Donald Judd passed through the Marfa, TX area when he was in the military in the 1950s. Fast forward to 1979, he was an established artist in New York, who convinced the Dia Art Foundation to fund the purchase of a former calvary installation in Marfa.  The 340 acres and its many buildings was to be used to exhibit permanent large-scale installations by three artists, one being Judd himself. 

As we understand it, that's what started the whole "art thing" in Marfa.