An Oasis of Calm

Adjacent to the Trinity Trails on Edwards Ranch Road in Fort Worth, a newly commissioned installation by the internationally known artist James Turrell is under construction within Keith House, a modern-day version of a traditional meeting house.

Meeting houses exist in virtually every culture, and some are even considered to be sacred places. The art installation in Keith House will be one of Turrell’s Skyspaces—titled The Keith Skyspace, 2023. It will use light as a medium to evoke wonder and a sense of peace.

Keith House seeks to be an oasis of calm in addition to a venue available for meetings and a variety of milestone events like weddings and memorials. Located at 4814 Edwards Ranch Road (map) near The Heart of the Ranch at Clearfork, Keith House expects to open in mid-2023, according to Adelaide Leavens, executive director of Entrada of Texas and the Meta Alice Keith Bratten Foundation (pronounced “meet-ah Alice”), the nonprofits that are building the venue and will operate the facility.

Rendering of Keith House

“Keith House hopes to entice and welcome visitors to daily public experiences unlike anything else in the area,” said Leavens.

Among the gatherings Leavens expects the facility to host are community meetings, performances, conversations, wedding ceremonies, memorials, and other private event rentals.

According to Leavens, the 3,200-square-foot Keith House and its surrounding two acres of former Edwards Ranch land will offer broad appeal as a non-sectarian gathering space where the commonalities of many spiritual explorations converge, reflecting values like truth, peace, mutual respect, and the power of silence.

“In its simplicity, Keith House will make room for whatever states of mind visitors bring,” said Leavens.

Keith House and the Skyspace art installation were conceived as a “gift to the entire Fort Worth community” by the foundation established by the late Meta Alice Keith Bratten. Members of the foundation board of directors encountered Turrell’s installations in other locations, and they concluded a Skyspace would be the perfect gift, echoing the spirit of Mrs. Bratten.

Keith House interior renderings

When Keith House opens, which is expected this summer, visitors will experience Turrell’s Skyspace daily at sunrise and sunset. Guests at other Skyspace sites around the world have described them as mesmerizing plays between the sky’s changing light, which is visible through a roof-top opening, and light around the perimeter of the ceiling.

According to critics, Skyspaces embody concepts such as ancient celestial observatories, gothic cathedrals, and an innovative understanding of perception and cognition.

Raised as a semi-observant Quaker in southern California, James Turrell graduated with degrees in math and psychology from Pomona College; he began working with light as an artistic medium in the late 1960s. Many of Turrell’s works, including his Skyspaces, draw attention to light as a presence itself rather than as an incidental source of illumination of other objects.

Turrell’s works are found in leading museum collections worldwide. Just a few examples of Skyspace installations in Texas and nearby states include The Color Inside at the University of Texas Student Center in Austin, One Accord at the Live Oak Meeting House and Twilight Epiphany at Rice University in Houston, and The Way of Color at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas.

“James Turrell, whose work reveals the poetry of light, is one of the foremost artists of our time,” said Eric Lee, director of the Kimbell Art Museum. “Keith House will be a major addition to the cultural landscape of Fort Worth and the region, and will no doubt be beloved for generations to come.”

James Turrell (c) James Turrell Photo by Michel F. Sarda

In Fort Worth, below the rooftop light source at Keith House will be open floor space with movable pews on four sides, all facing the center. This area will comprise the central gathering area for up to 120 Keith House guests. There will also be a lobby, storage area, and restrooms in the building.

With construction that began in July 2022, Keith House is in a wooded setting in Clearfork on the Trinity River, accessible from the Trinity Trails, nearby retail and entertainment venues, and an adjacent parking area. Land for the building was provided by Cassco. Construction partners include Bennett Partners as architects, SpawGlass as the general contractor, and The Projects Group as project managers.

“Keith House will be a completely new experience in Fort Worth,” said Michael Bennett, Principal and CEO of Bennett Partners. “It will be a space that will help visitors consider the importance of light in our lives and how it can uplift, calm, inspire and unite us while also connecting us to faraway worlds that share their light for us to enjoy each evening. Bennett Partners is deeply honored to have a part in bringing this visionary project to Fort Worth.”

After the launch of Keith House in 2023, Entrada anticipates additional installations in and around Fort Worth. While future projects may be temporary or permanent—in any medium, fixed or mobile, subtle or monumental—all will reflect the same extensive research the nonprofit foundation put into Keith House.

“We want to find the right artists and the right locations to honor Meta Alice and Fort Worth,” Leavens concluded.

Keith House Groundbreaking with Adelaide Leavensomm