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"We are an organization in chaos," said Beverly Hart, vice president of the Scottsdale, Ariz.-headquartered Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation in a front-page article in the March 7 Arizona Republic.
Last Thursday, in an interview with The Capital Times, she downgraded that to "internal trauma." But the message was clear. The Wright Foundation, owner of all of the famed architect's properties and artifacts in Arizona and in Wisconsin, is still in turmoil.
What turmoil? Within the past year the purges of two CEOs and the licensing director; the resignation of the dean and numerous faculty members of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and the loss of half the students; and an open revolt by many members of the Senior Taliesin Fellowship, Wright's inheritors, against a move to strip them of their veto power over all key decisions.
Meanwhile in Spring Green, the folks at Taliesin Preservation Inc., charged with restoring Wright's 1911 masterpiece and running tours, are soldiering on.
The controversy at Taliesin West is a "major setback" to fundraising, said development Vice President Pat Reisinger. She and others are trying to put out the word that Taliesin Preservation Inc. is not in chaos.
"We're a relatively young organization and our mission is very focused," said Executive Director Carol McChesney Johnson, a former Wisconsin Historical Society preservation coordinator who worked on the restoration of the State Capitol.
"We're not the foundation, we don't own the buildings. But we're there to preserve the buildings. We want to encourage people to identify us with Taliesin and preservation activity."
Accordingly, this summer they've scheduled new preservation projects, including a new roof for the main residence and reconstruction of the bridge over the creek leading to Taliesin, as well as two big-ticket fundraising events and a new family-friendly program that will let children in for free.
The total long-term restoration tab for the Taliesin estate, including the house and studio, Hillside Home School, the Midway Barns, and other structures, is put at $67 million, including $26 million just for the main residence, Johnson said.
"The 100th anniversary of Taliesin is 2011 and in my ideal world the residence would be restored by then. I would love to be able to say, In 2011 let's have a wonderful...