Kanye West reportedly donates $10M for art project inside Arizona volcano
Jan 16, 2019, 4:15 AM | Updated: 12:28 pm
PHOENIX – A decades-long art project in northern Arizona is reportedly getting a major financial boost from an unlikely patron: Kanye West.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the superstar rapper said he’s donating $10 million to help artist James Turrell complete his large-scale installation inside an extinct volcano.
After visiting the Roden Crater site with Turrell in December, West tweeted that it was a life-changing experience.
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 started the project in the 1970s on the southwestern edge of the Painted Desert, northeast of Flagstaff.
According to the artist’s website, the installation “consists of a series of chambers, pathways, tunnels, and openings onto the sky from within and around the crater’s surface.”
The Journal said that Turrell, who is 75, recently teamed up with Arizona State University to raise $200 million to complete the project, $40 million of which had been raised.
The Turrell Art Foundation is hoping to open the venue to the public within five years.