open Air Museum, Desert sculpture park in Nye County, United States.
Goldwell Open Air Museum is a 7.8-acre outdoor sculpture park near the ghost town of Rhyolite, Nevada. Its first work, The Last Supper, is a group of life-sized plaster figures arranged as in Leonardo da Vinci's painting. Nearby stand Ghost Rider, a plaster figure about to mount a bicycle, and Desert Flower, an assemblage of chrome car parts. The site also holds the Red Barn Art Center, a 2,250-square-foot studio and exhibition space.
Albert Szukalski, a Belgian artist, placed his first sculptures near Rhyolite's abandoned railway station in 1984, including The Last Supper, made by draping plaster-soaked burlap over live models. The nonprofit museum was organized in 2000, after his death. Other artists, among them three more Belgians, added works until 2007, among them Hugo Heyrman's Lady Desert and Fred Bervoets's Tribute to Shorty Harris.
The site's name comes from the Goldwell family, and its works are tied to the Belgian artist Albert Szukalski, who made The Last Supper and Ghost Rider in 1984. Each October the Red Barn Art Center hosts Albert's Tarantella, an arts festival named for him. Near the art center stand the ruins of a jail and other buildings of the mining town of Bullfrog.
The 7.8-acre site lies at the northern end of the Amargosa Valley, about 4 miles west of Beatty off State Route 374 and 5 miles east of Death Valley National Park. The ground is flat, sandy and open, with the Red Barn Art Center and the Bullfrog jail ruins near the entrance. The sculptures stand outdoors with no shelter, so bring water, sun protection and a hat.
The Red Barn Art Center, a 2,250-square-foot studio and exhibition space, hosts the annual Albert's Tarantella arts festival each October. Near it stand the ruins of a jail and other buildings from the historic mining town of Bullfrog.
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