Taliesin West Turns 75
March 17, 2012 |
Taliesin West is turning 75 and the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has designed a custom all-day event to showcase Wright's winter home and studio. In addition to a private behind-the-scenes tour of Taliesin West in the afternoon, participants will also be treated to a professionally guided tour of the Biltmore Hotel; access to the Harold Price, Sr., House (Wright, 1954) in Paradise Valley, Arizona; and an after-hours event at the Phoenix Art Museum with a reception and viewing of the exhibition Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century.
As Neil Levine, eminent Wright scholar and Harvard professor wrote, “From any point of view seeking to comprehend Wright's work as a whole and its complex relation to modern art as a whole, Taliesin West is the critical building of the later 1930s and the link between Fallingwater and the Guggenheim Museum.” Experience the richness of Taliesin West with an in-depth two-hour behind-the-scenes tour of the main buildings. A walk in the desert will follow, with a visit to author and archivist Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer’s house, which is based on a Wright design, and several apprentice-designed and built shelters. Arnold Roy, the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's architect for preservation, will give a Power Point presentation entitled, “Preservation at Taliesin West,” in the pavilion before answering audience questions. Of course, no trip to Taliesin West would be complete without a trip to the exceptional bookstore and gift shop.
Participants will begin the day with a professionally guided tour of the astonishingly beautiful Arizona Biltmore. In 1929, Wright traveled to Arizona to act as consultant to Albert C. McArthur—who had worked with Wright in the Oak Park Studio—for the design of a premier luxury hotel. McArthur’s intent was to utilize the textile block system Wright had developed in the early 1920s for four residential projects in the Los Angeles area. The result was the Arizona Biltmore, nicknamed “Jewel of the Desert.” The tour of the Biltmore will culminate with a visit to the exhibit, “Remembering Taliesin West: Photographs by Pedro E. Guerrero” on display in the hotel.
Seldom seen by the public, the Harold Price, Sr., House, was built as a winter house while the Price Tower was under construction in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. The house, more commonly known as the “Grandma House” because the Prices wanted their grandchildren to visit, is designed around an atrium court with a high ceiling and enclosing door featuring abstract murals by Eugene Masselink. Wright’s use of state-of-the-art materials and the spatial effects of the battered walls and reverse tapered columns and hovering roofs must be experienced to be truly appreciated.
The day will conclude at the Phoenix Art Museum for a private, after-hours reception and viewing of Frank Lloyd Wright: Organic Architecture for the 21st Century, created as a special anniversary exhibit for both of Wright's homes, Taliesin West and Taliesin. Margo Stipe, registrar of the Frank Lloyd Wright Archives, will give a brief introduction to the exhibit, which features over 150 works designed by Wright, including scale models and 33 drawings never before exhibited. There will also be an exhibit of Asian artifacts from the Taliesin Archives, including screens, fabric and prints.
Bus transportation to and from the Hotel San Carlos in Phoenix and the Arizona Biltmore is provided. Box lunch, afternoon refreshments at Taliesin West and an evening hors d’oeuvres reception at the Phoenix Art Museum are included with registration.
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Website:
savewright.org/index.php?page=70 |
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| Location Information |
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Phoenix, AZ 85004 |
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| Contact Information |
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Jeffrey Levine |
| Email:
jlevine@savewright.org |
| Phone:
312.663.5500 |
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