Rothko Chapel

The chapel began as part of Philip Johnson's campus plan for the University of St. Thomas. When John and Dominique de Menil ended their tie to the university, it became their first independent project, a room built for fourteen paintings by Mark Rothko. The room is windowless and octagonal. Triptychs of abutted canvases hang on the north, east and west walls, a single canvas on the south wall and four more on the diagonals, in deep brown, purplish red and black. The skylight the artist insisted on lit the paintings poorly, and a baffle was added in 1978.

The chapel is open to people of every faith or none. It has held ceremonies for human rights, and the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. was observed there each year until it became a national holiday. Opposite the entrance, Barnett Newman's Broken Obelisk stands in a reflecting pool. John de Menil bought the twenty-six-foot Cor-Ten steel work in 1968 and dedicated it to King, who was killed that year.

Visitors begin across Sul Ross Street at the Suzanne Deal Booth Welcome House. The chapel closes about twice a month for programs and private services, and posts its hours a week ahead.