The Henge

 By Ken Hartke – August 9, 2023

Address: near Roswell, New Mexico

Access:  Private property. No direct access.*

The Henge, near Roswell, New Mexico is a monumental sculpture reminiscent of the ancient dolmen and standing stone henges found in the countryside in Ireland, Wales, England, and parts of Europe. But this henge dates to 1963-64 when it was designed and created by the internationally acclaimed sculptor, Herbert J. Goldman. Goldman designed and built the structure as a more-or-less open-ended commission for local artist and oil businessman, Donald B. Anderson, for his ranch residence property. Anderson, an artist in his own right, did not give Goldman a great deal of direction, other than the location. He wanted it located close enough to his house to be visible from his bedroom window.

As Goldman came to know the Andersons, he wanted to create a structure that was monumental and reminiscent, but not a copy of, ruins and ancient structures Anderson had seen in his travels. Anderson, besides being an artist, was a successful and well-traveled oil executive who had the resources to support such a project.

The Henge takes on different forms when viewed from different angles and approaches. Its size is truly monumental — approximately 85 feet by 80 feet —  and it sits on a 150-foot square site. The structure rises about 50 feet above its base. It houses two subterranean rooms: a mural room and a throne room. The several murals were painted by Willard Midgette in a trompe l’œil style. When visitors enter the mural room, they see on the opposite wall the artist’s self-portrait looking back toward the door to see who is entering.

The henge sits on a concrete foundation and was constructed on a welded steel pipe supporting framework, covered and formed with a construction of wire mesh. Anderson employed an Albuquerque structural engineer, James Allen Innis, to review and oversee the structural integrity and strength of the project. Once the framework and mesh were added, the surfaces were sprayed with gunite, a sprayable concrete, to make it appear to be constructed with massive stone slabs. Goldman sprayed the gunite, and troweled and smoothed it to its final appearance. The structure has two observation platforms accessed by interior spiral stairs leading to the top of the structure.  The stairway and platform have a skylight effect into the interior space.

Once the surface was completed, Anderson used a bulldozer to position several large boulders and mound earth against the foundation in a way that resembles old sand dunes.

Finally, Goldman installed a relief “altar” sculptural piece at the main approach to the Henge.

Donald Anderson had a tremendous impact on the art scene in Roswell far beyond the Henge. He was the founder of the Roswell Artist-in-Residence Program (RAiR), in 1967 as well as the Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art in Roswell. RAiR selects six artists each year for a 12-month funded residency with stipend, lodging and a studio space. The Anderson Museum provides the main venue for the RAiR artists’ work for most of the past 60 years.

 View from the road

*Access — The Henge is on private property but is visible across the fields from Crooked Creek Road or La Jolla Road, about two miles outside of Roswell. If trees obstruct the view, the Crooked Creek Road offers a better view.

Competed:  1964
Architect/Builder: Herbert J. Goldman
Landscape Design: Donald B. Anderson
Structural Engineer: James Allen Innis
Contractors: Donald B. Anderson and Herbert J. Goldman

National Register of Historic Places (#100004221) 

Learn More:

The RAiR Foundation, Roswell NM

Margaret Randall on Herb Goldman

Gunite – Wikipedia

8/9/2023