From the article:

Ross called him from a payphone the next morning. “He picked up and said, ‘My son told me about it. Sounds real interesting. I’m going to a banking meeting. The plane’s waiting outside. Can you describe it in 3 minutes or less?’” Ross gave him his best elevator pitch. Culbertson asked Ross how much land he needed, which was about a square mile. “Well, hell, we got plenty of those. Drive around the ranch and pick one out,” he told him. Ross found his piece of land, up high on a mesa—an auspicious beginning.

Now, 50 years later, Ross’s life’s work, Star Axis, is finally nearing completion.

[...]

Star Axis is part observatory and part earthwork. It is a more expansive project than Ross had originally imagined, and encompasses five major components in a unified structure: Star Tunnel, Solar Pyramid, Shadow Field, the Equatorial Chamber, and the Hour Chamber.

Earlier this spring, the non-profit Land Light Foundation, set up to steward the completion of Star Axis under the leadership of CEO Jamie Clements, kicked off a fundraising goal of $5 million for the final year of construction and to help prepare for its public opening. The foundation is also working to secure an institutional partner to own, maintain, and operate the artwork (much in the way Dia stewards The Lightning Field). Star Axis plans to open to the public within the next few years.

[...]

Over the past 50 years, Charles Ross has kept a decidedly low profile. Even many Land Art enthusiasts are unaware of Star Axis and the monumental commitment it has taken to bring it to life.

[...]

This summer, the NGA will be screening Charles Ross: Where the Earth Meets the Sky, a film about Star Axis, as part of a series exploring how artists across America have been inspired by their communities and the places they call home. “Even leaving aside the sculpture for a moment, I am humbled by the moral beauty of his complete commitment, at great personal sacrifice, to seeing this extraordinary artwork’s completion,” said Feldman.

[...]

The central component of Star Axis is Star Tunnel, an 11-story stairway of 147 steps, aligned exactly parallel to the Earth’s axis. At the top of this staircase is an aperture pointed toward Polaris. As one ascends the staircase, more of the sky becomes visible, corresponding to a different point in the 26,000-year cycle of precession. Woodruff T. Sullivan, III, and Mallory Thorp, astronomers at the University of Washington, Seattle, dated the stairs from 11,000 B.C. to 15,000 A.D.

[...]

The structure of Star Axis also includes the Solar Pyramid, a 55-foot-high pink granite tetrahedron whose shape was determined by the summer and winter solstices, and acts as a giant sundial. The Solar Pyramid looks out over the Shadow Field, a bowtie-shaped field whose shape is based on all the Solar Pyramid’s daily shadows over the course of the year.

At the base of the Star Tunnel is the Equatorial Chamber, which aligns with the sun’s path on the equinox. Finally, the Hour Chamber is a sanctuary-like space that frames the movement of the stars over the course of an hour. The energies of these spaces Ross takes seriously and range from “complete stillness” of the Hour Chamber to the “anti-Feng Shui” of Star Tunnel, where “Earth’s energy is shooting right through the space.”

[...]

Star Axis is meant to be experienced both during the day and night. When it opens, small groups of visitors, by reservation only, will be brought to Star Axis at midday. Guests will then spend the night at Element House, a sustainable guest house on the property that was commissioned and built by the Museum of Outdoor Arts. At night, guests will have the chance to return to Star Axis and experience the work under a blanket of stars.

[...]

To date, Star Axis has cost upwards of $10 million and has been funded through donations, grants, the sale of Ross’s studio works, and the sale of a segment of his Wooster Street property.