As part of the Artist-in-Residence program at The Chinati Foundation (a non-profit gallery dedicated to the late Donald Judd), Rita Ackermann packed her bags, headed to Texas and chronicled for BlackBook her adventures with gun smugglers, drug lords and a dog named Mouse. See full gallery.

Marfa is a rather strange place, an artful and artificial oasis in the middle of the Texan desert, three hours from the El Paso airport, a straight road to peace. When Donald Judd first traveled through Marfa as a soldier in the early ’70s, it was just another ghost town. It once housed German war prisoners and was famous for giving shape to Western movies, its vast landscape the background to many films, including There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men.

"It's time to bring it, Kara," I say to the radiant Kara Walker, who needs no prodding, as we freak across the dance floor together on the 45th story of a building overlooking Ground Zero, her metallic silver vest and long black gown flowing from side to side. This isn't exactly where one might expect to find the award-winning art legend. She is flanked on all sides by drag queens in furry fleshtones and assless gear. Nearby, James Franco chats with abstract artist Mark Bradford, while Debbie Harry, the words "Art Sells" displayed across her chest, shares a (probably dirty) joke with filmmaker John Waters, who hosted last night's New Museum Spring (Un)Gala.

Designer Jean Paul Gaultier once said, rather famously, “It’s always the badly dressed people who are the most interesting.” Here, a style gallery that begs to differ, filled with artists, eccentrics, beatniks, showgirls, gypsies, hipsters -- and one very dapper man of the cloth.