“Starfire” at Powder Art Foundation Fall Open Day and Utah Museum of Fine Arts Land Art Week

On October 2, Powder Art Foundation hosted a Fall Open House at Powder Mountain in Eden, Utah, where Nancy Holt’s Starfire (1986) is permanently installed. Starfire joined the collection of Powder Art Foundation last year. The sculpture comprises eight fire pits arranged in the configuration of the Big Dipper and the North Star, bringing the sky down to earth.

The event was held in conjunction with the Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ first Land Art Week. Events included an artist talk with Lita Albuquerque at UMFA on October 1 and a community meet-up at Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970).

Visit the websites of UMFA and Powder Art Foundation to find out more.

Nancy Holt, Starfire (1986)
Installation view: Powder Mountain, Utah, 2025
Photograph: Carlson / Powder Art Foundation, 2025
Collection Powder Art Foundation

© Holt/Smithson Foundation, 2026 

Archived News

Nancy Holt’s Project Files Digitized at the Archives of American Art

The papers of Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson are held at the Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art. This series documents more than 50 projects developed by Holt from the late 1970s to the late 1990s, offering insights into her working processes and the development of her ideas from initial conception through to completion.

Soft Network Benefit Auction

We are pleased to participate in the Soft Network Benefit Auction, open on Artsy from September 23 until October 7, 2026. The auction brings together works in support of Soft Network and the Artist Foundations and Estate Leaders List (AFELL), an international network for artists and stewards of artists’ estates and legacies. Holt/Smithson Foundation has donated two rare works of art by Nancy Holt and Robert Smithson to the auction to help further this goal.