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FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S

MEDIAKIT2016

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CONTENTS

3 MISSION & VISION4 FACT SHEET5 TIMELINE6 WRIGHT’S OWN WORDS7 ARCHITECTURE LEGACY8 SISTER ORGANIZATIONS9 PRESERVATION PHILOSOPHY10 NOTABLE GUESTS OF TALIESIN11 CONTACTS

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MISSIONAs stewards, Taliesin Preservation’s mission is to preserve the cultural, built and natural environments that comprise the Taliesin property and to conduct public educational and cultural programming that

provides a greater understanding of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture and ideas.

VISIONTaliesin is acknowledged as the embodiment of American architect Frank Lloyd Wright’s commitment to

the creation of exceptional environments that harmonize architecture, art, culture, and the land.

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FACT SHEETTALIESINTaliesin, the home, studio and country estate of Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in the hilly Driftless Region of southwestern Wisconsin near Spring Green. It is the name of Wright’s house as well as the 800-acre estate that includes buildings from all decades of Wright’s career. Taliesin has a commanding presence in Jones Valley, the watershed where Wright’s Lloyd Jones ancestors settled after immigrating from Wales in the 1860s. Taliesin was named in honor of his Welsh heritage, was the name of a druid bard, and literally means “shining brow.” Its many wings and terraces reach out around the ridge of the hill, embracing the site and standing as “brow.”

Taliesin was the principal residence of Wright as a mature designer, and the valley was his inspiration and life-long laboratory for architectural designs and innovation. Taliesin in its three iterations (1911, 1914, 1925) represents the most complete embodiment of Wright’s philosophy of Organic Architecture. The Taliesin residence is the heart of a series of buildings that Wright designed for himself and his family members on the estate. Other buildings include: Romeo & Juliet Windmill (1896), Hillside Home School (1903), Tan-y-Deri (1908), Hillside Drafting Studio (1932), Midway Barn (1949), Hillside Theater (1952), and the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center (1967).

TALIESIN PRESERVATIONTaliesin Preservation is a 501(c)(3) founded in 1990 and located near Spring Green, Wisconsin. Its dual mission is to preserve the cultural, built and natural environments that comprise the Taliesin property and to conduct public and educational and cultural programming that provides a greater understanding of Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture and ideas. Taliesin Preservation employs a year-round core team of 17 staff members as well as 36 seasonal staff members who are dedicated and devoted to Taliesin Preservation’s mission and vision.

WHO VISITS TALIESIN?Taliesin Preservation offers tours and a diverse array of lectures, publications, symposia and educational workshops for all ages. In 2015, more than 25,000 people visited from 25 countries including Albania, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Singapore, Spain, and Switzerland. • 47 students from 11 states and Canada attended summer architecture camps. • 220 students came for educational field trips. • 620 adults came for classes and programing at Hillside Theater.

WHO SUPPORTS TALIESIN PRESERVATION?Sustaining Taliesin requires a willing community of volunteers, sponsors and donors. Taliesin Preservation’s Board of Trustees and staff are committed to its mission and vision. Further, generous individuals, foundations and corporations invest their time and dollars to our organization. Proceeds from visitors and bookstore sales also support Taliesin Preservation.

HOW CAN I HELP?You can support Taliesin Preservation in many ways. Volunteer your time, or become a Friend of Taliesin or a corporate partner. Visit our web site for more ways to give: www.taliesinpreservation.org/support-us

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TIMELINE1863 Wright’s grandparents Richard & Mallie Lloyd Jones purchase land in Wyoming Valley1867 Frank Lloyd Wright is born in Richland Center, Wisconsin to Anna Lloyd Jones and William Carey Wright1886 Unity Chapel completed by architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee and apprentice Wright1887 Hillside Home School “Home Building” completed for Wright’s aunts Jane and Nell1897 Romeo and Juliet Windmill completed for Hillside Home School1908 Tan-y-Deri residence completed for Andrew Porter and Jane, Wright’s sister1911 Anna Lloyd Jones purchases 31.65 acres in Wyoming Valley for Wright1911 Construction starts on Taliesin I1914 Taliesin I’s living quarters are lost in a fire due to arson and seven lives are lost; immediate construction starts on Taliesin II1915 Hillside Home School closes1922 Wright acquires the Hillside Home School property1925 Taliesin II is lost in an electrical fire, immediate construction starts on Taliesin III1932 Taliesin Fellowship is established for apprentices; construction on the Hillside Drafting Studio begins (completed in 1939)1935 Wright designs Fallingwater in the Taliesin Drafting Studio1938 Wright purchases land in Scottsdale, Arizona, and designs Taliesin West; annual winter migration to Arizona begins1939 Johnson Wax Administration Building completed1949 Midway Barns are completed1950 Wright directs the 1887 Hillside Home School “Home Building” to be demolished1952 A fire destroys the southern wing of the Hillside Home School; immediate construction starts on the Hillside Theater and Dining Room1955 Hillside Theater and Dining Room construction completed1954 Construction starts on the building known now as the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center1959 Wright dies in Phoenix, Arizona1959 Guggenheim Museum completed1967 The Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center completed1976 Taliesin estate is declared a National Historic Landmark1990 Taliesin Preservation Founded1993 Taliesin Preservation acquires the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center1994 Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center opens for tours1994 Taliesin added to the endangered buildings list issued by the National Trust for Historic Preservation1998 The 229-year-old Tea Circle oak tree falls on the roof of Wright’s Taliesin Drafting Studio2000 Preservation of Wright’s Taliesin Drafting Studio completed2010 Olgivanna Lloyd Wright’s bedroom restoration completed and opened to the public2011 Taliesin celebrates 100-year anniversary2015 Preservation of the Loggia completed, and opens to the public after nearly 20 years2017 Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center celebrates 50-year anniversary2017 Frank Lloyd Wright’s 150th birthday

