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| In December 2006, Heizer discovered a rock at Stone Valley Quarry in Jurupa Valley (Riverside County, California). With the help of LACMA director Michael Govan, funding was secured for the boulder's removal and transportation and for the construction of the finished work at the museum. The cost of the project has been estimated at $10 million, and was funded entirely via private donations. |
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| The 340-ton boulder is affixed above a concrete trench through which visitors may walk. The nature, expense and scale of the installation made it an instant topic of discussion within the art world. |
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| Michael Heizer, born 1944 |
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| John Bowsher, right, was instrumental in guiding artist Michael Heizer's "big rock," on its 11-night journey from a remote Riverside quarry to the Mid-Wilshire LACMA campus in order to install the 2011 sculpture, "Levitated Mass." The artwork, with the boulder at its center, now presides over the museum grounds north of the Resnick Pavilion. |