It's true. The state of Utah now owns Spiral Jetty. For the last decade, the Dia Foundation has paid Utah's Department of Natural Resources $250 a year to maintain the 20-year lease on the land surrounding the earthwork. In February, the Dia received and paid its annual invoice, only to have the payment returned in June with a note that the lease had expired--a fact that had somehow escaped everyone's attention, including the DNR's. According to an article by Jennifer Dobner of the Associated Press, the oversight may have occurred due to the fact that the DNR's Sovereign Lands coordinator, Dave Grierson--the man who should have sent Dia a notice about the lease renewal--passed away last year. Conspiracy theories about drilling aside, the Dia maintains that it has a "collegial" working relationship with the DNR and that they are in the process of re-negotiating the lease. But for the moment, the Jetty belongs to Utah, a fact that has the art community unsettled.
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