In 1974, sculptor Donald Judd began working with the Dia Art Foundation to purchase Fort D. A. Russell, built on the outskirts of Marfa, Texas in 1911-1922 and abandoned in 1946.  Many other government military sites, abandoned after World War II, were “decommissioned” in the 1950’s and 60’s.  Judd’s vision for the 340 acre Fort Russell site was not restoration, but creating “a museum in which art, buildings, and the natural environment form a unity.” 

Pamela Hawkes and objects conservator Wendy Jesup and Associates completed a Conservation Assessment for three buildings on the campus: the Arena, Barracks 3 and the Ice Plant.  This rapid and targeted study was prepared for the Chinati Foundation and funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, administered by the Foundation of the American Institute for Conservation (FAIC).   the assessment report established priorities for conservation of the collections and structures, based on Judd’s philosophy for the site’s natural, built and artistic resources.