EL PASO, Texas (AP) – Texas is backing off its claim that an art installation resembling a luxury Prada store in the middle of the desert is an illegal roadside advertisement.
The Texas Department of Transportation tells The Associated Press it reached an agreement with the group managing the Prada Marfa.
The structure resembles Prada stores in the world’s major fashion capitals that sell the luxury Italian brand’s purses and other products. The Prada Marfa, however, sits along a rural highway about 40 miles from Marfa, a small town in the West Texas desert.
The department says the Ballroom Marfa Foundation obtained a lease for the land, and the Prada Marfa is now considered a museum.
It was scrutinized last year after Playboy installed a 40-foot neon bunny along the roadway. It was later removed.