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WRIGHT’S OWN WORDS

“Beauty in all forms is inspirational.” -1929 Collected Writings

“The deeper truths of being are also the truths of Architecture.” -1930 Collected Writings

“No house should ever be on the hill or on anything. It should be of the hill. Belonging to it. Hill and house should live together each the happier for the other.” -1932 An Autobiography

“... [A]n entire building might grow up out of conditions as a plant grows up out of soil, as free to be itself, to ‘live its own life according to Nature’ as is the tree.” -1932 An Autobiography

“A civilization is a way of life; a culture is what you do to make that life beautiful.” -1952 Interview

“A great architect is not made by way of a brain nearly so much as he is made by way of a cultivated, enriched heart.” -1953 letter to the Taliesin Fellowship

“A love of the beautiful is the divine spark in the soul of man never to be extinguished.” -1955 letter to the Taliesin Fellowship

“You do not learn by way of your successes. No one does.” -1952 letter to the Taliesin Fellowship

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ARCHITECTURAL LEGACY

Frank Lloyd Wright is America’s greatest architect. During a career that spanned nearly seven decades, Wright designed more than 1,100 works: houses, office buildings, churches, schools, libraries, museums, and bridges. Among his works are some of the most highly regarded designs of the 20th century, including the Guggenheim Museum in New York City; the Johnson Wax Administration Building in Racine, Wisconsin; Fallingwater in rural Pennsylvania; Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona; and Taliesin in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

PRAIRIE ARCHITECTUREIn the 20th century, Wright and others began a revolutionary break with the Victorian architecture of the day by developing homes with low, horizontal lines, open floor plans, and wide overhanging eaves. These Prairie homes reflected the low, horizontal prairie on which they sat and were Wright’s first effort at developing an indigenous American architecture. Wright disliked the use of the word “style” to refer to Prairie architecture.

ORGANIC ARCHITECTUREWright taught the beauty of native materials and insisted that buildings grow naturally from their surroundings. He designed a building to be of its site rather than imposed onto it, and he believed it was important to shape the structure specifically for the activities of its inhabitants. He described his architecture as “organic.” Organic Architecture, he said, was appropriate to time, setting and man. Like nature, Organic Architecture grew from within. This concept prompted him to develop a integrated design for his clients from landscape to interior. He designed furniture, fabrics, art glass, lighting, dinnerware, silverware and linens.

USONIAN ARCHITECTUREWright called his ideal of beautiful middle-class housing “Usonian” — a word he said was coined by Samuel Butler to mean “of the United States of North America.” The majority of Wright’s residential commissions from 1936 onwards were Usonian homes. Created for the emerging middle-class, post-Depression family, Usonian houses produce a feeling of spaciousness despite their small floor plans. “Turning their backs” on the street, the houses offer floor-to-ceiling bands of glass with doors that open onto private terraces. Usonian designs combine the kitchen, utility and laundry rooms, putting all these activities of family life together at the center of the home in the “workspace.”

PUBLIC ARCHITECTUREWright’s public buildings include some of the most recognizable architecture in America. His Johnson Wax Administration Building has, at its center, the “Great Workroom,” a soaring space supported by dendriform (plant-shaped) columns and flooded by indirect light filtered through innovative glass tubes. The space provides an open environment colored with warm reds and beiges filled with furniture that echoes the curves of the building. Late in his life, Wright designed many of his large buildings in circles, arcs and spirals. The Guggenheim Museum in New York City, the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael, California, and the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison, Wisconsin, use curvilinear forms and a variety of lighting techniques to create spaces that Wright hoped would do no less than transform the American experience.

