Roden Crater

Roden Crater is a cinder cone type of volcanic cone from an extinct volcano, with a remaining interior volcanic crater. It is located approximately 50 miles northeast of the city of Flagstaff in northern Arizona, United States.

Art project

Artist James Turrell acquired the 400,000-year-old, crater's land for a land art project. Turrell has since been transforming the inner cone of the crater into a massive naked-eye observatory, designed specifically for viewing and experiencing sky-light, solar, and celestial phenomena. The fleeting winter and summer solstice events will be highlighted. Kanye West filmed his 2019 movie Jesus Is King at Roden Crater.
In 2019, Arizona State University partnered with James Turrell to collaborate on the project with the help of a 1.8 million dollar gift. The project, referred to as the "ASU-Roden Crater Project" at ASU, is currently centered at the Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, and hopes to foster interdisciplinary collaboration between the arts and sciences. Courses at ASU, including one titled "Indigenous Stories and Sky Science" taught by Professor Dalla Costa have already begun including the Roden Crater into their curriculum.

Future

The Dia Art Foundation is continuing to advocate for the development of James Turrell's Roden Crater project in the Painted Desert in Arizona which was begun in the 1970s with Dia's support. James Turrell, who purchased the Roden Crater in 1979, had plans to open the crater for public viewing in 2011, then later tentatively set the opening for 2024. As of August 2025, the New York Times reported that Roden Crater was still unfinished.

2015 fundraising tours

A one-time fundraising event held from May 14 to 17, 2015, allowed visitors to tour Roden Crater for a cost of $6,500 to Turrell's nonprofit organization.