Due to required maintenance, dawn and dusk experiences of C.A.V.U are temporarily unavailable. C.A.V.U remains open to visitors during museum hours with its dome closed.

Thirty years in the making, James Turrell’s largest free-standing circular Skyspace in North America — titled C.A.V.U. — measures 40 feet in diameter and 40 feet high. This repurposed concrete water tank transforms into one of Turrell’s signature immersive light installations, carving out a small piece of the sky and framing it as a canvas with infinite depth.

“I can make the sky any color you choose.” — James Turrell

During mid-day, the dome is sealed and the space is transformed into a tightly-controlled multisensory environment, with light projected across the cylindrical interior walls and domed ceiling, and sound altered by the contours of the architecture.

C.A.V.U. joins the exhibition Into the Light, a long-term retrospective of Turrell’s work that currently includes nine light installations, making MASS MoCA the only North American institution offering a comprehensive overview of the artist’s career.

C.A.V.U. is open during museum hours with no reservations required. Photography is prohibited.

C.A.V.U. AT DAWN AND DUSK: Temporarily Unavailable

Limited reservations for James Turrell: C.A.V.U. (Skyspace) at dawn and dusk are available on a rolling basis.

Please arrive promptly by your reservation time, as entrance doors are locked and latecomers will not be able to enter the museum. After checking in at the Security desk in the front lobby, visitors begin to walk out to the Skyspace in order to arrive about 35-40 minutes before sunrise or sunset. The program ends shortly after the sun rises or sets.

At check-in, you will receive a map that indicates a full accessible pathway to the Skyspace. Please follow the path at all times as the rest of the museum is closed. The light program will begin approximately 30 minutes before sunrise. The program has concluded when the lights turn back to white. Please make your way back to the museum lobby at that time.

The work is optimally experienced when the sun is just below the horizon—in the liminal period between night and day, dark and light. As viewers look up at the oculus in the structure’s roof, the sky’s colors are altered by the artist’s light program inside, dramatically revealing the relativity of color and perception. The appearance of the sky moves between infinite and flat, reminiscent of a continuously changing painting, or at times taking on the appearance of a solid disc—almost close enough to touch.

James Turrell: C.A.V.U. is made possible by the support of an anonymous donor.

Interior of James Turrell, C.A.V.U., 2021
© James Turrell
Photo by: Arthur Evans