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SISTER ORGANIZATIONS

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT FOUNDATION

Established by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1940, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is deeply committed to the preservation of its two National Historic Landmarks: Taliesin West in Scottsdale, Arizona and Taliesin near Spring Green, Wisconsin. Based in Arizona, The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation owns and manages the intellectual property for all of Frank Lloyd Wright’s designs, drawings, and other ephemera from his 70-year career.

FAZENDA BOA TERRA

Fazenda Boa Terra, a Consumer Supported Agriculture operation based at Taliesin, is working hard to bring you some of the finest organically grown produce in the greater Madison area. They are founded by an agronomist and an environmental scientist with years of farming experience at the forefront of sustainable farming practices. This means that their Certified Organic produce is grown in a way that blends the latest technologies and methods together with the tried and true. They strive to preserve the integrity of the farmland and its wild places while being efficient enough to make organic produce affordable to those who thought they could never enjoy organic food because of the price.

TALIESIN, THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE

Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, builds architects of the future by offering comprehensive study towards a professional Master of Architecture (M.Arch) degree. The program is designed for students who thrive in a multifaceted environment focusing on rigorous design, critical thinking, and hands-on learning. The School’s specialized approach facilitates an individualized educational experience and fosters a close relationship between students, faculty, and staff.

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PRESERVATION PHILOSOPHY

A 1950’S PERIOD OF RESTORATION

The conception and construction of Taliesin is unique and, as a result, demands a unique approach to preservation. Taliesin served as a 1:1 scale model for Wright to explore design concepts, structural assemblies, and materials; it is an amalgamation of work space, living space, farming space, and classroom space. The preservation effort is a continuation of the work at Taliesin — with an emphasis on preserving the historic core to the decade of 1950-59. Many of the projects that the preservation team undertakes involve the unraveling of layers of historic fabric, offering a glimpse into the decisions and thoughts of past workers and providing evidence of earlier iterations of Taliesin. Throughout this process, drawings and documentation are used to make decisions as well as to record the techniques and materials used to restore all the buildings and building systems on the Taliesin estate.

Taliesin Preservation employs highly skilled and specialized historic preservationists who are charged with the maintenance and preservation of 20 buildings in total and 800 acres of natural and agricultural land. Seven historic complexes comprise the historic core — Taliesin, Hillside, Midway Barn, Tan-y-Deri, Romeo and Juliet Windmill, two cottages, and the Frank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center. Ten additional buildings are located on the Thomas Lloyd Jones Farm, adjacent to the Taliesin estate.

In addition to restoration of the buildings, the preservation team also maintains the estate’s natural areas, with a focus on restoring the historic prairies and gardens, and maintaining the diversity of our plant and tree species. The agricultural fields are certified organic and are farmed by Fazenda Boa Terra. They strive to maintain sustainable farming practices and to create a diverse farming landscape.

Preservation at Taliesin is not only about restoring the spaces. While the architecture is timeless, mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems are not. When feasible, the preservation team works to upgrade existing systems, which allows for expanded and continued use of the spaces through tours, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, and special events. The preservation team deals with large-scale projects such as the comprehensive restoration of the Guest Wing, and also smaller scale cyclical building maintenance and repairs such as re-shingling roofs and removal of organic growth.

PRESERVATION TEAM

When Taliesin Preservation was originally founded in 1990, it was decided that it should have its own on-site preservation team. Having an on-site team is a tremendous advantage for an historic site and can cost less than contracting with others. Dedicated preservationists become experts on Frank Lloyd Wright’s experimentation at Taliesin and are available year round without having to research, hire, and train contractors for each project.

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NOTABLE GUESTS OF TALIESIN

ArchitectsBuckminster Fuller

Jens JensenPhilip Johnson

Erich MendelsohnRichard NeutraAuguste Perret

Rudolph SchindlerLudwig Mies van der Rohe

Arists, Writers & Performing ArtistsMaginel Wright Barney

Anne BaxterSophie Braslau

Gutzon BorglumHenri Cartier-Bresson

Elizabeth EnrightMarcel Grandjany

Ken HedrichCharles Laughton

Arch ObelerAyn Rand

Paul RobesonCarl SandburgEzra Stoller

Edmund TeskeMike Todd

Alexander Woollcott

Other NotablesWiliam EvjueG.I. Gurdjieff

George S. Parker

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CONTACTS

Taliesin PreservationFrank Lloyd Wright Visitor Center

5607 County Road CSpring Green, WI 53588

(877) 588-7900www.taliesinpreservation.org

Media Contact:Aron Meudt-Thering

Development Events & Communications Coordinator(608) 588-7090 x221

athering@taliesinpreservation.org

Sarah MilestoneDirector of Development & Marketing

(608) 459-0914smilestone@taliesinpreservation.org