The blog of University of Wisconsin — Madison Archives has posted a photo of the handwritten note at appeared on Frank Lloyd Wright’s progress report from 1887. The note reads: “Failed to appear in class”.
Jan 262012
All three of the major exhibitions at the museum in 2011 attracted more than 100,000 visitors.
The latest was “Impressionism: Masterworks on Paper,” which ran from Oct. 14 to Jan. 8. Museum spokeswoman Kristin Settle said more than 103,000 visited it.
She said museum attendance has exceeded 100,000 for the four of their last five exhibitions since the summer of 2010 — the first time in museum history.
The other more popular ones were the “Summer of China” exhibitions, “Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century” and “American Quilts.”
Jan 162012
Mark Hertzberg was written a longer blog post on Adelman’s life and the story of how he got his Wright house reasonably close to his budget.
Two original Wright-designed windows from the Lake Geneva Hotel have had a semi-homecoming — long held in storage at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning they have now been installed in the Lake Geneva Public Library.
The Lake Geneva Public Library was built in the 1950 by a Wright student, draftsman and friend, James Dresser (Wright gave hs daughter Barbara away at her wedding, and once publicly praised Dresser’s design for the library).
The University still has other windows from the hotel, including the better-known tulip design.
The Lake Geneva Hotel was designed in 1911, one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s projects with Arthur Richards (projects that included the American System-Built homes) and was demolished in 1970. This site has a number of images from the length of the hotel’s life.
Oct 292011
The New York Times has published an article on visiting Wisconsin to see Frank Lloyd Wright’s buildings. That’s what the headline claims, anyway — I refused to read anything after the opening sentences:
WHEN I told my friends that I was planning a family vacation in Wisconsin, I received either blank stares or teasing comments about the admittedly unsexy specialties for which the state is known. There was mention of cows and cornfields and cheese curds. Yet Wisconsin is also Frank Lloyd Wright country, the place where he was born and reared and to which he kept returning. To travel there is to marvel at the contrast between the calm landscape and the delirious inventiveness of his work.
Yeah, thank God for Wright, otherwise Wisconsin would be nothing but cheese, cow turds and dells. At least NYC has Wall St. bankers and Yankees fans.
My theory is that the Travel section editor was tired of David Brooks and Thomas Friedman being the biggest jackasses on the payroll. Or, like the cosmological turtle, it’s just jackasses all the way down at 620 8th Avenue.
Oct 242011
The Wauwatosa Patch has posted a video on the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church, on of Wright’s last designs and one of his most radical.
Interviewed in the video is Construction Supervisor John Ottenheimer. Listen to him at about the 3:10 mark — his comments are reminiscent of the legendary story of Wright’s “on the fly” design of Fallingwater.
This is great introduction to an under-appreciated masterpiece.
Oct 182011
Mark Hertzberg’s newest post to Wright in Racine: window restoration at the SC Johnson Administration Building
For the new readers of this site, Mark is a journalist living in Racine Wisconsin and covering the developments of the Wright buildings in his area. As a professional journalist and photographer, his site is the best source for information on Wright’s dramatic and unique SC Johnson campus. If you have not been to his site before, be sure to read his post on the Price Tower in Oklahoma — it’s a great introduction to one of Wright’s most interesting, under appreciated buildings.
Mark is the author of three books on Wright’s work in Racine: Wright in Racine, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hardy House and Frank Lloyd Wright’s SC Johnson Research Tower.
Oct 172011
To commemorate Taliesin’s centennial, the company Tour de Force 360VR has created an interactive tour of Wright’s Spring Green estate.
This is not a sad, little collection of photos on a real estate agent’s webpage — it’s an actual tour, with narration provided by a historian of the site (Taliesin is my favorite Wright building, yet I learned something new in first few minutes).
Admittedly, the difference between a computer-based visit to Taliesin and an actual visit is, to steal a phrase, the difference between the lightning and the lightning bug, but this very impressive. It offers views that are never allowed on the tour (like a view in the Blue Loggia, including a close view of The Carpet That Must Never Be Trod Upon) and a good sense of what Wright valued in a space. Even the music is well chosen; Wright loved music and filled his own homes with it, so the soundtrack is gathered from his favorite pieces.
The controls reward some experimentation (I just now discovered how to zoom) and the whole tour is worth dedicating a bit of your time and a lot of your attention.
Oct 042011
One of the American System-Built homes on West Burnham St. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin is on the market for $200,000. The home, originally built as a duplex, has been converted into a single-family home and restored.
The American System-Built homes were designed in 1911, though they were not built until 1916. Antonin Raymond and Russell Barr Williamson both worked on the W. Burnham Street project. Six Wright designs are on the street, including a bungalow owned and restored by Wright in Wisconsin (photo gallery here).
Oct 012011
Saturday, October 15 is the Closing Gala for the Taliesin Centennial celebration:
Taliesin Preservation, Inc. invites you to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Estate for a celebration in honor of the 100th anniversary of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright’s personal home in Spring Green, WI. Taliesin’s Centennial is a milestone in the estate’s history, and for decades, preservation has been approached with an understanding that, for Wright, the house on the hill, the “shining brow,” is a living process, always at work, always expanding interpretation, always inviting new responses. Proceeds from the event will support the preservation of Taliesin.
The evening will include hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar (wine and beer), and keynote remarks by Eric Lloyd Wright, architect and grandson of Frank Lloyd Wright. Following the keynote speaker, there will be a special performance by nationally-acclaimed musician Max Weinberg and his Big Band. The evening will also include a silent auction featuring work created on the Taliesin estate by professional artists, and an opportunity to view the centennial exhibit, “Taliesin – the Work of a Lifetime.” For a preview of the silent auction work, click here.
The gala is being generously sponsored by SC Johnson, Culver’s VIP Foundation, Inc. and Elliot Butler, as well as in-kind donors House on the Rock Resort, Johnny Delmonico’s and Douglas Art Frame.
Advance tickets are required and cost $150. Call (877) 588-7900, ext. 226 to purchase or e-mail centennial@taliesinpreservation.org. for more information.
The exhibit “Taliesin: The Work of a Lifetime” continues through October 31 and Rhapsodie String Quartet will perform in the Hillside Theater on October 8; space is limited, so advanced purchase is recomended (tickets can be purchased here).
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