New York, New York, December 17, 2024 – Dia is pleased to announce that Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970) has been added to the National Register of Historic Places. Considered one of the most important works of Land art in the world, Spiral Jetty is located at Rozel Point peninsula on the northeastern shore of Great Salt Lake, Utah. Using over six thousand tons of black basalt rocks and earth from the area, Smithson formed a coil 1,500 feet long and 15 feet wide that winds counterclockwise off the shore into the water.

In 1999, through the generosity of artist Nancy Holt, Smithson’s wife, with the Estate of Robert Smithson, the artwork was donated to Dia Art Foundation to join the institution’s constellation of sites. Dia stewards the artwork in partnership with the Great Salt Lake Institute at Westminster University, Holt/Smithson Foundation, and the Utah Museum of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, to further advocate for Spiral Jetty. Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands has also provided invaluable support in the maintenance of the site.

“We are delighted that Spiral Jetty has received this important recognition, which will help us spread awareness of the iconic artwork and advocate for its long-term preservation. In the 54 years that Spiral Jetty has existed, it has been both submerged by the Great Salt Lake and stood far from the lake front, bearing witness to the changing landscape around it. Beloved in Utah and far beyond, this artwork has come to mean many things to many people, and we are proud to continue our work caring and advocating for Spiral Jetty to preserve it for generations to come,” said Jessica Morgan, Dia’s Nathalie de Gunzburg Director.

“Spiral Jetty’s induction into the National Register of Historic Places acknowledges and augments our commitment to care for this singular work in perpetuity, enhancing its recognition onto the national level. The protective review afforded by the National Register designation further advances our efforts to preserve Spiral Jetty as Smithson intended and elevates the work of our local partners in conserving the natural environment of the Great Salt Lake, which is integral to the work itself. Spiral Jetty—quite literally the most pathbreaking example of Land art in the world—is already recognized as the state of Utah’s official work of art, signaling its renown on a local level, which is now appropriately magnified by this national honor,” said Jordan Carter, Dia’s curator and co–department head.

“In the past couple of decades, we have seen increasing awareness of Spiral Jetty, so I was excited when Dia discussed with us at the Utah State Historic Preservation Office the possibility of nominating it to the National Register of Historic Places. It was obvious to me that this was not only of local significance but of national significance as well. The nomination author, Amy Reid, did an exceptional job of writing a focused history and narrative of the great importance of this work of Land art and we are pleased to see it finally receive this honor!” said Cory Jensen, National Register and Survey Coordinator, Utah State Historic Preservation Office.

About the National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.

About Dia Art Foundation

Taking its name from the Greek word meaning “through,” Dia was established in 1974 with the mission to serve as a conduit for artists to realize ambitious new projects, unmediated by overt interpretation and uncurbed by the limitations of more traditional museums and galleries. Dia’s programming fosters contemplative and sustained consideration of a single artist’s body of work and its collection is distinguished by the deep and longstanding relationships that the nonprofit has cultivated with artists whose work came to prominence particularly in the 1960s and ’70s. 

In addition to Dia Beacon, Dia Bridgehampton, and Dia Chelsea, Dia maintains and operates a constellation of commissions, long-term installations, and site-specific projects, notably focused on Land art, nationally and internationally. These include: 

• Walter De Maria’s The New York Earth Room (1977) and The Broken Kilometer (1979), Max Neuhaus’s Times Square (1977), and Joseph Beuys’s 7000 Eichen(7000 Oaks, inaugurated in 1982 and ongoing), all located in New York
• De Maria’s The Lightning Field (1977), in western New Mexico
• Robert Smithson’s Spiral Jetty (1970), in the Great Salt Lake, Utah
• Nancy Holt’s Sun Tunnels (1973–76), in the Great Basin Desert, Utah
• De Maria’s The Vertical Earth Kilometer (1977), in Kassel, Germany 
• Cameron Rowland’s Depreciation (2018)

For additional information or materials, contact: 

(U.S. press inquiries)
Hannah Gompertz, Dia Art Foundation, hgompertz@diaart.org, +1 212 293 5598
Melissa Parsoff, Parsoff Communications, mparsoff@parsoff-communications.com, +1 516 445 5899

(International press inquiries)
Sam Talbot, sam@sam-talbot.com, +44 (0) 772 5184 630