Content area
Full Text
It's a tour of cracked plaster, sagging eaves and architectural genius.
The work of Frank Lloyd Wright, who astonished the world with his designs and irritated many Wisconsinites with his manner, is being spotlighted this summer in an effort to boost cultural tourism in the state.
Seven Wright buildings, from an elegant lakeside cottage to a Mayan-inspired warehouse, are featured in a state-financed brochure that guides visitors through more than 50 years of Wright's architecture.
The promotional effort, which coincides with the 125th anniversary of Wright's birth on June 8, is long overdue, said Madison builder and Wright protege, Marshall Erdman.
"You go into Illinois and they tell you all about Frank Lloyd Wright in Illinois," he said. "You go to Iowa and they have a big brochure they have a half-dozen Frank Lloyd Wright homes there.
"Go to Wisconsin, the place where he was born . . . and they have nothing."
But with a push from Gov. Tommy G. Thompson and the realization that visitor revenue is needed to help save Wright's beautiful but deteriorating home near Spring Green, attention now is being focused on the architect's Wisconsin buildings.
"I think it's fantastic," Erdman said. "It's a wonderful thing. All I can say is, it's about time and it will bring us an enormous amount of interest."
Wisconsin has 43 Wright buildings. Most are private homes. The Frank Lloyd Wright Wisconsin Heritage Tour focuses on seven sites open to the public to varying degrees.
They include the world-renowned S.C. Johnson Wax administration center in Racine; Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Wauwatosa; Taliesin, Wright's Wisconsin home, and the Hillside Home School, both near Spring Green; the Unitarian Meeting House in Madison; the A.D. German Warehouse in Richland Center, Wright's birthplace; and the...