It’s not often that viewing a work of art requires you to drive miles of dirt roads and bring food, water, and a full tank of gas. Nancy Holt’s acclaimed 1973 land art installation Sun Tunnels sits in a remote stretch of Utah’s West Desert so vast and silent that “it’s almost otherworldly,” says Emily Lawhead, associate curator of modern and contemporary art at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts.
Composed of four 18-foot-long, 9-foot-diameter concrete cylinders arranged in an X, Sun Tunnels focuses the landscape like a lens, Lawhead explains. At the summer and winter solstices, the tunnels perfectly center the rising and setting sun.
The University of Utah has played a proud role in the work’s past and present. During the planning stages, Holt borrowed a helioscope from the U’s School of Architecture and worked with U astrophysicist Les Fishbone to calculate the solstice angles. Today, UMFA partners with Dia Art Foundation (owner and steward of Sun Tunnels), the Holt/Smithson Foundation, and the Center for Land Use Interpretation to preserve and champion the installation. UMFA also hosts site events and offers downloadable guides for those who want to explore on their own.
Annie Burbidge Ream BA’08 MA’25, UMFA co-director of learning and engagement, suggests visiting on a day other than the solstices. Smaller crowds mean more time and space to experience the work.
“Instead of just looking at it from afar, you get to walk in it and be a part of it,” she says. “It helps you connect to art in a whole new way.”
Visit umfa.utah.edu/sun-tunnels for more information, guides, and upcoming events.
Nancy Holt, Sun Tunnels, 1973–76. Great Basin Desert, Utah. Dia Art Foundation with support from Holt/Smithson Foundation. © Holt/Smithson Foundation and Dia Art Foundation/Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo: Victoria Sambunaris, courtesy Dia Art Foundation, New York
Watch a short film about Nancy Holt and her land art masterpiece below.
This is a wonderful video about The Sun Tunnels. I’ve visited several times, but I loved learning so much more about it.
I do wish the video didn’t have so many typos in the subtitles/captions. I see this everywhere, but I wish more organizations would consider being more careful about it.