Goldwell Open Air Museum - Rhyolite (Beatty), Nevada

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Goldwell Open Air Museum - Rhyolite (Beatty), Nevada

Sitting out in the middle on nowhere an unlikely group of prominent Belgian artists created a self-described art situation consisting of seven outdoor sculptures which are huge and unique not only in choice of material and subject but also in the placement within the upper Mojave desert.

There is the ghostly impression of the Last Supper painting by Leonardo Da Vinci which is life-sized.  There is also, made out of pink cinder block, at 25 foot tall pink woman, a 24 foot high steel prospector accompanied by a penguin; a blossoming tangle of gleaming chrome car parts; and an exquisitely carved winged woman reaching for the sun from high atop a wooden pillar.

The Last Supper was the creation of Albert Szukalski (1945-2000) who was known for many years in Europe as the sculptor of "ghosts" and a "situation maker".  He came to the Nevada desert in 1984 to create what is perhaps the most unique piece of his career.  Originally designed to endure a mere two years, "The Last Supper" sculpture has not only stood the test of time, but has lived on to become the "genesis" piece of the Goldwell Open Air Museum.

The museum is open 24 hours a day with free admission.  Parking is available onsite.

There is an on-site visitor center with exhibits and a gift shop which is open some weekends September through May.

While you are visiting the museum you may want to go on into Rhyolite.  This community was once a booming town of 10,000 people.  When the mines played out the people all moved on to other locations and lives leaving the town a virtual ghost town.

Today, it is one of the West's most spectacular ghost towns with magnificent stone ruins, well worth stopping to see.  A mission style railroad station still stands, as does the remains of the three story Cook's Bank building and a bottle house constructed from 50,000 liquor and beer bottles by a miner, Tom Kelly.

Location: The museum is located 4 miles west of Beatty off of State Hwy 374, the road that leads to Death Valley, California.  Beatty, Nevada is 115 miles north of Las Vegas on Highway 95.