Walter De Maria, The New York Earth Room
141 Wooster Street New York City
Walter De Maria, The New York Earth Room, 1977. © Estate of Walter De Maria. Photo: John Cliett
Overview
An interior earth sculpture.
250 cubic yards of earth (197 cubic meters)
3,600 square feet of floor space (335 square meters)
22 inch depth of material (56 centimeters)
Total weight of sculpture: 280,000 lbs. (127,300 kilos)
The New York Earth Room (1977) is the third Earth Room sculpture executed by the artist, the first being in Munich in 1968. The second was installed at the Hessisches Landesmuseum in Darmstadt, West Germany, in 1974. The first two works no longer exist.
The New York Earth Room has been on long-term view to the public since 1977. This work was commissioned and is maintained by Dia Art Foundation.
Hours
Wednesday–Sunday, 12–6 pm
Closed 3–3:30 pm daily
Closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day
Admission
Admission is free
Photography is not permitted.
The New York Earth Room has additional health and safety protocols in place due to COVID-19. For more information please read our visitor guidelines.
Visitor Information
Visiting The New York Earth Room
One party will be admitted at a time with a maximum of four visitors per party.
In compliance with the New York City mandate, to enter The New York Earth Room all visitors 12 and older are now required to show 1) proof that they have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 2) a valid I.D. Your safety, and that of our team, continue to be our top priority, so at this time we also still require staff and visitors to wear masks.
Proof of vaccination may include:
- NYC COVID Safe app: Android | iOS
- Excelsior Pass
- CDC Vaccination Card (or photo of card)
- NYC Vaccination Record
- An official immunization record from outside NYC or the U.S.
Valid I.D. includes your name accompanied by a photograph OR your date of birth, such as:
- Driver’s license
- Government I.D. card
- IDNYC card
- Passport
- School I.D. card
All out-of-state visitors must follow all applicable health and safety protocols required by the New York State COVID-19 Travel Advisory, which may include quarantine.
Visitors are asked to refrain from entering if, over the last fourteen days, they have had symptoms of or tested positive with COVID-19 or been in close contact with someone diagnosed with COVID-19.
Visitor Guidelines
- Be considerate of fellow visitors and staff
- Face covering required for all visitors over the age of two
- Social distancing is required; social-distancing markers are in place at the visitor entrance
- No food or beverages permitted in the galleries
- No large bags permitted in the galleries
- High-touch surfaces are cleaned throughout the day following CDC guidelines
- Use of hand sanitizer is required upon entry
- Visitors should practice good hygiene by coughing or sneezing into their elbows; tissues should be disposed of immediately; please wash hands for at least twenty seconds
- A no-touch or low-touch visitor experience will be provided; artist information is available online via QR codes and entry doors opened by staff or propped open
- Staff is required to pass a health monitoring questionnaire each day prior to coming on-site and is required to wear face coverings within Dia's spaces
- Dia will cooperate with local and state authorities to provide contact information as required for contact tracing
In the interest of your personal safety and the community’s health, Dia requires that all visitors observe the precautions listed above. We reserve the right to request that visitors who are not following these guidelines leave the premises.
An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. By visiting Dia’s sites, you voluntarily assume all risks related to exposure to COVID-19.
Artist
Walter De Maria
Walter De Maria was born in Albany, California, in 1935. He died in Los Angeles in 2013.
Related Sites
Books
Photo: Don Stahl
Artists on Walter De Maria
Artists on Walter De Maria is the second installment in a series culled from Dia Art Foundation’s Artists on Artists lectures, focused on the work of artist Walter De Maria. It features contributions from Richard Aldrich, Jeanne Dunning, Guillermo Faivovich and Nicolás Goldberg, and Terry Winters.
Walter De Maria: The New York Earth Room Poster
Full-color offset poster Created to celebrate the public opening of Walter De Maria’s The New York Earth Room on January 1, 1980.